Lifting the Veil of Linking Stakeholder Salience and Environmental Proactivity: The Perspectives of Attention-Based View

Amid escalating regulatory and stakeholder pressures, corporate environmental practices emerge as strategic competitive advantages. Yet, research lacks depth on interactions among PLU (Power, Legitimacy, Urgency) attributes and resource-constrained decision pathways. Integrating stakeholder theory and the attention-based view (ABV), this study develops a pressure-attention-action model to explain voluntary adoption of ultra-regulatory environmental practices (PEPs). Analyzing survey data from 503 Taiwanese firms via PLS-SEM, legitimacy and urgency significantly drive pressure perception, while power shows no independent effect. Firm size moderates pressure-resource linkages, with urgency prompting resource reallocation for environmental proactivity across scales. A dynamic PLU assessment tool and scale-sensitive strategies are proposed, challenging power-centric paradigms and aiding SMEs through collaborative networks. Limitations include cross-sectional data and regional focus, urging longitudinal and cross-industry validation.