Social and Sustainability Marketing

A Casebook for Reaching Your Socially Responsible Consumers through Marketing Science

Jishnu Bhattacharyya, Manoj Kumar Dash, Chandana Hewege, M.S. Balaji, Weng Marc Lim

• Publisher: Productivity Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367553630
• eBook ISBN: 9781000408034
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Consumer Behaviour
• Index: Business

"... an important intervention in the conversation around social and ecological sustainability that draws on both micromarketing and macromarketing scholarship to help the reader understand the challenges with illustrations from insightful cases both from emerging and developed economies. This compilation should be essential reading for the discerning student of sustainable consumption and production."

-- Professor Pierre McDonagh, Associate Editor, Journal of Macromarketing (USA); Professor of Critical Marketing & Society, University of Bath, UK

Experts in the field of economics, management science, and particularly in the marketing domain have always been interested in and acknowledged the importance of sustaining profitable businesses while incorporating societal and environmental concerns; however, the level of existing literature and availability of teaching cases reflect a dearth of real case studies, especially those focused on marketing for social good. This book of actual case studies will address that need. In addition, this book is important and timely in providing a case book for instructors (those in both industry and academia) to help them in teaching and training the next generation of leaders through corporate training and universities.

Currently, marketing for social good is increasingly becoming a part of most curriculums under the umbrella of different titles, such as social marketing, green marketing, and sustainability marketing. The relevance of these studies is increasing across the globe. This book is composed of long and short real cases with varying complexity in different sectors. This case book will also cover some review articles for an overview of the recent developments in the study area. With these case studies, collections of questions, teaching materials, and real-life marketing scenarios, this book offers a unique source of knowledge to marketing professionals, students, and educators across the world.

The main objective of this case book is to understand the applicability of marketing science (marketing for social good context, such as social marketing and sustainability marketing) in internet marketing related to e-buying behavior and e-WOM. In addition, it illustrates the various types of existing marketing practices that are relevant from both theoretical and practical points of view in this electronic era, as well as discussing other non-electronic marketing practices and focusing on consumer buying behavior. As a result, marketing managers can treat their customers according to their desired value. This book particularly explores the possibilities and advantages created by social marketing and sustainability marketing through the presentation of thorough review articles and case studies. This case book helps corporate training centers and universities with compact teaching reference materials in their relevant courses.

Section II

Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Understanding Sustainability Marketing

This section presents selected original research to acquaint the readers with an up-to-date understanding of social and sustainable marketing by providing diverse perspectives. It includes chosen models and theoretical frameworks that can be used as lenses to see through and critique current knowledge and practices.

2

The Sustainability Marketing Framework: A Tool for Teaching and Learning about Sustainability Marketing

Al Rosenbloom

Dominican University, River Forest, IL, USA

CONTENTS

1. Learning Objectives
2. Themes and Tools
3. Theoretical Background
4. A Prelude to Sustainability Marketing: A Very Short Review of Marketing Fundamentals
5. Sustainability
6. Why Sustainability Is a Marketing Issue
   1. CEOs Embrace Sustainability
   2. Changing Consumer Attitudes and Values
   3. The Evolving Society–Business Relationship
7. What Is Sustainability Marketing?
8. Sustainability Marketing in the Classroom
   1. Case Method Teaching
      1. Grupo Familia Mini-Case
      2. Case Use and Analysis
   2. Active Learning
   3. Critical Thinking
   4. Macromarketing Implications of SDG
   5. Transformative Insights into Consumer Behavior
9. Conclusion
10. Funding Declaration
11. Acknowledgments
12. Credit Author Statement
13. Notes
14. References

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading the chapter, the reader should be able to:

• Summarize the evolution in marketing thought that has led to sustainability marketing
• Articulate the differences between traditional marketing management and sustainability marketing
• Present a comprehensive definition of sustainability marketing for use in the marketing classroom
• Apply the Sustainability Marketing Framework to case analyses, active learning exercise, and critical thinking assignments
• Understand how assignments that link the Sustainability Marketing Framework with course content complement each other

THEMES AND TOOLS

• Application of macro-environmental change (PESTLE and SWOT)
• Importance of segmentation and targeting
• Consumer behavior drives marketing strategy
• Importance of triple bottom line, sustainable development, and stakeholders

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter's theoretical background is the principles and perspectives of marketing. One of the chapter's goals is to position sustainability marketing as an extension of traditional marketing practices, but of course with some new additional elements as required by sustainability marketing as developed in the chapter: The triple bottom line (profit-planet-people), stakeholder theory, and sustainable development.

The chapter's primary perspectives are the “fundamentals” of marketing that are universal: Putting the customer at the center of the entire organization; building marketing programs backward from customer wants and needs; using the principles of segmenting and targeting to concentrate firm resources on consumer groups that will be most responsive to the firm's offerings; developing products/services that create value though meaningful differentiation; adapting the marketing mix to specific target markets; and recognizing that marketing is a total organizational response to finding and keeping customers.

