Sustainability Marketing Tools in Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

As emphasized in the previous chapter, sustainability marketing entails activities that include all levels of management in small and medium enterprises; that is, strategic, operational and tactical. The role of marketing activities of a sustainable nature involves building customer satisfaction and generating profit for an enterprise, while simultaneously taking into consideration the impact of such activities on society and environment as a whole. Combining all those areas poses a serious challenge to contemporary SMEs. Nevertheless, an effective use of sustainability marketing principles enables companies to achieve the above-specified tasks and gain a strong position in the market over the long term. The nature of the relationship established with various market entities ensures that strong position, because the use of sustainability marketing is equivalent to adopting a relationship-oriented attitude.

Fulfilling the tasks of sustainability marketing requires the employment of tools from the sustainability marketing mix, which comprises the following: sustainability in product, price, distribution, promotion and personnel. The adoption of sustainable development principles by SME marketing departments does not fundamentally change the basic properties of the tools in the mix, that is their complementarity and the resultant synergy effect, but it expands the scope of their impact on the society and environment. This chapter presents a discussion on the nature and specificity of individual tools in the sustainability marketing mix.

Citation

Wiścicka-Fernando, M. (2018), "Sustainability Marketing Tools in Small and Medium Enterprises", Rudawska, E. (Ed.) The Sustainable Marketing Concept in European SMEs, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 81-117. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78754-038-520180005