ABSTRACT
This final chapter identifies a number of future issues in the tourism/social marketing nexus with particular respect to the political and ethical dimensions of consumption and product promotion. The chapter revisits some of the concerns and issues that have been raised throughout the book with respect to the nature and role of social marketing in tourism. The chapter therefore questions the extent to which marketing is value free and a ‘neutral tool’ for organisations, and the importance of the values of the persons and organisations engaged in marketing. The chapter argues that many dimensions of social marketing demonstrate the importance of the ethical positions of the researcher and the organisations involved in the development of marketing strategies. In addition the chapter notes that marketing alone is not enough to necessarily change behaviour or develop sustainable tourism and that regulation is also necessary. Nevertheless, social marketing will remain a vital component in the strategies used to develop sustainable tourism. Motivations For Corporate and Environmental Social Responsibility: The Case of Scandinavian Airlines
Lynes and Andrachuk (2008: 377) state that in the context of corporate social and environmental responsibility many corporations can be categorised as being ‘torn between social consciousness and shareholder profits’. Whilst many studies have examined motivations for environmental responsibility (Annandale and Taplin 2003; Bansal and Roth 2000; Khanna and Anton 2002; Orlitzky et al. 2011) and those motivations that emphasise social responsibility (Anderson and Bieniaszewska 2005; Bendell et al. 2005; Bichta 2003; Flammer 2012; Tullberg 2005), there is an emergent trend in the literature on this topic that looks at both corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSER) and how each of these concepts operates in tandem with the other (Egri and Ralston 2008; Jenkins and Yakovleva 2006; Lund-Thomsen 2004). Lynes and Andrachuk (2008: 377) note that ‘increasingly, however, corporations are realising – for varying reasons – that being environmentally and socially conscious makes good business sense’.
A key example of one prominent corporation that has struggled to bridge the gap between idealism and reality concerning CSER is can be seen in the case of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). According to Lynes and Andrachuk (2008: 377) ‘being a good corporate citizen is a strong driver at SAS with respect to social responsibility – however, the effort to promote this image is not as strong as with environmental issues’. Scandinavian Airlines’ mandate in terms of its corporate social and environmental responsibility is based on the European Commission (2002) definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as the level of commitment (which is also voluntary) of firms to make a contribution to society in terms of social and environmental goals. The management of this particular mandate has been cited by Edström (1991) as being critical to not only creating a positive image for Scandinavian Airlines as a company, but also has been proven to be a powerful tool in terms of helping the company to ‘achieve better negotiating power with the government’ (Lynes and Andrachuk 2008: 383).
The potential political power that can be generated for the firm in terms of dealing with government organisations through maintaining and following a strict CSER programme provides a clear motivation for Scandinavian Airlines and how they attempt to manage the public perception of their company in terms of their social responsibility. Lynes and Andrachuk (2008: 386) state the following with regards to how motivation on this particular level works for large companies:
The effect of the interaction of influences, motivations and catalysts leads a firm towards a given level of commitment to CSER. This commitment can be seen through pledges to take action (e.g. corporate policies), the action itself (e.g. tools and personnel), reporting and external validation of its actions as well as some form of measurement for improvement (e.g. internal indicators).
Several issues were found to directly impact on the implementation of environmental and social responsibility initiatives at SAS. The first issue that is particularly important in this case is that of culture (Lynes and Andrachuk 2008). As airlines obviously operate in multiple international settings, the value systems that operate in terms of CSER across different countries will vary, a fact that Lynes and Andrachuk (2008: 388) acknowledge in this case when they state that ‘because of differing fundamental assumptions within other cultures of what being socially responsible is, as SAS expands its operations abroad, it is having to adjust its social reporting mechanisms to better reflect the airline’s commitment towards social responsibility’. The degree to which Scandinavian Airlines could implement social responsibility initiatives also became an issue as initiatives were found to be directly affected by internal regulatory measures and a lack of union support; this industry reality is what Lynes and Andrachuk (2008) cited as having the ability to appear to act as a deterrent when airline management were attempting to choose the best options for the environmental responsibility initiatives. The final issue that was found in this case to have a substantial impact on environmental and social responsibility initiatives at SAS was lack of readily identifiable tangible financial benefits from social responsibility. Andersson and Bateman (2000) suggest that the relationship between financial imperatives and championing environment and green marketing concepts is often fraught with problems due to the intangible nature of such concepts, and as Lynes and Andrachuk (2008) contend this is a real problem when attempting to implement and market sustainable initiatives. Future research in this area may reveal new approaches that large organisations such as SAS could utilise to overcome resistance to their desire to be perceived as sustainable, but this remains to be seen; it appears that in this case social marketers well and truly have to reach for new ideas and expand the realms of existing thought within the discipline of social marketing itself in order to solve the issues at hand.
