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Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 17604

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Business Administration, Laval University, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: globalization of production; Industry 4.0 and global value chain; sustainable value chain; sustainable production and consumption; organization and resilience
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Slimane Ed-Dafali

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Guest Editor

Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion d’El Jadida, El Jadida, Morocco
Interests: marketing management; bottom of pyramid marketing; corporate responsibility; sustainable development; innovation strategy; corporate governance; entrepreneurial finance; strategic management

Dr. Saeb Farhan Al Ganideh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Interests: international marketing; sustainable consumption; immigrants' consumption, acculturation, geo-economics patterns and integration; effects of hosting a mega-sport event on country image; social media and marketing; machine learning and fuzzy logic; understanding buying behavior

Dr. Bilal Khalid

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Ladkrabang Bangkok, Thailand
Interests: local consumption; ethical consumption; e-commerce in the emerging market; luxury consumption; digital marketing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Social marketing plays a major role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is most commonly defined as the use of commercial marketing strategies and technologies to address health issues and resolve societal problems by influencing mass behavior to promote actions that are advantageous to both society and the individual. Ultimately, the central aspect of the UN SDGs is the guarantee of social needs and ecological equilibrium while promoting a sustainable development agenda. Previous studies demonstrate that social marketing could be adopted to efficiently address these challenges, focusing on the behaviour of target audiences. Despite the fact that social marketing has been employed to effectively bring social change and sustainable development, there is an ongoing need for critical literacy to discuss the benefits and harms of such practices, especially in a changing world. For instance, sustainable marketing is observed to influence both sustainable competitive advantage and market performance (Hussain, Mu, Mohiuddin, Danish, and Sair, 2020).

This Special Issue (SI) focuses on investigating how and when sustainable marketing acts as a lever towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Indeed, the benefits of social marketing can go beyond influencing social behaviors, because of the importance of sustainable production and consumption processes seeking to concur with the growing awareness of sustainability and environmental issues among consumers (Meng, Mohiuddin, Cao, 2022). We aim also to enhance our understanding on the critical antecedents, dimensions, and consequences of social marketing and how social marketing may be used to sustain value creation and positive social change, including that businesses would benefit from social alliances in a period of social change for social marketing purposes sustainably.

For the purpose of this Issue, the focus will be on the extent to which the widespread adoption of social marketing tools will also contribute to the purpose of successfully overcoming environmental concerns, as well as assessing the effectiveness of social marketing interventions. In order to fully explore the importance of social marketing approaches for the Sustainable Development Goals, the contributions to this Special Issue should adopt a multidisciplinary approach. This includes conceptual, methodological, empirical, and case-based perspectives.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin
Dr. Slimane Ed-Dafali
Dr. Saeb Farhan Al Ganideh
Dr. Bilal Khalid
Guest Editors

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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 2400 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

behavior change
ethical and socially responsible marketing
green marketing
green marketing orientations
marketing ethics
positive social change
social marketing
social marketing and sustainability
social marketing models
social sustainability
socio-ecological innovations
strategic social marketing orientations
sustainability marketing
sustainable development goals
sustainable marketing approaches
value creation and destruction

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 2940 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Factors Influencing Purchase Intention toward Recycled Apparel: Evidence from China

by Xiaofang Jin, Azizah Omar and Kai Fu

Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3633; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093633 - 26 Apr 2024

Viewed by 632

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework that integrates both consumer-specific and product-specific factors, with a particular focus on consumer value perceptions regarding recycled apparel and their impact on consumer attitudes and purchase intention. The framework combines the Perceived Consumer Value (PCV) with the Knowledge–Attitude–Behavior (KAB) model. To validate the proposed conceptual framework, an online survey was conducted with a purposive sample of 716 participants in China. Using structural equation modeling, the hypotheses of the conceptual model were tested. This study identified four dimensions of perceived value and environmental knowledge as significant factors that positively influenced customers’ attitudes toward purchasing recycled apparel. Notably, it was found that perceived quality value had a more pronounced effect on purchase intention than other factors. Interestingly, product knowledge did not demonstrate a significant impact on attitudes. By exploring this under-researched topic, this study provides new insights into consumer behavior in the context of sustainable fashion in a non-Western context. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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20 pages, 2360 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Consumer-Perceived Risks and Sustainable Development of China’s Online Gaming Market: Analysis Based on Social Media Comments

by Ling Lin, Tao Shu, Han Yang, Jun Wang, Jixian Zhou and Yuxuan Wang

Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12798; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712798 - 24 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1081

Abstract

Online gaming constitutes an indispensable facet of China’s digital economy, catalyzing consumer discussions on social media platforms. This study employs a comprehensive natural language processing framework, encompassing topic mining, multi-label classification, and sentiment analysis, to evaluate consumers’ psychological perceptions of the risks associated with online games through social media comments. This study identifies 11 distinct perceived risk topics, including “Excessive Temptation”, “Entry Regulation”, and “Culture Implantation”. Numerous comments encompass multiple topics, each infused with diverse emotional inclinations, thus unveiling disparate consumer perspectives. These findings underscore the critical significance of addressing potential perceived risks and mitigating negative consumer emotions for enterprises operating within online gaming. Such measures are pivotal to maintaining a brand image, business reputation, and enduring growth. Furthermore, this study extends valuable insights to regulatory bodies, contributing to enhancing administrative efficiency, safeguarding consumer rights, and fostering a robust and sustainable trajectory within China’s online gaming market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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22 pages, 498 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Corporations’ ESG for Sustainable Investment in China: The Moderating Role of Regional Marketization

by Ningning Kong, Yu Bao, Yiyuan Sun and Yawen Wang

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 2905; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042905 - 6 Feb 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2749

