Sustainability

Against the background of B2C e-commerce platforms, ecological agricultural enterprises often overlook the issues of quality and safety, as well as product image shaping, during their operations, thereby affecting consumers’ purchase decisions. This study adopted authoritative scales and utilized data from 201 questionnaires to empirically investigate the influence of brand images on brand attitudes. Firstly, variables of consumers’ perception and brand attitude were measured through questionnaires. Secondly, regression models were used to discuss the impacts of different brand storytelling themes on brand attitudes. Finally, models of the mediating and moderating effects were employed to empirically study the mechanisms of consumers’ perception and regional familiarity. The research results indicate that brand storytelling themes of ecological agricultural products have a significant positive impact on consumers’ brand attitudes. Consumers’ perception of authenticity plays a mediating role, while regional familiarity acts as a moderator. The research conclusions enrich brand evaluation systems, deepen the related research on brand storytelling themes of agricultural products, reveal the inherent mechanism of the influence of brand storytelling themes of ecological agricultural products on consumers’ brand attitudes, and provide a reference for the practice of regional brand narratives of agricultural products. Full article

With the rapid advancement of global technology, high-tech industries have become key drivers for the economic growth of many nations and regions. This study delves into the spatiotemporal dynamics and determinants influencing China’s high-tech sector from 2007 to 2021. The key findings include the following: (1) Nationally, the high-tech sector has been a cornerstone for China’s GDP growth over the preceding 15 years. The expansion rate of the high-tech domain consistently outpaces the broader economy. In particular, since 2015, the percentage of high-tech industries’ GDP has surged to approximately 42%. (2) At the provincial level, the spatial representation of the high-tech sector’s GDP predominantly leans towards the east and the south, revealing pronounced spatial autocorrelation. Nevertheless, the demarcations between east and west and between north and south are progressively diminishing. (3) Regarding influential determinants, R&D internal expenditure, operating revenue, and industry agglomeration have been instrumental in spearheading innovation and bolstering growth within the high-tech realm. These insights are invaluable for comprehending the evolutional nuances of China’s high-tech industry and devising pertinent policy measures. Full article

When it comes to waste management, it is essential to consider human and environmental safety, financial feasibility, and social benefits. So often, one of these factors takes priority over the others. However, integrated social, environmental, and economic benefits are more apparent with insect-based waste treatment technology like the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) system. BSF waste treatment is an innovative and adaptable technique that offers sustainable benefits to communities in developing countries because it can be designed to be as simple or complex as required. Depending on the local context, simple (open) systems based on naturally occurring flies or more complex (closed) systems based on captured fly colonies are viable. However, what are the environmental tradeoffs when choosing between these two systems? The surge in the use of both BSF systems makes this consideration imperative. Furthermore, until now, the environmental and social impacts of open BSF waste treatment systems have not been compared. The environmental tradeoffs in implementing an affordable, socially accepted, open BSF biowaste treatment system are explored in this study to address this gap. Co-production for delivering public services was used to develop an accepted BSF system through a case study by applying qualitative interaction research methodologies. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was then used to compare the environmental impacts of natural ovipositing BSF systems compared to captured BSF systems. Natural ovipositing BSF (open) systems, in comparison, have reduced climate change (33%) and water, land, and energy use (55%, 37% and 32%) while also motivating the development of socially accepted infrastructure measured through community engagement. This mixed-methods approach facilitates the development of contextually appropriate technology in low-income communities in developing and developed countries while also reducing environmental consequences. Full article

This study examines whether and how corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance is associated with firms’ investment efficiency while considering the role of firms’ marketing capability. Using a sample of U.S. firms from 1991 to 2019, we find robust evidence that firms with better marketing capabilities (MC) are more likely to engage in ESG activities and receive higher ESG scores. In addition, ESG engagement by firms with better marketing capabilities reduces investment inefficiency. Moreover, we find that the effect of MC-fitted ESG is more prominent when economic policy uncertainty is low or agency costs are low. The results are also driven by social or environmental dimensions. Our empirical evidence extends the understanding of firms’ decisions cross-functionally. Full article

