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Perceived Sustainability of Startups: The Role of Relationship Equity and Chief Sustainability Officer

Amant, Samuel LU and Berg, Thor LU (2022) ENTN19 20221
Department of Business Administration
Abstract (Swedish)
Strategic decisions on how a company should invest resources is naturally a crucial decision,
but for startups this decision is even more important as each small decision will have major
repercussions on the longevity of a startup. This study seeks to deepen the understanding of
the perceived sustainability of a startup by a customer - since this is a growing customer
decision criteria - and how the customer’ relationship equity and Chief Sustainability Officer
(CSO) influence this perceived sustainability. This study employed a vignette experiment, in
which 71individuals with existing relationship equity of 4 startups answered a survey on
relationship equity and perceived economic/social/environmental sustainability value.... (More)
Strategic decisions on how a company should invest resources is naturally a crucial decision,
but for startups this decision is even more important as each small decision will have major
repercussions on the longevity of a startup. This study seeks to deepen the understanding of
the perceived sustainability of a startup by a customer - since this is a growing customer
decision criteria - and how the customer’ relationship equity and Chief Sustainability Officer
(CSO) influence this perceived sustainability. This study employed a vignette experiment, in
which 71individuals with existing relationship equity of 4 startups answered a survey on
relationship equity and perceived economic/social/environmental sustainability value. Half the
respondents received a vignette containing a startup having a founding structure which
included a Chief Sustainability Officer and the others without. Statistical analyses based on
Multiple Regressions, specifically the PROCESS Procedure in SPSS, found full support for the
first study hypotheses: Relationship equity of customers positively influences their perceived
(a) Economic, (b) Social, and (c) Environmental sustainability value of a startup. Partial
support was found for this study's second hypothesis: CSO moderates the strength of
relationship between relationship equity of customers’ and their perceived (a) Economic and
(c) Environmental sustainability value of a startup, such that the positive relationship is
stronger under the presence of CSO. It did not support hypothesis 2 (c) concerning Social
sustainability. This study increases the understanding of perceived sustainability and
relationship equity and bridges the literature between startups and sustainability. This thesis
will contribute to increased numbers of sustainability roles being appointed and as well as guide
policy makers on startups. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Amant, Samuel LU and Berg, Thor LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENTN19 20221
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Perceived Sustainability Value, Relationship Equity, Startups, Chief Sustainability Officer
language
English
id
9084066
date added to LUP
2022-06-08 15:27:24
date last changed
2022-06-08 15:27:24
@misc{9084066,
  abstract     = {{Strategic decisions on how a company should invest resources is naturally a crucial decision, 
but for startups this decision is even more important as each small decision will have major 
repercussions on the longevity of a startup. This study seeks to deepen the understanding of 
the perceived sustainability of a startup by a customer - since this is a growing customer 
decision criteria - and how the customer’ relationship equity and Chief Sustainability Officer 
(CSO) influence this perceived sustainability. This study employed a vignette experiment, in 
which 71individuals with existing relationship equity of 4 startups answered a survey on 
relationship equity and perceived economic/social/environmental sustainability value. Half the 
respondents received a vignette containing a startup having a founding structure which 
included a Chief Sustainability Officer and the others without. Statistical analyses based on 
Multiple Regressions, specifically the PROCESS Procedure in SPSS, found full support for the 
first study hypotheses: Relationship equity of customers positively influences their perceived 
(a) Economic, (b) Social, and (c) Environmental sustainability value of a startup. Partial 
support was found for this study's second hypothesis: CSO moderates the strength of 
relationship between relationship equity of customers’ and their perceived (a) Economic and 
(c) Environmental sustainability value of a startup, such that the positive relationship is 
stronger under the presence of CSO. It did not support hypothesis 2 (c) concerning Social 
sustainability. This study increases the understanding of perceived sustainability and 
relationship equity and bridges the literature between startups and sustainability. This thesis 
will contribute to increased numbers of sustainability roles being appointed and as well as guide 
policy makers on startups.}},
  author       = {{Amant, Samuel and Berg, Thor}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Perceived Sustainability of Startups: The Role of Relationship Equity and Chief Sustainability Officer}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}