Ambiguity of Purpose and the Politics of Failure: Sustainability as Macromarketing’s Compelling Political Calling

Abstract

In this commentary we provide a brief review of sustainability research in the journal since its inception. Next, we offer an opinion on macromarketing’s ambiguity to sustainability as a political project and a resultant failure to provide substantial emphasis beyond the Development School for solutions in the field. Despite macromarketing’s centrality to marketing theory, the work in the journal has not had the impact it deserves in wider sustainability discourses. As two macromarketers with a lifelong interest in sustainability, we argue for more political reflection within the journal. We contend these current times of crisis require us to better listen to and act on prior counsel from critical and political perspectives within the journal, and submit, á la George Fisk, the journal’s first editor, that the politics of the day demand a persistence to continue to ask difficult questions. From a sustainability perspective this would be to consider how best to engender future macromarketing research in the field as a political project.

The Intention-Behavior gap in Ethical Consumption: Mediators, Moderators and Consumer Profiles Based on Ethical Priorities

“…This discussion considers the findings of macromarketing literature on how to build a market-driving approach for sustainable marketing (Sheth and Parvatiyar 2020). Understanding the I-B gap through its mediator and moderator variables may provide information on the links and strength of influencing variables to close the gap from intention to behavior, and consequent calls for political action (Prothero and McDonagh 2020). These actions may result in incentives for higher ethical consumption consciousness, industrial innovation processes for ethical production, and the creation of systems to overcome pricing and supply chain obstacles regarding ethical products.…”

Is sustainable marketing based on virtue ethics the answer to addressing socio-ecological challenges facing humankind?

“…Practical wisdom Here, we circle back to the same argument, this is not the marketer's job, and being aware of interconnectedness is meaningless if you are not in a position to do anything about it. A CEO is certainly better placed to act on awareness of ecological interconnectedness, but due to the socio-ecological and political combination in society (Prothero & McDonagh 2021) the challenge of sustainability cannot be extracted from politics. A CEO can instruct the company to operate on the principles of a closed loop system which appreciates the sustainability challenge as the megatrend of our times.…”

Our Obsolete Marketing Mentality: George Fisk, Meet Karl Polanyi

“…The point is that the market mechanism is only one of many ways , and government/state control is not the only alternative. This broader perspective will interest all macromarketers, but perhaps especially those working in the fields of marketing and development (Arndt 1981; Böhm and Brei 2008; Ingenbleek 2014; Figueiredo et al 2015; Godinho, et al 2017), critical marketing (Burton 2001; Firat and Tadajewski 2009; Tadajewski 2010; Dholakia 2012), those interested in alternative economies (Benmecheddal, Gorge and Özçağlar-Toulouse 2017; Campana, Chatzidakis, and Laamanen 2017; Lloveras and Quinn 2017; Watson and Ekici 2020), those interested in sustainability (Visconti, Minowa, and Maclaran 2014; Prothero and McDonagh 2021; Varadarajan 2020), especially if social sustainability and cultural survival are among the areas of concern, and those interested in the long view (Lusch 2017; Shultz 2017). Those working in marketing and development, especially, must remember that market capitalism grew, and grows, by reaching into and often destroying traditional economies integrated by institutions other than the market.…”