The effects of wastewater step-feeding (SF) on the performance of horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSF CWs) are numerically investigated. The purpose is to check if this alternative feeding technique increases the ability of HSF CWs to remove pollutants. Two methodologies are used: Initially, the tanks-in-series (TIS) methodology, based on the finite volume method (FVM), is analyzed using the volumetric degradation coefficient λ. In this case, the operation of a CW is similar to a series of continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs) operating under steady conditions. Then, the step-feeding (SF) procedure is presented, in which the CW is operated like a plug flow reactor (PFR). For the numerical investigation, the available experimental data for five existing HSF CWs are used. The results show that SF does not improve the performance of HSF CWs in removing biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) operating under Mediterranean conditions. When the HSF CWs operate without the SF procedure, the performance is between 55 and 81% for the TIS method and 60 and 89% for the PFR method, while the ability of the CW tank to remove the BOD decreases and varies from 48 to 79% (TIS) and from 54 to 86% (PFR), respectively. Full article

Interest in green marketing in both the academic and practitioner communities has undergone steady growth in recent years. With more than 150 papers published in 2022, the Web of Science (WOS) database confirms this premise. Although some bibliometric analyses on this topic exist, none has included a comprehensive review of the literature, authors, journals, theories, keywords, and future lines of research as does this study. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to consolidate a descriptive bibliometric analysis to identify the main themes studied, the most influential authors and journals, the most commonly used theories, the networks that exist between authors and topics, the most frequently used keywords, and their evolution over the years. It has been found that green marketing research has increased rapidly, especially since 2015. In total, 1741 research articles have been published in 828 journals. The top five authors, the top 10 cited publications, and the top five cited publications by the WOS classification are all analysed herein. Finally, based on keyword analysis, it is concluded that “sustainability”, “planned behaviour”, “performance”, and “trust” have attracted extensive attention over the past decade. Full article

A lot of research has been carried out to improve the sustainability of seawater desalination. Despite progress, relatively few studies have analyzed the sustainability of seawater desalination processes integrated on two fronts, i.e., (i) process integration and (ii) energy integration. In addition, life cycle assessment studies on multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination often neglect the impact of the disposed brine by assuming that dilution of the discharged brine impacts on ecological systems less. The present study contributes to these omissions by exploring the environmental sustainability of seawater desalination systems using life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). More specifically, the LCIA of Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) integrated with (i) an Electro-Dialysis (EDBMED) process and (ii) solar photovoltaics (PV) is investigated. Life cycle analysis was used to identify pertinent indicators of the LCIA and their implications in SWRO. The comparative analysis reveals that the advantage of SWRO as compared to other technologies such as MSF is energy efficiency, at estimated levels of 75.0%. The study concludes that despite the technological challenges associated with sustainable desalination and sustainable brine management, integrating renewable energy into seawater desalination can contribute to the sustainability improvements of seawater desalination systems. The findings of this paper provide an initial assessment of the ecological footprints of seawater desalination systems. Full article

Market segmentation behavior has led to environmental issues, notably, carbon emissions, during China’s economic transformation, posing a significant challenge to ongoing economic progress. This study builds upon the existing literature and empirical analyses on market segmentation and carbon emissions, establishing a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between market segmentation and carbon emission intensity. Using a panel dataset covering Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2020, we systematically examined the impact and transmission mechanisms of market segmentation on carbon emission intensity. This study revealed the following findings: (1) there is a significant positive correlation between market segmentation and carbon emission intensity, which remains true after a series of robustness tests; (2) the promoting effect of market segmentation on carbon emission intensity in the eastern region is significantly lower than that in the central and western regions and, as time goes by, the promoting effect of market segmentation on carbon emission intensity becomes smaller and smaller; (3) resource mismatch and industrial structure are two important transmission channels through which market segmentation affects carbon emission intensity; (4) market segmentation demonstrated a distinct positive spatial contagion impact on carbon emission intensity. This study provides valuable policy recommendations to align with China’s ‘dual carbon goals’ by supporting a unified market and fostering low-carbon development. These recommendations aim to steer China’s economy toward a greener and low-carbon transformation. Full article

