Integrating sustainable development into their marketing strategy: practices of Lebanese agri-food industries
Abstract
Amidst technological growth and its environmental implications, there’s a global push for sustainable development using ethical methods that benefit both the planet and humanity. This underscores a rising corporate trend towards sustainability. Adopting this approach requires fresh methods and technologies to influence behavior changes. Consequently, marketing, when aligned with sustainability principles, becomes a pivotal tool for businesses transitioning to sustainable practices. The food industry, like other sectors, is not exempt from these considerations. This article focuses on examining how food industries in Lebanon are incorporating sustainable development principles into their marketing strategies. By studying their approaches, we aim to identify the level of integration of sustainability within the marketing practices of these industries, identify gaps, and to bring the future scientific research directions in marketing management. Thus, this research is conducted following the post-positivist paradigm and following a hypothetical-deductive approach. Hence the qualitative research and expert evaluation used to collect data due to its applicability to the context of the study. The target respondents are managers of the agri-food industries in order to measure the good practices of sustainable development of these industries and their Marketing strategy based on the 4Ps. Lebanon’s distinct challenges, from environmental to economic, call for specialized solutions. Achieving sustainability involves grasping local nuances, engaging stakeholders, and connecting different sectors. Sustainable marketing emphasizes local products and community ties, offering potential for significant change. The study indicates agri-food businesses mainly focus on environmental and economic elements. Yet, the research faced hurdles, like the pandemic, highlighting the need for context-awareness.
Keyword : sustainability, sustainable development, marketing strategy, marketing-mix, agri-food industries, good practices, sustainable marketing, Lebanon
How to Cite
Davidavičienė, V., Abou Fayad, C., & Gergess, M. (2024). Integrating sustainable development into their marketing strategy: practices of Lebanese agri-food industries. Business: Theory and Practice, 25(1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2024.19457
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Fan, D., Xiao, C., Zhang, X., & Guo, Y. (2021). Gaining customer satisfaction through sustainable supplier development: The role of firm reputation and marketing communication. Transportation Research Part E, 154, Article 102453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2021.102453
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Gordon, R., Carrigan, M., & Hastings, G. (2011). A framework for sustainable marketing. Marketing Theory, 11(2), 143–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593111403218
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Jagdish, N., & Parvatiyar, S. (2021). Sustainable marketing: Market-driving, not market-driven. Journal of Macromarketing, 41(1), 150–165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146720961836
Kelleci, A., & Yıldız, O. A (2021). Guiding framework for levels of sustainability in marketing. Sustainability, 13(4), 1644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041644
Kilelo, E. S., Nowicki, M., Nguka, G., Olimba, L. A., Konyole, S. O., & Termote, C. (2023). Food security’s broken link: The misalignment of stakeholder priorities in agriculture and nutrition in Vihiga county, Kenya. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 23(8), Article 24222. https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.123.23690
Kim, S. T., Park, S. R., & Lee, H. H. (2023). The impact of green supply chain management practices on performances of SMEs in the electronics industry: A Korean case. Journal of Managerial Issues, 35(2), 97–118.
Kaur, B., Gangwar, V. P., & Dash, G. (2022). Green marketing strategies, environmental attitude, and green buying intention: A multi-group analysis in an emerging economy context. Sustainability, 14(10), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106107
Kotler, Ph. (2020). Marketing and value creation. Journal of Creating Value, 6(1), 10–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2394964320903559
Kotler, P. (1980). Marketing management (4th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
Kotler, P. (2011). Reinventing marketing to manage the environmental imperative. Journal of Marketing, 75(4). https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.75.4.132
Kotler, P. (2021). Principles of marketing (18th ed.). Pearson Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59531-9
Le, T. T., Kieu, X. H., Behl, A., & Pereira, V. (2022). Building up more sustainable food supply chains: Implications for sustainable development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 378, Article 134650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134650
Libby, R., Trotman, K. T., & Zimmer, I. (1987). Member variation, recognition of expertise, and group performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72(1), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.72.1.81
Mancuso, I., Natalicchio, A., Panniello, U., & Roma, P. (2021). Understanding the purchasing behavior of consumers in response to sustainable marketing practices: An empirical analysis in the food domain. Sustainability, 13(11), Article 6169. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116169
Mangla, S. K., Luthra, S., Jakhar, S., Gandhi, S., Muduli, K., & Kumar, A. (2020). A step to clean energy – sustainability in energy system management in an emerging economy context. Journal of Cleaner Production, 242, Article 118462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118462
Mazurek-Łopacińska, K. (2021). Open innovations as a form of customer value co-creation. Marketing Instytucji Naukowych i Badawczych, 39(1), 93–118. https://doi.org/10.2478/minib-2021-0005
Ottman, J. A. (1998). Green marketing: Opportunity for innovation (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill.