Yet sustainability marketing requires two additional theoretical frames: The triple bottom line and stakeholder theory. The triple bottom line (TBL) summarizes the requirement that companies consider profit, people, and planet – and the tradeoffs involved when trying to optimize the benefits for all three – in all company decisions. Stakeholder theory expresses the more inclusive idea that a number of groups beyond investors and customers can influence and are, in turn, influenced by company decisions. Therefore, stakeholders much be considered in all strategic decisions of a firm.

This focus on marketing fundamentals was done intentionally, so that students can more easily see that sustainability marketing uses universal principles of marketing – principles that students may already be familiar with. Only at chapter's end are the challenges raised by sustainability marketing to the standard marketing model outlined. Since the chapter's goal is focused otherwise, these challenges are only mentioned briefly.

Marketing has always been at the center of every organization. Peter Drucker (Drucker, 1954) has famously stated that there are only two core functions for every business: innovation and marketing. Drucker goes on to say that the purpose of every business is to get and keep a customer – the very essence of marketing. As “marketing” continues to evolve, social marketing applies marketing principles to a broad range of organizations that extend beyond entities engaging in commerce. For example, health care institutions, college/universities, nonprofits, governmental, and social service agencies all use social marketing to help them achieve their missions. Peter Drucker also brought his insights to social marketing when he said, “The ‘non-profit’ institution neither supplies goods or services …. Its product is a changed human being … a cured patient, a child that learns, a young man or woman grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether” (Drucker, 1990/2011, p. x). Social marketing seeks to change human behavior for the betterment of society (Saunders, Barrington, & Sridharan, 2015).

The application of marketing principles to benefit society is also found in one of marketing's newest fields of study: sustainability marketing. Sustainability marketing gives tangible expression to the increased demands from stakeholders that businesses should think beyond the confines of their spreadsheets and become active partners in addressing some of the world's biggest global challenges (e.g., poverty, climate change, inequality, sustainable development, sustainable consumption) (Brammer, Branicki, Linnenluecke, & Smith, 2019).

This chapter's focus is on sustainability marketing. The chapter's first half discusses the importance of sustainability in marketing. In so doing, it answers the question why sustainability marketing is an important issue for contemporary marketing, it defines what sustainability marketing is, and it untangles three words often used in discussions about sustainability marketing: “sustainable,” “sustainability,” and “sustainable development.” The chapter's second half focuses squarely on marketing pedagogy by presenting a framework for teaching and learning about sustainability marketing suitable for use in the marketing classroom. This Sustainability Marketing Framework has three unique elements: (1) It explicitly incorporates the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a gateway for marketing educators to teach about – and for students, in turn, to learn about – sustainability marketing; (2) it acknowledges that sustainability marketing shares some common features with social marketing, since the overriding goal of both is to improve the well-being of individuals and society; and (3) it integrates macro- and micro-level marketing perspectives to provide a comprehensive view of sustainability marketing. Because sustainability marketing is a relatively new topic, the chapter's second half provides examples of how marketing educators can apply the Sustainability Marketing Framework in case analyses, in active learning exercises, and in developing students’ critical thinking skills.

A PRELUDE TO SUSTAINABILITY MARKETING: A VERY SHORT REVIEW OF MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS

Historically, marketing has focused primarily on consumers engaging in commercial transactions. The consumer orientation places the in-depth understanding of consumer needs and wants at marketing's core (Kotler & Armstrong, 2014; Lee & Edwards, 2013; Ramaswamy & Namakumari, 2018). Through marketing science, whose focus is always to better understand consumers in all their complexities, come ideas for competitive products and/services, which are, in turn, redirected back to consumers through a tailored marketing mix. Levitt (1960) reinforces this point by noting that

an industry is a customer-satisfying process, not a goods-producing process…. An industry begins with the customer and his or her needs …. Given the customer's needs, the industry develops backwards, first concerning itself with the physical delivery of customer satisfactions. Then it moves back further to creating the things by which these sati...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Section I An Overview of Social and Sustainability Marketing
• Section II Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Understanding Sustainability Marketing
• Section III Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Sustainable Consumption and Consumer Behavior
• Section IV Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Understanding Sharing Economy and Marketing
• Section V Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Understanding Social Marketing
• Section VI Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: The Power of Online Consumer Reviews
• Section VII Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Addressing Global Crises
• Section VIII Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Understanding the Benefits of Sustainability Reporting Practices by Social Enterprises
• Section IX Advances in Knowledge of Social and Sustainable Marketing: Safeguarding against Unsocial and Irresponsible Customers
• Section X Pedagogical Directions and Best Practices: Imparting Social and Sustainability Marketing Competencies
• Section XI Selected Case Studies to Reflect on Practice and Use as Learning Tools: Case Studies from Emerging Economies
• Section XII Selected Case Studies to Reflect on Practice and Use as Learning Tools: Case Studies from Emerging Economies (Complex and/or Long)
• Section XIII Selected Case Studies to Reflect on Practice and Use as Learning Tools: Sustainability Marketing in the NFL
• Section XIV Selected Case Studies to Reflect on Practice and Use as Learning Tools: Case Studies from Developed Economies (Complex and/or Long)
• Section XV Selected Case Studies to Reflect on Practice and Use as Learning Tools: Global Case Studies