The quality of OpenStreetMap (OSM) has been widely concerned as a valuable source for monitoring some sustainable development goals (SDG) indicators. Improving its semantic quality is still challenging. As a kind of solution, road type prediction plays an important role. However, most existing algorithms show low accuracy, owing to data sparseness and inaccurate description. To address these problems, we propose a novel OSM road type prediction approach via integrating multiple spatial contexts with DeepFM, named MSC-DeepFM. A deep learning model DeepFM is used for dealing with data sparseness. Moreover, multiple spatial contexts (MSC), including the features of intersecting roads, surrounding buildings, and points of interest (POIs), are distilled to describe multiple types of road more accurately. The MSC combined with geometric features and restricted features are put into DeepFM, in which the low-order and high-order features fully interact. And a multivariate classifier OneVsRest is adopted to predict road types. Experiments on OSM show that the proposed model MSC-DeepFM achieves excellent performance and outperforms some state-of-the-art methods. Full article

Maritime ports represent an important ecosystem for pollutant emissions and, considering the ongoing energy transition, need to adopt new solutions to mitigate current emission levels. These emissions are partially avoidable if ships and vessels docked at the port use electric energy to feed their power needs instead of using their internal combustion engines. In Europe, there is an ongoing discussion on including such emissions in the European Union Emissions Trading System, which will represent added costs for maritime operators. Onshore power supply systems can contribute to the ongoing energy transition by allowing the use of electric power to feed docked ships. As a first step to contribute to the development of onshore power supply solutions, it is necessary to evaluate the added power needs that these systems would represent for the port. This paper presents a methodology that allows port operators to verify, straightforwardly and transparently, their power needs for onshore power supply applications. The methodology is based on the historical data of docked ships at the port or quay level and provides an energy analysis of each type of vessel to determine the power to be installed at the port so that it is possible to supply energy to different types of ships and vessels simultaneously. Additionally, the implemented methodology provides economic and technical decision support factors by comparing the fuel costs with electric power costs, assessing the potential for this transition to onshore power supply. The methodology is validated using a real case study for the Port of Lisbon, and obtained results demonstrate the potential for the installation of an onshore power supply in medium- to large-dimension maritime ports. Full article

Soil accumulated on a photovoltaic (PV) module can significantly reduce the transmittance of the cover glass, resulting in power losses and consequent economic losses. Natural atmospheric parameters influence the accumulation of soil at various geographic locations. In this paper, the approaches and outcomes of the research studies on either indoor (simulator-based) or outdoor (field-based) PV soiling have been thoroughly reviewed. It has been noted that conducting an indoor study is necessary in order to estimate future power losses prior to the installation of a solar PV power plant. Different parameters depicted for the power loss due to the soiling of PV modules are analyzed individually and presented. Moreover, this study delves into a detailed examination of the key factors influencing dust depositions on PV modules in various geographical regions, with a particular focus on their relationship with climatic conditions. This study demonstrates that the soiling effect on PV modules is site-specific, necessitating the investigation of optimal cleaning procedures to suit a certain climate while considering cost effectiveness. This way, probable future research directions to quantify soiling losses are identified. In addition, different loss prevention and mitigation techniques are also reviewed. This makes it possible to highlight effective strategies and pinpoint potential future research lines in these areas. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the economic operations of many cities worldwide. Because tourism depends on migratory qualities, it has been severely constrained by the pandemic, which has affected the tourism business in several places. The research period for this paper is 2019–2021, and a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution pattern and influencing factors of the tourism economic resilience of China’s coastal cities is conducted using the resistance index, Theil index, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and geographic detector model with the goal of deepening the theory of tourism economic resilience and providing a reference for the sustainable development of tourism. The results revealed several trends. First, in terms of temporal changes, the fluctuation trend of tourism’s economic resilience in each city before and after the pandemic had a certain degree of stability and convergence, with only a few cities showing significant differences in their amplitude of fluctuations in 2021. Second, in the spatial pattern, the regions with high resilience and relatively high resilience were mainly concentrated in the western, northeastern, and eastern regions, and the northeastern-eastern regions with relatively high resilience were gradually developed in the agglomeration and a contiguous pattern. Third, the influencing factors of tourism’s economic resilience before and after the pandemic, despite differences, are still largely affected by the combined influence of the city’s economic level, industrial structure, tourism resource endowment, and other factors. Full article

