Sustainability Marketing

EQUIPS THE NEXT GENERATION OF MARKETERS WITH THE CRITICAL SKILLS AND ETHICAL MINDSET TO LEAD IN A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED CHANGE

Since its first publication in 2009, Sustainability Marketing has set the standard for how marketers can respond to global environmental and social challenges. Now in its third edition, this award-winning text remains a definitive resource in the field—blending rigorous theory, diverse global examples, and actionable strategy.

Sustainability Marketing offers a comprehensive, structured, and deeply insightful guide to integrating social, environmental, and ethical concerns into modern marketing strategies, delivering both theoretical depth and practical tools to help students and practitioners alike navigate the evolving sustainability landscape. With a fresh emphasis on global challenges, digital transformation, and circular economy principles, the third edition reflects the latest research, real-world case studies, and pressing debates in the field.

Covering a wide range of key topics, from rethinking the sustainability marketing mix to navigating the ethical tensions of brand activism, the authors provide a compelling blueprint for building marketing strategies that drive innovation, strengthen brand trust, and contribute meaningfully to sustainable development.

Sustainability Marketing: A Global Perspective, Third Edition, is essential reading for advanced students exploring the future of responsible business, educators integrating sustainability into their curriculum, and marketing professionals looking to align strategy with purpose and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable world.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• Expanded focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing how marketers are aligning strategies with global policy frameworks
• New content on greenwashing, consumer trust, and ethical marketing dilemmas, Including societal and humanistic marketing perspectives in a polarized media and political environment
• Cutting-edge analysis of digitalization and AI, exploring opportunities such as personalization and engagement, as well as risks of data asymmetries, algorithm-driven polarization, and deepfakes
• Deeper integration of circular economy thinking, examining how product-service systems, sharing models, and value co-creation are reshaping marketing roles and metrics
• Timely global case studies and updated data ranging from large multinationals to agile start-ups across a variety of sectors, geographies, and consumer segments, including new and emerging companies and enterprises that exemplify innovative sustainability marketing practices
• Insights into brand activism and its risks that help readers understand the fine line between purpose-driven engagement and public backlash
• Coverage of the implications of sustainable supply chains for marketing and the role of traceability and transparency in generating credibility
• Incorporated and replaced the latest research to strengthen both the theoretical foundation and practical application of sustainability marketing, including new research on clean technologies highlighting marketing’s role in accelerating adoption and communicating impact

WILEY ADVANTAGE

• Provides a structured, step-by-step approach grounded in the original sustainability marketing framework, refined and expanded for today’s complex challenges
• Equips students and professionals with actionable frameworks for implementing sustainability in real marketing contexts
• Offers a truly global perspective with stories and challenges drawn from every continent that cover diverse industries
• Reflects the latest academic findings and real-world practices, while remaining concise and accessible for a 12-week course
• Employs a balanced, critical lens to unpack the tensions, trade-offs, and controversies involved in sustainable marketing
• Includes learning objectives, discussion questions, and “Sustainability Challenges” in each chapter

