Special Issue "Sustainable Marketing and Strategy"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal
2. GOVCOPP, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal
Interests: innovation; sustainability; research methods; strategy and marketing
Dr. Maria José Sousa
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Political Science and Public Policies, Business Research Unit, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Iscte), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: public policy; innovation; strategy, information and data science
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable Marketing and Strategy is the theme of this Special Issue of Sustainability (MDPI). In the literature, we have seen growing evidence of how sustainability efforts are increasingly bringing significant benefits to enterprises. These benefits include increased brand awareness, as those firms that stand out tend to catch the attention of consumers who are increasingly keen to help and not hurt the environment. Consumers are thus opting for more environmentally friendly firms, which is thus a means to achieving greater competitiveness. That the sustainability theme may be seen simply as a marketing tactic has also been debated. Surely it does make strategic and marketing sense to be nice to the community, above what is required by law. Doing so, in sincere and planned efforts, will reap better returns in the age of the informed consumer. Greenwashing must be avoided at all costs, as firms will be punished for not being authentic in their social responsibility efforts. We are thus eager to receive your manuscripts along these and other topics, as the debate on climate change and about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in general, have had the attention of the general public for some time now. One may be eager to see how the future unfolds and to see whether private enterprise may be ushering in a new era whereby many of society’s unsolved problems may finally be eradicated or at least significantly diminished.

Dr. Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira
Dr. Maria José Sousa
Guest Editors

References

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  2. Balsalobre-Lorente, D., Driha, O. M., Shahbaz, M., & Sinha, A. (2020). The effects of tourism and globalization over environmental degradation in developed countries. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(7), 7130–7144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07372-4
  3. Benke, K. & Tomkins,B. (2017). Future food-production systems: vertical farming and controlled-environment agriculture. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 13(1), 13-26. doi:10.1080/15487733.2017.1394054  
  4. Camino,   R.J. (2007).   Re-evaluating   green   marketing   strategy:   a   stakeholder   perspective.   European   Journal   of   Marketing, 41(11/12):1328-1358
  5. Chen, Y., Chang, C. (2013). Greenwash and Green Trust: The Mediation Effects of Green Consumer Confusion and Green Perceived Risk. J Bus Ethics 114, 489–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1360-0
  6. Chriki S. & Hocquette J., F. (2020). The Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review. Front. Nutr. 7(7). doi:10.3389/fnut.2020.00007.
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  8. Dolnicar, S., Juvan, E., Grün, B. (2020). Reducing the plate waste of families at hotel buffets – a quasi-experimental field study. Tourism Management, 80, 104-103. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104103
  9. Fraj-Andrés, E., Martinez-Salinas, E., Matute-Vallejo, J. (2008). A Multidimensional  Approach  to  the  Influence  of  Environmental  Marketing and Orientation on the Firm’s Organizational Performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(2): 263-286
  10. Hamad, A.F., Han, J.-H., Kim, B.-C., Rather, I.A. (2017). The intertwine of nanotechnology with the food industry. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 25(1). doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2017.09.004
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  13. Maignan, I., Ferrell, O.C., Ferrell, L. (2005). A  stakeholder  model  for  implementing  social  responsibility  in  marketing.  European Journal of Marketing, 39(9/10): 956-977
  14. Park, E., Kim, K. J., & Kwon, S. (2017). Corporate social responsibility as a determinant of consumer loyalty: An examination of ethical standard, satisfaction, and trust. Journal of Business Research, 76(1), 8–13.
  15. Poore, J. & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992. Retrieved from https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987
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  20. Rivera, X.C.S., Leadley, C., Potter, L., Azapagic, A. (2019). Aiding the Design of Innovative and Sustainable Food Packaging: Integrating Techno-Environmental and Circular Economy Criteria. Energy Procedia, 161. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2019.02.081
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  22. Sudbury-Riley, L., & Kohlbacher, F. (2016). Ethically minded consumer behavior: Scale review, development, and validation. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 2697–2710.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sustainable marketing
  • Digital marketing for sustainable strategies
  • Marketing and big data to shape customer behavior
  • Green branding strategies
  • Marketing and corporate social responsibility
  • Marketing ethics
  • Marketing and sustainable decision-making
  • Sustainable marketing policies for a green market