Pomering, A. (2017). Marketing for sustainability: Extending the conceptualization of the marketing mix to drive value for individuals and society at large. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 25(2), 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.011
Ranjbari, M., Morales-Alonso, G. Z., Esfandabadi, Sh., & Carrasco-Gallego, R. (2019). Sustainability, and the sharing economy: Modeling the interconnections. Direccion y Organizacion, 68, 33–40. https://doi.org/10.37610/dyo.v0i68.549
Remi, R. (2020). Sustainability sells: Why consumers and clothing brands alike are turning to sustainability as a guiding light. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/sustainability-as-a-value-is-changing-how-consumers-shop
Retkutė, K., & Davidavičienė, V. (2021). Application of multichannel access and customer journey map in the context of innovative business projects. Journal of Service, innovation and Sustainable Development, 2(1), 100–120.
Riaz, H., Davidavičienė, V., Ahmed, H., & Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė, I. (2022). Optimizing customer repurchase intention through cognitive and affective experience: An insight of food delivery applications. Sustainability, 14(19) 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912936
Saraswati, N., & Wirayudha, A. (2022). Sustainability marketing mix on purchase decision through consumer’s green attitude as the moderating variable. International Journal of Economics, Bussiness and Accounting Research (IJEBAR), 6(3). https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR
Straková, J. (2015). Sustainable value added as we do not know it. Business: Theory and Practice, 16(2), 168–173. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2015.453
Suardi, I. D. P. O., Widhianthini, Arisena, G. M. K., Sukewijaya, I. M., & Krisnandika, A. A. K. (2023). Status of agriculture resources sustainability and agricultural policy in Denpasar city, province of Bali, Indonesia. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 23(3).
Temri, L., & Fort, F. (2009). Partage des bonnes pratiques de développement durable: le cas des PME agroalimentaires du Languedoc-Roussillon. Innovations 2009/1(29), 103–125. https://doi.org/10.3917/inno.029.0103
Todorovic, V., Maslaric, M., Bojic, S., Jokic, M., Mircetic, D., & Nikolicic, S. (2018). Solutions for more sustainable distribution in the short food supply chains. Sustainability, 10, Article 3481. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103481
Van der Waal, J. W. H., & Thijssens, T. (2020). Corporate involvement in sustainable development goals: Exploring the territory. Journal of Clean Production, 252, Article 119625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119625
Varey, R. J. (2013). Marketing in the flourishing society megatrend. Journal of Macromarketing, 3(4), 354–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146713489150
Voola, R., Bandyopadhyay, C., Voola, A., Ray, S., & Carlson, J. (2022). B2B marketing scholarship and the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs): A systematic literature review. Industrial Marketing Management, 101, 12–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.11.013
White, K., Habib, R., & Hardisty, D. J. (2019). How to SHIFT consumer behaviors to be more sustainable: A literature review and guiding framework. Journal of Marketing, 83(3), 22–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919825649
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press.
Wu, Y.-C., & Lin, S.-W. (2021). Integrated approach for exploring critical elements that affect the sustainable development of cultural and creative industries. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 22(3), 596–615. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2021.14261
Zou, G. L., & Chau, K. W. (2015). Determinants and sustainability of house prices: The case of Shanghai, China. Sustainability, 7, 4524–4548. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7044524
Ahmed, R. R., Qureshi, J. A., Štreimikienė, D., Vveinhardt, J., & Soomro, R. H. (2020). Guerrilla marketing trends for sustainable solutions: Evidence from SEM-based multivariate and conditional process approaches. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 21(3), 851–871. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2020.10730
Alpaslan, K., & Oğuz, Y. (2021). A guiding framework for levels of sustainability in marketing. Sustainability, 13(4), Article 1644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041644
Belkhir, L., & Elmeligi, A. (2018). Assessing ICT global emissions footprint: Trends to 2040 & recommendations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 177, 448–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.239
Chung, J. (2020). Effect of quality uncertainty, regulatory focus, and promotional strategies on perceived savings for sustainable marketing. Sustainability, 12(14), Article 5653. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145653
Dalati, S., Raudeliūnienė, J., & Davidavičienė, V. (2017). Sustainable leadership, organizational trust on job satisfaction: Empirical evidence from higher education institutions in Syria. Business, Management and Economics Engineering, 15(1), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.3846/bme.2017.360
Davidavičienė, V., Raudeliūnienė J., & Zubrii, M. (2019). Evaluation of customers’ sustainable fashion perception. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 9(4), 50–66.
Dubos, R. (1972). Lors du sommet sur l’environnement en. http://plate-forme21.fr
El Chalfoun, F., & Davidavičienė, V. (2019). Quantitative investigation of the impact of electronic media marketing on brand building. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, 4(8), 5503–5510.