With the development of industry and agriculture, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the agricultural sector have gradually increased to different degrees, leading to an escalation in environmental pollution. In turn, this escalation has presented a significant possibility of endangering agricultural practices on farmland and has had a serious impact on regional sustainable development. Therefore, a total of 117 samples of soil were gathered to research the pollution level, distribution, sources, and health risk of PAHs in Helan farmland soils. A reference was used for the identification and quantification of PAH content using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an ultraviolet detector, and their spatial distribution was analyzed utilizing the Arc Geographic Information System (ArcGIS). The source of PAHs was analyzed by absolute principal component scores/multiple linear regression (APCS-MLR). The lifetime cancer risk increment model and Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis were used to assess the potential health hazards to humans associated with PAHs in soil. Within the current study area, PAHs were higher in the northwest. The results showed that the total content of PAHs in Helan farmland soil ranged from 17.82 to 1544.73 ng·g⁻¹ with a mean of 408.18 ng·g⁻¹, which indicated the middle degree of pollution in farmland soil. The verification results of the APCS-MLR model showed that the correlation coefficient between the measured values and the predicted values ranged from 0.661 to 0.984, which suggested that the APCS-MLR model demonstrated favorable suitability for conducting source analysis of PAHs in the soil within the study region. Based on the contribution of PAHs from each source, the main sources of PAHs in Helan farmland soil were the combustion source (biomass, diesel, and natural gas combustion) and the transportation source (gasoline for vehicles and traffic exhaust emissions). The health risks’ estimation showed that PAHs in farmland soil did not have potential health risks for adults but represented a carcinogenic risk for children via the main exposure pathway of ingestion with the mean intake of 1.28 × 10⁻⁵. Meanwhile, the carcinogenic risks (CRs) of dermal contact for the mean value of adults (9.32 × 10⁻⁷) was found to be higher than that for children (3.18 × 10⁻⁸). From the Monte Carlo simulation, the soil particle uptake rate was the most sensitive to the health risks of children and adults with risk probabilities of 26% and 52%, and the risk probabilities from body weight were −11% and −1%, whose negative value indicated that the increase in body weight could reduce the health risks to human. These findings could provide reference for the study of soil organic pollution in Helan farmland soil and contribute significantly to the preservation of the ecological environment, maintaining human health and safety, and promoting the sustainable development of regional farmland. Full article

This study aims to provide a more robust understanding of the elements involved in emergency managers’ decision-making processes when issuing hurricane evacuation orders. We used the principles of the theory of bounded rationality to formulate research questions for understanding decision-making during uncertain times (i.e., hurricane evacuation orders). We then conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with county emergency managers in Florida to understand how this decision-making process unfolds. Results showed that emergency managers consider two primary factors in their decision-making process, including fixed and random factors. Fixed factors refer to elements and information that are known to emergency managers and do not change drastically from one hurricane to another (e.g., homeless population, poor housing structure). Random factors, on the other hand, refer to elements involved in hurricane decision-making that cannot be precisely predicted (e.g., storm surge). Random and fixed factors then blend in with other elements (planning, collaboration, and information assessment) during the response phase of an emergency. The interplay among these elements can ultimately influence emergency managers’ hurricane evacuation decisions. Although the existing research has made significant strides in studying many aspects of emergency managers’ decision-making processes, there have been limited discussions about the various factors that emergency managers consider for issuing hurricane evacuation orders. Our study highlights the broader implications of information interpretation, situational uncertainty, and collaboration for emergency management organizations responsible for making decisions about hurricane evacuation orders. Using the theory of bounded rationality, this study dissects both fixed and random factors influencing evacuations. In doing so, it has the potential to assist emergency managers in developing more sustainable hurricane evacuation plans in the future. Full article

