Sustainable Marketing and Innovation

Introduction

Special issue of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science; Deadline 15 Jul 2025

INTEREST CATEGORY: SUSTAINABILITY
POSTING TYPE: Calls: Journals

Posted by: Neeraj Bharadwaj

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Call for Papers for a Special Issue

Sustainable Marketing and Innovation

Guest Editors

Neeraj Bharadwaj, The University of Tennessee
Anders Gustafsson, Norwegian Business School
Jagdish N. Sheth, Emory University

Submission Deadline: July 15, 2025

Introduction and Background

Sustainability represents a foremost consideration among academics and executives alike. Specifically, marketing scholars and practitioners strive to better understand the implications of sustainable marketing and innovation activities on the consumer journey, business performance, and broader societal goals (see, e.g., Marketing Science Institute’s 2024 Research Priorities).To this end, this special issue aims to stimulate deeper insight into the topic of sustainability, which refers to “integrating environmental and societal concerns into business decisions and actions” (Bhattacharya and Jekielek 2023).

This special issue strives to attract even greater attention to sustainability as a critical area of study. Prior research within prestigious marketing and innovation journals explores how, why, and when sustainability initiatives ¾such as cause-related marketing (e.g., Ballings, McCullough, and Bharadwaj 2018; Schamp et al. forthcoming), corporate social responsibility (Kang, Germann, and Grewal 2016), corporate social irresponsibility (Kim, He, and Gustafsson 2024), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors (Singh et al. 2023), green marketing (Cronin et al. 2011), inclusivity (Rodriguez-Vila, Nickerson, and Bharadwaj 2024), and sociopolitical activism (Bhagwat et al. 2020)¾ shape consumer behavior, marketing strategies, new business processes and offerings, and the long-term viability of businesses and societies.

A sampling of the key areas of focus within these domains include:

  • Consumer Behavior: Examines how consumers’ awareness of company sustainability initiatives influences their attitudes and purchasing decisions (White, Habib, and Hardisty 2019), post-consumption disposal and recycling activities (Winterich, Nenkov, and Gonzales 2019), and brand advocacy and loyalty (Apte and Sheth 2016). Also, calls on researchers to address the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (Mende et al. 2024) and encourage planetary and consumer well-being (Sen et al. 2024).
  • Marketing Strategy: Investigates how companies can integrate sustainability into their marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) to meet consumer demand for environmentally friendly products (Olsen, Slotegraaf, and Chandukala 2014) and socially responsible communications (Nickerson et al. 2022), and whether: i) corporate social irresponsibility precedes corporate social responsibility (CSR), and ii) CSR drives financial performance (Kang, Germann, and Grewal (2016).
  • Innovation and New Product Development: Explores how new digital technologies (Stanko and Rindfleisch 2020), business models (Sorescu 2017), and orientations (Varadarajan 2017) can unleash pivotal adaptations to the traditional conception-development-launch ecosystem to address opportunities and challenges in the circular economy (Rose and Bharadwaj 2023) and the nature of work and collaboration (Baldassarre et al. 2024).
  • Digital Marketing and Sustainability: Studies whether CSR can mitigate data breaches (Zhu et al. 2024), and the role of digital platforms in promoting sustainable practices, including the use of social media to engage with environmentally conscious consumers and the impact of digital transformation on reducing the carbon footprint of marketing activities. (Kunz et al. 2024).
  • Societal Well-being: Explicates the domain of mindful consumption (Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas 2011), whether sustainable consumption makes consumers happy (Ramos-Hidalgo, Diaz-Carrion, and Rodriguez-Rad (2022) and how marketing of care (Chatzidakis, Eckhardt, and Husemann (forthcoming), etc. can aid in helping societies to flourish.
  • Challenges and Opportunities: Addresses the challenges companies face in implementing sustainable marketing practices, such as regulatory compliance, cost management, and aligning sustainability with business objectives (Sheth and Parvatiyar 2021). It also discusses the opportunities sustainability presents for innovation, market differentiation, and creating value for stakeholders (Chandy et al. 2024).

Suggested Topics

Despite widespread interest in sustainability from academics and practitioners alike, open questions remain regarding whether activities dedicated to the well-being of the natural environment, society, and/or corporate governance lead to beneficial outcomes. This Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) special issue seeks to attract research attention from marketing and innovation scholars to showcase how marketing can contribute to the sustainability dialogue.

