ABSTRACT
In recent years, the significance of sustainable development has unprecedentedly increased in our society. Sustainability is defined as development of a capable system by which environmental, social, and economic well-being can be maintained long term without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Chabowski, Mena, & Gonzalez-Padron, 2011; Huang & Rust, 2011; Jackson, 2006; Seyfang, 2009; World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). In the past decade, people have increasingly acknowledged that it is vitally important to actively respond to the challenge of sustainable development in order to reconcile the limited environmental resources available. More than ever, business companies, investors, customers, and policy makers not only regard sustainability as a profoundly important goal for our current and future lives (Chabowski et al., 2011; Crittenden et al., 2011; Engardio Capell, Carey, & Hall, 2007; Peloza & Shang, 2011; Pfeffer, 2010; Sheth, Sethia, & Srinivas, 2011; Werbach, 2009), but they also seek to develop a system to enhance sustainability (Bansal, 2005; Elkington, 1998). Within this emerging megatrend of sustainability (Lubin & Esty, 2010), corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Brown & Dacin, 1997; Luo & Bhattacharya, 2006; Matten & Moon, 2008; Russell & Russell, 2010; Sen & Bhattacharya, 2001; Torelli, Monga, & Kaikati, 2011; Varadarajan, 2010), corporate citizenship (Maignan, Ferrell, & Hult, 1999; Matten & Crane, 2005), environmentalism (Banerjee, Iyer, & Kashyap, 2003; Cronin et al., 2011), enviropreneurial marketing (Menon & Menon, 1997), and sustainable consumption (Jackson, 2006; Tukker, Cohen, Hubacek, & Mont, 2010; Young, Hwang, McDonald, & Oates, 2010) have emerged as important topics responding to these vibrant movements aimed at sustainability (Chabowski et al., 2011). Corporate social and environmental responsibility has also been one of the important criteria used to evaluate business firms’ performance (Chabowski et al., 2011). With these advances, marketing researchers have suggested various conceptual frameworks for facilitating sustainability. For example, Hult (2011) proposes a framework of market-based sustainability that strategically aligns sustainability issues with
consumer needs and wants and interests of multiple stakeholders. In a different approach, Sheth, Sethia, and Srinivas (2011) introduce the concept of mindful consumption, which links a consumer mindset concerning the self, the community, and nature with sustainable consumption and behavior.
