This paper deals with a perceived conflicting paradox between consumerism and sustainability among top marketing executives of three purposely selected corporations, where each company represent a current organizational paradigm: the functional, the human radical and the interpretative. A case study methodology, based on in depth interviews, combined with a comprehensive bibliographic research, enabled to address how the planet limitations to provide resources can influence business strategies.  Functional paradigm companies, for example, pursue infinite growth while we live in a finite planet. The question is if the Marketing Department of those companies in the different organizational paradigms have a role in providing inputs in the strategic long term planning. Furthermore, if the marketing discipline in the academic environment influence decision makers that participate on the companies’ business planning to shape the future in a perceived environment in 2017 where consumerism is posed in the against road of the planet sustainability. The study revealed that, the Marketing Department has limited power or voice to influence business decisions. On the other hand, ‘greener’ initiatives like Social Marketing, Green Marketing and Sustainable Marketing has potential to either evolve to or incorporate a new discipline concept, so called in this paper as ‘Conscious Marketing’. This opportunity should be kicked off at the academic level in Universities and Business Schools that may reinforce the relevance of the theme and help to build in the students, a new generation of professionals, the knowledge that we live in a finite planet with limited resources and that the humanity need to revisit its consumption standards to ensure living conditions to the future generations.

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Much has been said these days about the World’s limited capacity to provide sustainable resources vis a vis the growing population's demand for goods and supplies in a planet of finite resources. According to the Living Planet Report, produced by the NGO World Wildlife Fund (WWF): “At humanity's present rate of consumption, by 2030 we'll need the resources of two Earths just to survive long-term. There are really two options: start building another Earth, or drastically change our lifestyles. Which one is supposed to be easier?”[1]The present article addresses this issue from the point of view of the marketing executives of big companies, responsible to lead the communication and growth strategies of those companies, often encouraging 'consumerism' to meet the profit and revenue growths. The idea was to understand if this topic is relevant to these professionals,hence their companies, and raise some hypotheses of how to approach this problem in order to provoke those companies to practice "conscious marketing". Going one step further, does the type of organizational paradigm in which the executive company acts should influence the way to approach this professional when conducting personal interviews to collect data? An initial analysis on the theory of how to develop market research questions to avoid bias and/or induced responses, will lead to the article conclusion of how to set up a questionnaire that will be taken into consideration in a near future, at the masters’ thesis of the author.[1] Source:http://io9.com/5664078/humanity-will-need-two-earths-to-sustain-itself-in-just-twenty-years, access 02 dec 12