Sustainable Innovations, Strategic Digital Marketing and Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

The last five decades have witnessed increased environmental awareness, which has resulted in increased integration of sustainability into firms’ business practices (McAloone & Pigosso, 2017) and popularity of sustainable development as a key management concept. Sustainable development refers to development efforts aiming to make improvements in economic welfare that take social implications and environmental protection into consideration. Organizations have different strategies and approaches to sustainability, including recycling, conservation and preservation (Trento et al., 2021), development and delivery of sustainable innovations and products, application of environmentally friendly marketing techniques, such as the use of strategic digital marketing to promote sustainability, and outright integration of sustainability into business models and practices.  

Indeed, increased environmental awareness has led companies to integrate sustainability into their business practices (McAloone & Pigosso, 2017) and innovations (Ndubisi et al., 2020). Kneipp et al. (2019) indicated that sustainable innovation is the creation of something new that improves performance in the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, environmental and economic. In the same vein, Adams et al. (2016) argued that sustainable innovation aims to attain the specific purpose of creating and realizing social and environmental value beyond economic returns by changing philosophy and organizational values, as well as products, processes or practices. Zhang et al. (2021) and Cooper (2004) refer to social performance as firms' behavior and shared social values that make people translate a firm’s mission into action considering social and environmental well-being.

Many organizations strategically use their online marketing efforts to promote sustainability. By deploying online marketing to promote brands and connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication, firms can promote sustainability. Email, social media, and web-based advertising, text and multimedia messages as marketing channels have a less adverse impact on the environment than the traditional paper and ink options. This Special Issue is interested in cutting-edge research on how sustainable innovations and strategic use of digital marketing can promote sustainable processes and outcomes at different levels viz. individual, organizational and societal.

References

Adams, R.; Jeanrenaud, S.; Bessant, J.; Denyer, D.; Overy, P. Sustainability-oriented innovation: A systematic review. Int. J. Manag. Rev. 2016, 18, 180–205.

Cooper, S. Corporate social performance: A stakeholder approach. Ashgate Publishing: Farnham, UK. 2004

Kneipp, J.M.; Gomes, C.M.; Bichueti, R.S.; Frizzo, K.; Perlin, A.P. Sustainable innovation practices and their relationship with the performance of industrial companies. Rev. de Gestão. 2019, 26. https://doi:10.1108/rege-01-2018-0005.

McAloone, T.C.; Pigosso, D.C.A. From ecodesign to sustainable product/service-systems: A journey through research contributions over recent decades. In: Stark R.; Seliger G.; Bonvoisin J. (Eds) Sustainable Manufacturing. Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management. Springer, Cham: New York, NY, USA. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48514-0_7.

Ndubisi, N.O.; Zhai, X.; Lai, K-H. Small and medium manufacturing enterprises and Asia’s sustainable economic development. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 2021, 233, 107971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107971.

Trento, L.R.; Pereira, G.M.; Jabbour, C.J.C.; Ndubisi, N.O.; Mani V.; Hingley, M.; Borchardt, M.; Gustavo, J.U.; de Souza, M. Industry-retail symbiosis: What we should know to reduce perishable processed food disposal for a wider circular economy. J. Clean. Prod. . 2021, 318, 128622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128622

Zhang, M.; Zeng, W.; Tse, Y. K.; Wang, Y.; Smart, P. Examining the antecedents and consequences of green product innovation. Ind. Mark. Manag. 2021, 93, 413–427.

Prof. Dr. Nelson Oly Ndubisi
Prof. Dr. Marios Katsioloudes
Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Medeiros Pereira
Guest Editors

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