Search results

As emphasized in the previous chapter, sustainability marketing entails activities that include all levels of management in small and medium enterprises; that is, strategic, operational and tactical. The role of marketing activities of a sustainable nature involves building customer satisfaction and generating profit for an enterprise, while simultaneously taking into consideration the impact of such activities on society and environment as a whole. Combining all those areas poses a serious challenge to contemporary SMEs. Nevertheless, an effective use of sustainability marketing principles enables companies to achieve the above-specified tasks and gain a strong position in the market over the long term. The nature of the relationship established with various market entities ensures that strong position, because the use of sustainability marketing is equivalent to adopting a relationship-oriented attitude.

Fulfilling the tasks of sustainability marketing requires the employment of tools from the sustainability marketing mix, which comprises the following: sustainability in product, price, distribution, promotion and personnel. The adoption of sustainable development principles by SME marketing departments does not fundamentally change the basic properties of the tools in the mix, that is their complementarity and the resultant synergy effect, but it expands the scope of their impact on the society and environment. This chapter presents a discussion on the nature and specificity of individual tools in the sustainability marketing mix.

Adopting the concept of sustainable development is connected with the necessity of redefining marketing strategies and, as a consequence, should also be reflected in the policies adopted for the individual tools. In this chapter, the sustainability marketing mix is considered with regard to five instruments: product, price, place, promotion and people (5P). The aim of the chapter is to investigate the current state of knowledge in this matter as well as the scope for the implementation of the sustainability marketing concept in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the food and drink sector from an international perspective. The international approach has been adopted to try and find out whether in more highly developed countries sustainability marketing activities are comprehensive and include all the marketing tools; and, on the other hand, whether in less-developed markets sustainability marketing activities are limited to the tools for which the concept of sustainable development can theoretically be implemented the most easily, namely, promotional activities and those targeted at a company’s own employees.

Each of the analysed instruments was described from two angles: in terms of the results obtained for the whole research sample, indicating the countries whose respondents had the highest and lowest values for the specific variables defining each marketing mix instrument and in terms of a comparison of two groups of countries, indicating similarities and differences in the opinions of managers on the use of marketing mix instruments in a sustainable way. The chapter concludes with the results obtained through factor analysis, which made it possible to identify the ways in which SME managers in the food and drink sector define the individual sustainability marketing tools.

Investigating the concept of sustainability marketing and the scope of its implementation in European countries can involve two types of sources. On the one hand, there are theoretical secondary sources, that is scientific studies concerning the conceptualization of sustainability marketing, the sources and determinants of its development and an analysis of the sustainability marketing process. This type also includes secondary sources in the form of the findings of previous research in the specific area conducted by independent research centres and institutes as well as non-governmental organizations. Such sources make it possible to identify the behaviour and attitudes of business managers with respect to market changes, the concept of sustainable development, and social and environmental marketing, as well as the extent of their responsiveness to these phenomena. On the other hand, there are primary sources in the form of empirical studies, which are particularly important when the issues under investigation are rarely explored, as is the case with the concept of sustainability marketing. These sources play an important role in explaining some of the regularities connected with the development of this concept and provide an appropriate basis for inference. This chapter will present the methodological aspects of the research on sustainability marketing in SMEs.

This study aims to develop a sustainable brand identity model to help organizations align their managerial practices to sustainable development goals (SDGs) and examine its applicability for a Brazilian electrical sector company.

A systematic qualitative review of the literature was carried out to provide a theoretical basis for the attributes chosen to compose the sustainable brand identity management (SBIM) model. To apply the model, the authors collected the data from internal and public domain documents, semi-structured in-depth interviews and non-participant observation of the company's work environment.

The first SBIM model was developed. The Brazilian power sector company implemented sustainable actions related to most of the models' attributes, contributing to the SDGs. A research agenda was presented.

The theoretical contribution is provided toward brand identity and sustainability literature with the sustainable brand identity model development and the conceptual explanation regarding its attributes.

The practical implications are provided from the model application to an electrical company leading to some managerial suggestions that might be used to companies willing to align their practices to sustainability.

The studies on SDG and brand identity models were analyzed in order to create the first SBIM model. This article extends the concept of the brand identity of marketing theory by linking its core to sustainability actions, so far not addressed in academic studies.

The intention of consumers to behave sustainably is not a reliable predictor of sustainable hospitality choices. This intention-behaviour gap represents one of the biggest challenges for marketers and environment-friendly businesses. To address this issue, this study aims to draw upon the intention-behaviour gap. The authors revise the sustainable hospitality literature to identify the limitations, to evaluate the extent to which the intention-behaviour gap is embedded in the hospitality literature and to provide practical guidance on how to move research forward in the sustainable hospitality field.

The authors adopted a five-step process to review and analyse 71 scientific papers published in 14 Hospitality Journals. The authors developed a descriptive overview of the literature showing the publications in this field over the years, the sustainability practices implemented by companies and consumers and the setting of the studies. Finally, the authors conducted a critical analysis of research in sustainable hospitality adopting the intention-behaviour gap lens.

Leveraging the descriptive overview and critical analysis, the authors offer four directions for future research to address the existing literature limitations. The authors encourage scholars to expand the scope of the research setting, investigate diverse sustainability practices, integrate existing knowledge on the intention-behaviour gap into sustainable hospitality research and combine traditional research methods with emerging technologies.

This study exposes the theoretical challenge of applying conventional behaviour theories to sustainable hospitality, prompting a call for framework re-evaluation. It offers practical insights, empowering researchers, marketers and policymakers to navigate and mitigate the intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality.

The originality of this paper is underscored by its distinctive focus on the unique intention-behaviour gap within sustainable hospitality, coupled with a compelling call to re-evaluate traditional behavioural frameworks. It provides a roadmap for future research in sustainable hospitality, benefiting researchers, policymakers and marketers in promoting sustainable initiatives.

Marketers have begun to investigate the potential of gamification for influencing consumer behavior by using game design elements in realms varying from branding, retail, sales and health services. Marketers have also begun to explore consumer behavior in sustainability. This paper aims to provide contributions to build on both literatures.

This research tests gamification principles in a large field study on real consumers that includes data from pre-post surveys, gamified app analytics and household energy meters. The data are analyzed using ANOVA’s and structural equation modeling.

The findings demonstrate: gamification significantly enhanced consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions and realized bill savings compared to a control group; reward-based game design elements including points, badges and other rewards contribute to enhancing sustainable behavior outcomes.

Future research in settings outside of sustainability may extend upon the findings of the current research to further understanding the impact of reward-based game design elements in marketing.

The findings have important practical implications for how organizations might use serious games to promote sustainable and other desirable behavior. In particular, how reward-based game design elements, points, trophies and badges, can be used to create a chain of relationships that leads to reduced electricity consumption.

This paper fulfills the need to understand if the impact of gamification extends outside of controlled environments and into the field. Further, it demonstrates how reward-based game design elements contribute to consumers changing their behavior, a relationship that is not yet thoroughly understood in the marketing literature.