Marketing and Sustainability equips readers in the fields of management and marketing with an in-depth understanding of sustainability issues and how sustainability is integrated into business. Examples from across the globe are included on topics such as how businesses use services, sharing practices, and sustainable business models in their operations to face increasing demands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, limited resources, and increased global competition.
This book is concerned with consumer and business markets, considering marketing practices as part of business administration. Up-to-date and topical areas of research such as the sharing economy, are thoroughly discussed and illustrated with supporting models, figures, and vignettes.
The book is accompanied by a companion site for instructors and faculty, which includes PowerPoint slides and exam Q&A’s. Videos introducing each chapter’s content are also available via YouTube.
Written by a team of highly qualified academics, Marketing and Sustainability includes information on: - Factors influencing consumers and their choices, sustainable marketing practices and their effectiveness, and how to communicate sustainability initiatives through marketing campaigns- Strategies to be heard in a crowded, branded world, and sustainability business models including product-service systems, social enterprises, and sharing and circular economy models- Sustainable marketing strategies including chapters on sustainable marketing channels, sustainable pricing, sustainability oriented marketing communication and branding- Greenwashing, the process of conveying a false impression or misleading information about how a company’s products are environmentally sound, and why it’s bound to backfire
Marketing and Sustainability is an essential reference for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students as well as managers in companies, the public sector, and civil society - all of whom are under increasing pressure to deal with marketing and sustainability for strategic purposes as well as in everyday practices.
Table of Contents
Foreword by O. C. Ferrell ix
Preface xiii
Chapter 1 Marketing and Sustainability: An Overview 1
Introduction 2
Sustainability Integrated in Everyday Practices 4
How Does Sustainability Relate to Marketing? 6
The Triple Bottom Line 14
Fit for 55 - Tricky Balancing in Many Dimensions 16
A Soft and Hard Interpretation of Sustainability 18
References 19
Chapter 2 Factors Influencing Consumers and Their Sustainability Choices 23
Introduction 24
General Factors Influencing Consumption 24
The Purchase Decision Process 30
How to Influence Consumers to Behave More Sustainably 35
The SHIFT Framework 38
References 49
Chapter 3 Is There Such a Thing as Sustainable Consumers? 51
Introduction 52
Definition of Sustainable Consumption and the “Sustainable Consumer” 53
Three Types of Sustainable Consumption 56
Overlaps and Goal Conflicts Between Sustainability Dimensions 62
Sustainable Customer Segmentation 64
How Can We Start Becoming More Sustainable? 66
The Attitude-Behavior Gap, or Green Gap 67
References 70
Chapter 4 Sustainable Marketing Practices 75
Introduction 76
Sustainable New Product Development 77
Defensive, Reactive, and Proactive Approaches to Sustainability 79
The Circular Economy 84
4Rs (or Even 9Rs) to Reach Sustainability 86
Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions 90
Life-Cycle Analysis 90
Getting Companies to Walk the Talk 93
References 96
Chapter 5 Sustainability by Service Provision 99
Introduction 100
The Development of Service Marketing and Service Research 100
From Ownership to Access 102
Sustainable Services 107
Services in the Sharing Economy 110
Critics of the Sharing Economy 114
Environmental Effects of the Sharing Economy 118
Shared Mobility Services 120
References 123
Chapter 6 How to Communicate Sustainability Initiatives 127
Introduction 128
Foundations of Communication are the Same 128
Sustainability Communication 130
The Importance of Sustainability in Marketing Communications 133
Sustainability Claims Differentiate Marketing Communications 136
Sustainabilization as Marketing Opportunity 139
Beware of Greenwashing 141
The Grassroots Revolution 148
References 151
Chapter 7 Sustainability and Branding 155
Introduction 156
Are Consumers Ready for Sustainable Brands? 158
Building a Sustainable Brand 159
Brands’ Role in Sustainability Efforts 163
The Branded Society 164
Storytelling 167
Sustainable Brand Personality 172
Deceptive Branding Practices 173
Sustainable Brands don’t Engage in Planned Obsolescence 180
References 181
Chapter 8 Sustainable and Circular Business Models 185
Introduction 186
The Role of Business Models in Sustainable Development 187
Sustainable Business Models 189
Sustainable Business Model Innovations 192
Circular Business Models (CBMs) 193
Product-Service Systems (PSSs) 197
Social Enterprises 200
Peer-to-Peer Platform Business Models 201
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) Business Models 203
References 205
Chapter 9 Sustainable Value Chains and Marketing Channels 211
Introduction 212
Sustainable Value Chains 213
Greenwashing in Supply Chains 218
Challenges in Supply Chain Transparency 219
Child Labor in Supply Chains 223
Challenges in Achieving Sustainability in Marketing Channels 224
Attempts to Make Marketing Channels Sustainable: Greenwashing or Real Change? 226
Best Practices in Sustainable Marketing Channels 228
Social Sustainability in Marketing Channels 229
References 230
Chapter 10 Prices of Sustainable Products and Pricing Strategies 235
Introduction 236
Three Cs of Pricing 236
Pricing and Sustainability Interplay 239
Sustainability Comes at a Price - Who’s Paying? 240
The Price of Sustainable Products 240
Certifications, Labels, and Country of Origin 248
Smarter Pricing 250
References 253
Author Acknowledgments 259
About the Authors 261
Index 263