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Strategic Talent Management: The Impact of Employer Branding on the Affective Commitment of Employees
Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9993; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239993 - 29 Nov 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1421
Abstract
In a globalization context, underlined by the speed of technological transformation and increasingly competitive markets, the perspective of human capital, as an asset of strategic importance, stands out in differentiating human resource practices. Under this reality, the employer branding (EB) concept gains more [...] Read more.
In a globalization context, underlined by the speed of technological transformation and increasingly competitive markets, the perspective of human capital, as an asset of strategic importance, stands out in differentiating human resource practices. Under this reality, the employer branding (EB) concept gains more and more importance as a strategic tool to attract, retain, and involve human capital, given that this has become a source of competitive advantage to companies. Within this context, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between employer branding strategies implemented by organizations, as well as their impact on the employee’s affective commitment, evident in certain organizational cultures, which are sustained over time. The methodological framework applied to this study is quantitative, and the data collection was carried out with the application of an employer branding and an affective commitment questionnaire. To achieve a good representation of the active population, the sample of the quantitative study was composed of 172 individuals, working in the public and private sectors in Portugal, exercising different positions in the different sectors of activity. Results obtained with these techniques indicate a high level of affective organizational commitment (AOC) of employees in the organizations surveyed, suggesting that affective commitment develops when the individual becomes involved and identifies with the organization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Marketing and Strategy)
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Article
Developing a Wine Experience Scale: A New Strategy to Measure Holistic Behaviour of Wine Tourists
Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 8055; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198055 - 29 Sep 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1342
Abstract
This study develops a scale to measure wine tourism experiences and was tested in Portugal, in two of the main wine tourism centres: Porto and Madeira. The wine experience scale combines experience traits with the traditional approach to scales related to wine tourism. [...] Read more.
This study develops a scale to measure wine tourism experiences and was tested in Portugal, in two of the main wine tourism centres: Porto and Madeira. The wine experience scale combines experience traits with the traditional approach to scales related to wine tourism. The development of the scale follows the most recognised validated procedures. Data were collected from a total of 647 international wine tourists in the wine cellars of the two main fortified wine tourism regions visiting areas: Porto and Madeira. Structural equation modelling (SEM-AMOS) was used as the main analysis and validation tool. The resulting 18-item wine experience scale comprises four major dimensions: (1) Wine storytelling, (2) wine tasting excitement, (3) wine involvement, and (4) winescape. All these showed reliable and validated indicators. This new scale presents a valid new tool to better measure and evaluate experiences in a wine tourism setting. This study offers a broad range of use for academics, managers, planners, and practitioners. It shows how a new measurement tool focused on the wine tourism experience in terms of several outcomes and applications, addressing important practical managerial implications, can have an impact on academic research. Most previous tourism scales still fail to measure the specifics of wine settings. This is the first scale that comprises the dimensions of experience with wine senses, applied in a relevant wine destination where research is still limited. The results are relevant in boosting the increasingly recognized awareness of Portugal as wine tourism, as well as bringing experience scales to the body of knowledge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Marketing and Strategy)
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Article
New Ways of Working and the Physical Environment to Improve Employee Engagement
Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 6759; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176759 - 20 Aug 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1479
Abstract
Employee engagement is becoming an increasingly essential factor in organizational competitiveness. Although employee engagement is an extensively researched topic, the roles of new ways of working and physical environment factors are still under exploited. As such, this study examines the relationship between physical [...] Read more.
Employee engagement is becoming an increasingly essential factor in organizational competitiveness. Although employee engagement is an extensively researched topic, the roles of new ways of working and physical environment factors are still under exploited. As such, this study examines the relationship between physical environment factors, the dimensions that integrate new ways of working, and employee engagement. Survey data with 126 respondents are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate a positive significant relationship between the physical environment factors and work engagement. Furthermore, this relation is mediated by four facets regarding new ways of working. The results also indicate that, for the group where facilities were not modified, the new ways of working are a stronger predictor of work engagement when compared with the group where facilities were modified. These findings extend existing knowledge on the antecedents of employee engagement, namely physical environment factors and new ways of working. Another important contribution is related to the mediating role of several facets of new ways of working in the relationship between physical environmental factors and employee engagement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Marketing and Strategy)
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