The structure of sustainability marketing research: a bibliometric review and directions for future research

Abstract

PurposeSustainability principles have been practiced and researched in marketing for nearly five decades, but the challenges we face today are still significant. This context defines the purpose of this paper, which is to find, synthesize and critically evaluate the existing literature on marketing in a sustainability context from 1969 to 2019. The ultimate aim is to provide a unified body of literature on sustainability marketing and classify the extant literature.Design/methodology/approachThe relevant articles from selected journals were identified and manually verified using the Scopus database. The SPAR- 4- SLR protocol provides the framework for the methodology. In total, 749 articles were eligible for inclusion in the study.FindingsThe research findings are presented in the form of article categorization into 11 thematic categories. The thematic categories outlined previous studies' trend and contribution characteristics under the individual category, illustrating their implications.Practical implicationsThe literature review aids in understanding the current state of research and piques researchers' interest in sustainability marketing. The findings of the study will be a valuable resource for future scholars, managers and policymakers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by providing valuable insights from previous research on the research trend in sustainability marketing and by providing a recommendation for future research avenues. After a long hiatus, this is the most up-to-date comprehensive article, providing a general overview of research trends.

Research trends of sustainability and marketing research, 2010–2020: Topic modeling analysis

“…This sustainability dominant perspective of businesses specifically emphasizes economic growth concerning market and consumption and technological solutions for environmental and social problems [ [4] , [5] , [6] ]. Moreover, following the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainability has become a topic of discussion worldwide, and several companies and organizations have proposed sustainable frameworks for both businesses and societies as a response to serious environmental, societal, and financial issues [ [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] ]. In such periods of anxious turbulence, marketing scholars and practitioners recognize that sustainability is a well-known matter in every business sector [ 1 , 12 , 13 ].…”

“…Although some scholars argue that the UN's concept of sustainability goals is not feasible, scholars and practitioners have recognized the significant role of sustainability as an integrated research field and as an integral component of business strategy [ 6 , 30 ]. Marketing growth has witnessed the concurrence [ 7 , 8 , [31] , [32] , [33] ] that the future of business depends on the fundamental and consequential compliance with sustainability. The term “sustainability” is employed extensively across diverse disciplines including engineering, social science, liberal arts, science, and various business sectors [ 11 , 15 , 29 , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] ].…”

“…By contrast, macro-marketing embraces the complexity of both micro- and meso-marketing, as both drive sustainable systems and make sustainable contributions to enterprises and industrial companies [ 42 , 55 , 56 , 58 ]. Consequently, attempts have been made to develop sustainability views and frameworks from a marketing perspective [ 7 , 15 , 42 , 55 ]. However, limited literature is available highlighting the trends in sustainability and marketing based on objective and reliable data.…”

“…Sustainability is a natural process in business-related disciplines, especially in marketing, because both company executives and scholars are responsible for a profitable and sustainable future [ 4 , 7 , 31 ]. Subsequently, there have been numerous definitions of sustainability in the marketing field.…”

Predicting Indonesian Consumers’ Intention to Buy Green Cosmetics Using The Modified TPB Framework

“…Therefore, companies always try to actively communicate, inform and promote all of these "green" activities to the audiences and consumers using all available marketing platforms in order to relay all of these messages effectively (Aldaas et al, 2022;Basu et al, 2022;Padilla and Collazo, 2022). In this case, all of the efforts spent by the companies in order to effectively promote, communicate and convince consumers and other people regarding all of the responsible, sustainable and eco-friendly business activities performed by these companies were known as green marketing (Martins, 2022;Bhattacharyya, 2022;Anggraeni and Susilowati, 2022;Puttawong and Kunanusorn, 2021).…”