Preface xi

Acknowledgements xv

Part I Understanding Sustainability and Marketing 1

1 Marketing in the Twenty- First Century 3

A Very Short History of the World 5

The Twentieth Century: The Century that Transformed the World 6

Sustainable Development 8

Challenges for the Twenty- First Century 10

The Evolution of Marketing Thought 16

Beyond ‘Modern’ Marketing 17

2 Framing Sustainability Marketing 25

Marketing in Context 27

Elements of Sustainability Marketing 34

Corporate Context: Corporate Social Responsibility 37

Part II Developing Sustainability Marketing Opportunities 47

3 Socio- Ecological Issues 49

Socio- Ecological Issues on a Macro Level 51

Socio- Ecological Impact of Products on a Micro Level 61

4 Sustainable Consumer Behaviour 80

Sustainability and Consumption 83

The Consumption Process 88

Understanding Sustainable Consumer Behaviour 92

Contextualising Sustainable Consumer Behaviour 101

Harnessing Sustainable Consumer Behaviour 104

Part III Developing Sustainability Marketing Standards and Strategies 119

5 Sustainability Marketing Values and Objectives 121

Sustainability Marketing: Challenging Basic Assumptions 123

Sustainability Marketing Values: Brand Ethos 128

Sustainability Marketing Objectives: The Triple Bottom Line 134

6 Sustainability Marketing Strategies 144

Marketing Strategy and Sustainability 147

Understanding the Marketing Environment 148

Developing a Sustainability Marketing Strategy 158

Part IV Developing the Sustainability Marketing Mix 181

7 Customer Solutions 183

Marketing Myopia 185

Customer (Pre-)Purchase Solutions 185

Customer Use Solutions 188

Customer Post- Use Solutions 192

Sustainability Branding 195

8 Communications 207

The Ambivalence of Communication 209

Sustainability Communication – Getting the Message Right 213

Sustainability Communication – Getting the Message Across 217

Ambassadors and Advocates: Who Communicates for Us? 225

Sustainability Marketing Claims: Keeping Things Credible 231

9 Customer Cost 246

Total Customer Cost: The Consumer Perspective 248

Total Customer Cost: The Marketer Perspective 252

10 Convenience 271

Consumption and Convenience 273

Convenience in Purchase 275

Convenience in Use 282

Convenience in Post- Use 284

Online Convenience 286

Part V Developing the Future of Sustainability Marketing 293

11 Sustainability Marketing Transformations 295

Sustainability Marketing Transformation: The Inside–Out Perspective 297

Corporate Transformations 299

Market Transformations 304

Political Transformations 307

Social Transformations 308

Sustainability Marketing Transformations: Possibilities and Problems 311

12 Reframing Sustainability Marketing 318

Thinking Again About Sustainability Marketing 320

Towards a More Sustainable Economy 323

From Sustainability Micromarketing to Sustainability Macromarketing 328

Social Marketing and Sustainability 332

Towards a Prosperous ‘One Planet’ Society 335

Conclusions: A Final Rethink 337

Index 347

FRANK-MARTIN BELZ is a Professor at the Technische Universität München (TUM School of Management), specializing in sustainability marketing and corporate social responsibility. With extensive research in sustainable business practices, he has authored numerous academic publications and co-authored multiple editions of Sustainability Marketing: A Global Perspective. His work focuses on integrating sustainability into marketing strategies, consumer behavior, and innovation.

KEN PEATTIE is a Professor at Cardiff Business School and former Director of the ESRC Research Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability, and Society (BRASS). A leading expert in sustainability marketing, he has published extensively on corporate responsibility, green marketing, and sustainable business models. His research bridges academia and industry, shaping the development of ethical and environmentally responsible marketing strategies.

NAZ ONEL is a Professor of Business Administration at Stockton University, School of Business, USA. She serves as President of the Northeast Business & Economics Association (NBEA) and Editor-in-Chief of SAM Advanced Management Journal (SAMAMJ). Committed to scholarship, innovation, and transformative research, she actively publishes and contributes to her field. Her work focuses on driving meaningful change at the intersection of business, marketing, sustainability, and consumer behavior.

EQUIPS THE NEXT GENERATION OF MARKETERS WITH THE CRITICAL SKILLS AND ETHICAL MINDSET TO LEAD IN A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED CHANGE

Since its first publication in 2009, Sustainability Marketing has set the standard for how marketers can respond to global environmental and social challenges. Now in its third edition, this award-winning text remains a definitive resource in the field—blending rigorous theory, diverse global examples, and actionable strategy.

Sustainability Marketing offers a comprehensive, structured, and deeply insightful guide to integrating social, environmental, and ethical concerns into modern marketing strategies, delivering both theoretical depth and practical tools to help students and practitioners alike navigate the evolving sustainability landscape. With a fresh emphasis on global challenges, digital transformation, and circular economy principles, the third edition reflects the latest research, real-world case studies, and pressing debates in the field.

Covering a wide range of key topics, from rethinking the sustainability marketing mix to navigating the ethical tensions of brand activism, the authors provide a compelling blueprint for building marketing strategies that drive innovation, strengthen brand trust, and contribute meaningfully to sustainable development.

Sustainability Marketing: A Global Perspective, Third Edition, is essential reading for advanced students exploring the future of responsible business, educators integrating sustainability into their curriculum, and marketing professionals looking to align strategy with purpose and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable world.

NEW TO THIS EDITION

• Expanded focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing how marketers are aligning strategies with global policy frameworks
• New content on greenwashing, consumer trust, and ethical marketing dilemmas, Including societal and humanistic marketing perspectives in a polarized media and political environment
• Cutting-edge analysis of digitalization and AI, exploring opportunities such as personalization and engagement, as well as risks of data asymmetries, algorithm-driven polarization, and deepfakes
• Deeper integration of circular economy thinking, examining how product-service systems, sharing models, and value co-creation are reshaping marketing roles and metrics
• Timely global case studies and updated data ranging from large multinationals to agile start-ups across a variety of sectors, geographies, and consumer segments, including new and emerging companies and enterprises that exemplify innovative sustainability marketing practices
• Insights into brand activism and its risks that help readers understand the fine line between purpose-driven engagement and public backlash
• Coverage of the implications of sustainable supply chains for marketing and the role of traceability and transparency in generating credibility
• Incorporated and replaced the latest research to strengthen both the theoretical foundation and practical application of sustainability marketing, including new research on clean technologies highlighting marketing’s role in accelerating adoption and communicating impact

WILEY ADVANTAGE

• Provides a structured, step-by-step approach grounded in the original sustainability marketing framework, refined and expanded for today’s complex challenges
• Equips students and professionals with actionable frameworks for implementing sustainability in real marketing contexts
• Offers a truly global perspective with stories and challenges drawn from every continent that cover diverse industries
• Reflects the latest academic findings and real-world practices, while remaining concise and accessible for a 12-week course
• Employs a balanced, critical lens to unpack the tensions, trade-offs, and controversies involved in sustainable marketing
• Includes learning objectives, discussion questions, and “Sustainability Challenges” in each chapter