Researchers are invited to submit manuscripts that address sustainability-related topics (i.e., environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and/or governance, or simply ESG hereinafter). Especially encouraged is research that explicates:

  • The effectiveness of sustainability campaigns in altering consumer behavior.
  • The role of digital marketing in promoting sustainable products and lifestyles.
  • The role of existing institutions and national policies in shaping acceptance of sustainable solutions.
  • The short- and long-term impact of ESG activities on financial performance.
  • Consumer responses to green marketing efforts.
  • Corporate and/or consumer activism and its consequences.
  • Corporate irresponsible behavior and its antecedents and consequences.
  • Unintended consequences of sustainability strategies (e.g., sub-optimization).
  • Strategies for integrating sustainability into brand identity and corporate messaging.
  • Innovative solutions on sustainability.
  • Design principles that can unleash sustainable innovation and new product development.
  • Ethical dilemmas in innovation and new product development.
  • The right scope and measurement to evaluate the success of sustainable innovation.
  • The organizational cultures and orientations that help balance existing business models and those which represent disruptions to the status quo in pursuing sustainability.
  • The authentic measures companies can undertake to prevent perceptions of green- and woke-washing.

Contributions should aim to identify actionable insights that can help businesses integrate sustainability into their marketing strategies, quantify the impact of sustainable marketing on consumer behavior and business outcomes, and contribute to a more sustainable global market.

The editors welcome a variety of methodological approaches (including experimental designs, longitudinal studies, content analysis, and comparative studies) and conceptual papers. Each submission should aim to contribute to the academic literature, inform marketing practitioners, and potentially influence policymaking in the realm of sustainable business practices.

Submission Guidelines

Papers targeting this special issue should be submitted through the JAMS submission system (), and will undergo a similar review process as regularly submitted papers. Submissions for the special issue begin June 1, 2025 with the final deadline for submissions being July 15, 2025. Please direct questions pertaining to the special issue to either Neeraj (nbharadwaj@utk.edu) or Anders (anders.gustafsson@bi.no). An associated special session will be held at the 2025 AMS conference (in Montreal). We encourage (but do not require) a 4-page Abstract submission to the 2025 AMS conference.

Timeline

JAMS “Sustainable Marketing and Innovation” Special Issue Call for Papers announcement August 15, 2024
AMS Conference Special Session or Pre-conference Workshop (Montreal, Quebec) (optional) May 21-23, 2025*

*Note: A four page Submission to AMS Conference is due on November 1, 2024. The Abstracts submitted to the JAMS Sustainability Special Issue Track will receive feedback from the guest editors.
JAMS Special Issue Paper submission deadline July 15, 2025**

 

**Submissions can begin June 1, 2025.

Biographies

Neeraj Bharadwaj (Ph.D.,University of Wisconsin)is the Proffitt’s Professor in Marketing at University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. Dr. Bharadwaj’s scholarly pursuits combine academic rigor with practical relevance, and current research interests include sustainability, branding, innovation, and livestream retailing. His publications appear inJournal of Marketing,Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, International Journal of Research in Marketing, andJournal of Product Innovation Management,among others.He is also an award-winning teacher, including University of Tennessee’s 2022 Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award.He currently serves as thechair of the ’s Sustainable Marketing and Innovation Special Interest Group (SUSTSIG).

Anders Gustafsson is a professor of marketing at BI The Norwegian Business School. Dr Gustafsson is also Distinguished Professorial Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS). Dr. Gustafsson has published articles in journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is the former editor in chief for Journal of Business Research. He was the first international president for ’s () academic council. Dr. Gustafsson is also a recipient of the Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award and an article of the Year Award from the Journal of Service Research. Recently, he has joined The Sheth Foundation and as a member of the board.

Jagdish N. Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Business, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, and has over 60 years of combined experience in teaching and research at the University of Southern California, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Columbia University, MIT, and Emory. Dr. Sheth has authored or coauthored more than 300 papers and numerous books and is globally known for his scholarly contributions in consumer behavior, relationship marketing, competitive strategy, and geopolitical analysis. He is: the recipient of all four top awards given by the (); a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) and International Engineering Consortium; and a Fellow of Academy of International Business (AIB), Association of Consumer Research (ACR), American Psychological Association (APA), and . He recently received the 2020 Padma Bhushan Award for literature and education, one of the highest civilian awards given by the Government of India. He and his wife, Madhu Sheth, established the Sheth Family Foundation and the Madhuri and Jagdish Sheth Foundation.

References

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Ballings, Michel, Heath McCullough, and Neeraj Bharadwaj (2018), “Cause Marketing and Customer Profitability,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(2), 234-251.

Bhagwat Yashoda, Nooshin L. Warren, Joshua T. Beck, and George F. Watson (2020), “Corporate Sociopolitical Activism and Firm Value,” Journal of Marketing, 84(5), 1-21.

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