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate corporations’ ESG for sustainable investment in China, with the moderating role of regional marketization. ESG is a form of business value for enterprises, including the three pillars of environmental, social, and governance, aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the economy and society. ESG is vital for corporations’ sustainable investment, but such influence is always limited by the level of regional marketization, which has been rarely studied by the previous literature. In this study, we use data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021 to conduct an empirical analysis to examine whether ESG performance can improve firm investment and if the degree of regional marketization plays a moderating role. Furthermore, we identify the underlying mechanism of ESG performance influencing corporate investment. It has been discovered that ESG performance improves firm investment, and the impact of ESG performance on investment level enhancement is stronger in places with a higher level of marketization. The further tests still support our results. This study provides a reference to develop ESG and regional marketization to push corporations’ sustainable development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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19 pages, 1069 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Digital Marketing: Factors of Adoption of M-Technologies by Older Adults in the Chinese Market

by Bohan Zhang, Li Ying, Muhammad Asghar Khan, Madad Ali, Sergey Barykin and Agha Jahanzeb

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 1972; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031972 - 19 Jan 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3261

Abstract

A rapidly graying population has coincided with the widespread use of information technology (IT) since the turn of the 20th century. As the elderly are less familiar with IT, paying attention to the acceptance of the rapidly evolving digital marketing ecosystem is essential. Engagement with consumers and M-technologies is one of the most significant aspects of the digital marketing environment. The technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) were used to develop the theoretical framework of this study. Using technological anxiety as a moderating variable, we tested the theoretical model linking perceived value, subjective norm, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and self-efficacy to measure older adults’ attitudes and intentions toward M-technology. Sample sizes of 251 respondents were selected with 95% confidence. To analyze the relationships between the variables proposed, structural equation modeling (SEM) was implemented. The results revealed that perceived value positively affects performance expectancy, effort expectancy, self-efficacy, subjective norm, attitude, and intention to adopt M-technology. Furthermore, technology anxiety moderated the effect of intention toward M-technology. The results explain that technology anxiety dampens the positive impact of the attitude of older adults on their intention to adopt M-technology. Managers must address this issue while developing marketing strategies for elderly consumers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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16 pages, 1764 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Two-Way Influences on Sustaining Green Brand Engagement and Loyalty in Social Media

by Huan-Ming Chuang and Chien-I Chen

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1291; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021291 - 10 Jan 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1961

Abstract

In the current era, social media is changing how people interact with each other and their perceptions of branding, marketing, and commerce. Due to the growing concern about the sustainability of the environment and the wellbeing of societies, green marketing and branding are essential to reach these aims. Leveraging the power of brand pages in social media for green branding and impact are critical issues. This study is concerned with information influence, persuasiveness, adoption, and its impact on green page use engagement, especially on social media, such as Facebook. Based on the perspective of the Information Adoption Model (IAM) and Information Acceptance Model (IACM) that integrated theories from information influence and adoption, this study advances by identifying the antecedents of information usefulness and applying information adoption in the context of Facebook brand engagement. A questionnaire survey with 416 valid responses from Facebook fan page users is used. The hypotheses of the proposed model are tested using a structural equation model with AMOS software. The results show that: (1) Information and source credibility are two critical antecedents of information usefulness with different degrees of impact. (2) Information usefulness, brand engagement, and brand loyalty are found to have a significant cause-and-effect relationship. (3) Brand engagement is found to mediate the relationship between information usefulness and brand loyalty. (4) Enhancing information usefulness would improve customers’ brand loyalty to the brand pages. The significant findings of this study could provide insightful information on how to improve the engagement and loyalty of Facebook brand page users to sustain the benefits of green marketing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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13 pages, 418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

CSR Influence on Brand Loyalty in Banking: The Role of Brand Credibility and Brand Identification

by Mobin Fatma and Imran Khan

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010802 - 2 Jan 2023

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5463

Abstract

The present research study examines the influence of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumer brand loyalty in the banking industry. The present research also examines the indirect relationship between CSR and brand loyalty via brand credibility and brand identification. The causal relationship is tested among perceived CSR, brand identification, brand credibility, and brand loyalty. Data were collected through a survey of banking customers (n = 315) in India. Structural equation modeling techniques (SEM) were employed further to analyze the data with AMOS version 24.0. This study expanded the traditional view of CSR effects on consumers and tried to fill the gap that exists in the literature by analyzing the effect of perceived CSR, brand credibility, and brand identification on consumer brand loyalty in banking services. The findings drawn from the study have significant implications for banking companies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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9 pages, 397 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Consumer Formation of CSR Image: Role of Altruistic Values

by Mobin Fatma

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15338; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215338 - 18 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1235

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how the consumer constructs the CSR image of their banking company in their mind. This study is quantitative in nature. Data were collected using a personal survey of bank customers through a structured questionnaire. The current study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) for testing the proposed hypothesized model. The findings drawn from the present study show that altruistic values have a significant role in corporate credibility, which is an important antecedent of the customer formation of CSR images. The contribution of the present study lays in making explicit the moderating role of altruistic values, in terms of their effects on consumer trustworthiness and expertise, in the consumer formation of CSR images. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Marketing Approaches for Sustainable Development Goal)

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