Marketing

What is the Relationship Between Sustainability and Marketing?

Marketing advances sustainability by engaging customers and consumers in promoting sustainable consumption through product offerings and consumption models. Consumer behavior research informs sustainable marketing strategy.

According to Sustainable Marketing by Diane Martin and John Schouten, "sustainable marketing is the process of creating, communicating and delivering value to customers in such a way that both natural (resources nature provides) and human (resources people provide) capital are preserved or enhanced throughout.” Perhaps more than any other business major (or business function), marketing has enormous power to inspire new habits, help consumers envision new realities, and to change culture.

The traditional sales-orientation is expanded by sustainable marketing to include a more robust customer engagement and education component. After all, nearly every change we need to make to improve our treatment of people and the planet involves customers changing behaviors. That's what marketing is all about!

Why Sustainability Needs Marketing

Consumer spending accounts for roughly 70% of U.S. GDP, making it the largest driver of the American economy. US advertising and marketing media spend grew by 11% year-over-year in 2024 to a total of $551.9 billion. Moreover, much of the planet resources we want to conserve flow literally through our hands: only about 9% of plastic is recycled and the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every single second.

Meanwhile research from Nielsen, the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) and others shows strong and persistent demand for sustainable products across food, clothing, personal care items, electronics and more. This includes a preference not only for environmental responsibility but a desire to support minority and women-owned businesses.

And this isn't just talk. Consumer spending on sustainability is increasing and for many companies their sustainable product lines are growing faster and pulling the business along.