Using Macromarketing to Teach Business Sustainability

Abstract

The first macromarketing seminar held in 1976 represented a first attempt to “hack the system” of business schools to bring a societal focus to the teaching of marketing. This effort resulted eventually in macromarketing becoming a major field of the marketing discipline. Today, forces outside the business school are pointing business schools to broaden their curricula to include social responsibility in the form of macromarketing, sustainability, and marketing for a better world. The purpose of this article is to discuss the challenges and opportunities of teaching macromarketing and sustainability concepts to business students so that more macromarketing managers would develop and exert their influence in marketplaces around the world. Important points include (a) the imperative for macromarketing-minded educators to advocate for curriculum changes in their own business schools, and (b) the need for macromarketing-minded educators to become more capable teachers of macromarketing and sustainability content with students more skeptical about such content. This article offers a constructivist approach to setting the stage for students engaging macromarketing and sustainability content for the first time. Embracing the paradox of managerial macromarketing and integrating experiential learning highlight this approach.

Understanding How Stand-Alone Sustainability Courses Are Taught in Marketing: A Global Baseline Analysis

“…This seems to demonstrate that most courses approach the topic of sustainability marketing from a social impact and strategic perspective. This is in line with prior research that identifies that business schools are tasked with broadening their curricula “to include social responsibility in the form of macromarketing, sustainability, and marketing for a better world” (Peterson, 2021, p. 1).…”

“…Our analysis provides information needed for educators to begin to develop course content and ultimately become more capable teachers of sustainability topics (Peterson, 2021). We analyzed general course information, course titles and the terms used to define sustainability, course topics that are incorporated, course objectives and how sustainability marketing–related learning objectives have evolved over time, how knowledge is conveyed, and finally how learning is assessed.…”

“…Finally, although limitations subsist, this research can be viewed as a global baseline and reference point for future investigations of marketing and sustainability curriculum development. With little pedagogical research guiding marketing educators in the area of macromarketing, including sustainability, this research provides a starting point for inclusion of these innovative topics (Peterson, 2021; Shapiro et al, 2020). For instance, future research could compare the number of sustainability marketing courses at the total number of AACSB-accredited business schools versus all business schools per country, and examine proportionality in regard to region, type of school, or level to investigate if there is an effect.…”

“…Researchers agree that an organizational approach to sustainability incorporates the synchronous pursuit of economic, environmental, and social goals (Bridges & Wilhelm, 2008). Albeit awareness of conceptual differences between sustainability marketing and other terms such as social marketing, green marketing, and social entrepreneurship subsist (Wilhelm, 2008), terms such as “sustainable,” “sustainability,” “green,” or “environmental” are often used interchangeably by practitioners and educators (Albinsson et al, 2020; Kemper & Ballantine, 2019; Minton et al, 2012), even finding social responsibility in forms of “macromarketing, sustainability, and marketing for a better world” (Peterson, 2021, p. 1). Thus, with regard to the present research endeavor, a broader look at sustainability might be required to identify stand-alone courses that focus on sustainability marketing–related topics at business schools worldwide (Upadhyaya et al, 2019).…”

“…This article sets forth to provide a baseline analysis of stand-alone sustainability marketing-related courses taught at business schools worldwide. The analysis provides information needed for educators to begin to develop course content and ultimately become more capable teachers of sustainability topics (Peterson, 2021). Marketing educators have begun to realize the importance of sustainability as a topic area within marketing, and the last decade has witnessed a rise in curriculum development related to sustainability marketing (Albinsson et al, 2020).…”