The Impact of ESG Pressure on Sustainable Development of Chinese Distribution Companies

Purpose: With the continuous development of industry, global warming has become a chal l enge that must be faced by a ll mankind, and companies must realize sustainable development if they want to maintain a competitive edge in the fierce competition. Recently, in line with the concept of sustainable devel opment, ESG h as a ttracted a l ot o f attention. D istribution companies have a l so begun t o engage i n ESG activities under the pressure of the government and consumers. This study attempts to investigate the effect of ESG pressure on ESG activities and sustainable development in distribution companies. Research design, data, and methodology: A survey of young consumers aged 18-45 years old who have purchased products from distribution companies was conducted and 279 valid samples were recovered by online collection through the internet. To verify reliability and validity, exploratory factor anal ysis i s carried out, a nd t hen structural v alidity is t ested by c onfirmatory factor analysis, in addition to correlation analysis, SEM and mediating analysis. Results: The results of the study showed that, firstly, consumer pressure and government pressure have significant positive effect on both ESG activities and sustainable development; secondly, ESG activities have significant positive effect on sustainable development. Thirdly, ESG activities have a significant mediating effect between ESG pressures and sustainable development. Implications: The differentiation of this study is demonstrated by the fact that the fiel d of s tudy w as c hosen to b e distribution c ompanies and the target audience was young consumers. This study provided insights into the marketing strategies of distribution companies for young consumers. It also provided theoretical references for how distribution companies can practice ESG activities to realize sustainable development.