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Sustainability and Marketing: Concurrent Pursuit of a Smaller Environmental Footprint and a Larger Market Footprint

Marketing in and for a Sustainable Society

ISBN: 978-1-78635-282-8, eISBN: 978-1-78635-281-1

Publication date: 27 June 2016

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that provides insights into major environmental and organizational forces underlying greater levels of organizational responsiveness to the environmental sustainability imperative by a growing number of firms, worldwide.

Methodology/approach

The paper is conceptual in its focus, and the proposed framework builds on extant literature from multiple literature streams.

Findings

Societal progress toward environmental sustainability is a shared responsibility of consumers, corporations, and the government at various levels. A potential avenue for societal progress toward environmental sustainability is fostering a macroenvironment that is conducive to the elimination of consumption certain products, reduction in consumption certain other products, and redirection of consumption of still other products from ecologically more harmful to ecologically less harmful substitute products (and relatedly, demand elimination, demand reduction, and demand redirection).

Research and practical implications

An implication for corporate sustainability responsibility is that firms while planning and formulating strategies for increasing their market footprint must also concurrently plan and formulate strategies for decreasing their environmental footprint. An implication for government sustainability responsibility is that even under conditions of high levels of commitment by a large and growing number of firms and consumers to engage in environmentally sustainable behaviors, in the absence of supporting infrastructure for engaging in such behavior, they may find it necessary to engage in environmentally unsustainable behaviors.

Originality/value

Issues relating to environmental sustainability have been the focus of a large body of recent research in a number of academic disciplines including marketing. A cursory examination of numerous articles published in scholarly journals on issues pertaining to environmental sustainability, and in the business press pertaining to the myriad environmental sustainability initiatives of firms worldwide is indicative of its growing importance.

Keywords

Citation

Varadarajan, R. (2016), "Sustainability and Marketing: Concurrent Pursuit of a Smaller Environmental Footprint and a Larger Market Footprint", Marketing in and for a Sustainable Society (Review of Marketing Research, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1548-643520160000013009

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016 Emerald Group Publishing Limited