Climate action in cities is increasingly recognized as of strategic importance to accomplish the global governance of climate change. In Europe, cities are adopting a “mission approach” to accelerate urban transformations and reach climate neutrality targets by 2030. While the “Mission” unfolds, it is worth acknowledging that in the last decade, cities in Europe have engaged in climate action. Through a selection of empirical case studies, this review examines the main governance approaches that have been used to analyze the implementation of transformative adaptation and mitigation measures in the Global North. This approach aims to respond to the gap between policy rhetoric of urban transformations and the realities of on-the-ground implementation. This systematic literature review asks the following question: what are the challenges and key success factors amongst the governance approaches that have informed the implementation of transformative climate agendas in cities of the Global North? The findings cover conceptual approaches to analyze the governance of urban transformations, and cases illustrate the challenges in mainstreaming climate action, even in cities that are environmental champions. The need to strengthen collaborations to deliver transformative interventions is raised, while the authors also caution about power imbalances in network governance. Full article

This study investigates the water-saving and emission-reduction effects of biofilm technology on the pond culture of largemouth bass (Micropterus pallidus) and Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) using a combination of biofilm water purification grids and a complex microbial preparation. The results show that during the 150-day largemouth bass aquaculture trial, the TN, TAN, TP, nitrite, and LP in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group by 26.2%, 74.7%, 53.9%, 30.7%, and 59.1% (p < 0.01), respectively. During the 145-day aquaculture trial of Japanese eel, the TN, TAN, and TP levels in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group by 30.1%, 68.6%, and 18.7% (p < 0.01), respectively. The nitrite and COD levels were also significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group by 18.3% and 16.0% (p < 0.05). In addition, largemouth bass and Japanese eel tailwater nitrogen and phosphorus discharges were significantly reduced and culture yields were significantly increased. This biofilm pond culture technology has advantages such as low cost, water saving and emission reduction, increased production, ease of operation, and a wide range of applications. Full article

The significance of wellbeing in the construction industry has increased due to the high frequency of accidents. However, the existing research fails to comprehensively address the various aspects of wellbeing. To address this gap, we conducted a literature review on wellbeing in the construction industry and carried out a trend analysis of its multiple dimensions. A systematic review of 162 peer-reviewed journal articles was performed using scientometric analysis and qualitative trend analysis techniques. The results indicated that the discussion on wellbeing in the construction industry tends to overlook its multifaceted nature. Prominent publication outlets were identified, with a focus on environmental and physical wellbeing, while recognising notable contributions in the field of mental wellbeing and the limited contributions to other dimensions of wellbeing. This study offers valuable insights for both researchers and industry practitioners. Researchers can identify priority areas for future research based on the identified gaps, while construction companies can gain awareness of the potential relevance of wellbeing in the industry. This study contributes to the existing knowledge on wellbeing in the construction industry by analysing its various dimensions and providing research directions. It serves as a reference point for interpreting findings and offers guidance for future research endeavours. Full article

Sustainable marketing aims to encourage consumer behaviour that will improve the environmental and social outcomes of consumption. Despite decades of effort, however, manufacturers and retailers often see disappointing shopper responses to their sustainable marketing efforts. This paper argues that this is because many sustainable marketing efforts are hampered by false assumptions about how buyers behave in retail settings. The purpose of this paper is to take two commonly accepted sustainable marketing retail beliefs—that ‘sustainable’ brand buyers are a different type of retail shopper and that they are more loyal to these brands than shoppers of non-sustainable brands—and draw upon two established marketing empirical generalisations, the Law of Brand User Profiles and the Law of Double Jeopardy, both built over decades of research, to show that these beliefs are, in fact, myths. We use 22 sets of continuous data spanning five categories in the UK to illustrate this. Mean Absolute Deviations were used to compare the profile of sustainable brand users against non-sustainable brand users. The Dirichlet model of buyer behaviour was applied to the data to examine loyalty to sustainable brands. The results show sustainable brands are just like all other retail brands in their performance. This is a positive finding as it means they can utilise ‘regular’ brand growth knowledge to increase their market share. Overall, the paper illustrates the process and benefits of moving to a view of sustainable marketing that has stronger scientific underpinnings and that leads to more realistic shopper response expectations for retailers and manufacturers. Full article