Elkington, J. (1994). Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-Win-Win business strategies for sustainable development. California Management Review, 36(2), 90–100. https://doi.org/10.2307/41165746
Fan, D., Xiao, C., Zhang, X., & Guo, Y. (2021). Gaining customer satisfaction through sustainable supplier development: The role of firm reputation and marketing communication. Transportation Research Part E, 154, Article 102453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2021.102453
Galati, F., Bigliardi, B., Petroni, A., Pinna, C., Rossi, M., & Terzi, S. (2019). Sustainable product lifecycle: The role of ICT. Sustainability, 11(24), Article 7003. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247003
Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N. M. P., & Hultink, E. J. (2017). The circular economy – a new sustainability paradigm? Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 757–768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048
Gong, Y. P., Xiao, J., Tang, X. Y., & Li, J. (2023). How sustainable marketing influences the customer engagement and sustainable purchase intention? The moderating role of corporate social responsibility. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1128686
Gordon, R., Carrigan, M., & Hastings, G. (2011). A framework for sustainable marketing. Marketing Theory, 11(2), 143–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593111403218
Grünewald, Y. D. (2020). Évaluation en temps réel de la réponse à l’explosion dans le port de Beyrouth du 4 août 2020. Groupe URD.
Hopkins, S., & Dettori, J. R. (2018). Parametric and nonparametric tests in spine research: Why do they matter? Global Spine Journal, 8(6), 652–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/2192568218782679
Hopper, D. (2022, Jan 14). The evolution of the marketing mix: The 10Ps. SMB: Strategy, Marketing and Branding. https://medium.com/strategy-marketing-branding/the-evolution-of-the-marketing-mix-the-10ps-da331dd7aaa7
Hunt, S. D. (2011). Sustainable marketing, equity, and economic growth: A resource-advantage, economic freedom approach. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0196-3
Ivanovic-Đukic, M., Radenovic, T., & Veselinovic, N. (2022). Impact of entrepreneurship on sustainable development in emerging markets under the conditions of COVID-19. Problemy ekorozwoju – Problems of sustainable development, 17(2), 47–58. https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2022.2.06
Jagdish, N., & Parvatiyar, S. (2021). Sustainable marketing: Market-driving, not market-driven. Journal of Macromarketing, 41(1), 150–165. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146720961836
Kelleci, A., & Yıldız, O. A (2021). Guiding framework for levels of sustainability in marketing. Sustainability, 13(4), 1644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041644
Kilelo, E. S., Nowicki, M., Nguka, G., Olimba, L. A., Konyole, S. O., & Termote, C. (2023). Food security’s broken link: The misalignment of stakeholder priorities in agriculture and nutrition in Vihiga county, Kenya. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 23(8), Article 24222. https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.123.23690
Kim, S. T., Park, S. R., & Lee, H. H. (2023). The impact of green supply chain management practices on performances of SMEs in the electronics industry: A Korean case. Journal of Managerial Issues, 35(2), 97–118.
Kaur, B., Gangwar, V. P., & Dash, G. (2022). Green marketing strategies, environmental attitude, and green buying intention: A multi-group analysis in an emerging economy context. Sustainability, 14(10), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106107
Kotler, Ph. (2020). Marketing and value creation. Journal of Creating Value, 6(1), 10–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2394964320903559
Kotler, P. (1980). Marketing management (4th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
Kotler, P. (2011). Reinventing marketing to manage the environmental imperative. Journal of Marketing, 75(4). https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.75.4.132
Kotler, P. (2021). Principles of marketing (18th ed.). Pearson Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59531-9
Le, T. T., Kieu, X. H., Behl, A., & Pereira, V. (2022). Building up more sustainable food supply chains: Implications for sustainable development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 378, Article 134650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134650
Libby, R., Trotman, K. T., & Zimmer, I. (1987). Member variation, recognition of expertise, and group performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72(1), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.72.1.81
Mancuso, I., Natalicchio, A., Panniello, U., & Roma, P. (2021). Understanding the purchasing behavior of consumers in response to sustainable marketing practices: An empirical analysis in the food domain. Sustainability, 13(11), Article 6169. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116169
Mangla, S. K., Luthra, S., Jakhar, S., Gandhi, S., Muduli, K., & Kumar, A. (2020). A step to clean energy – sustainability in energy system management in an emerging economy context. Journal of Cleaner Production, 242, Article 118462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118462
Mazurek-Łopacińska, K. (2021). Open innovations as a form of customer value co-creation. Marketing Instytucji Naukowych i Badawczych, 39(1), 93–118. https://doi.org/10.2478/minib-2021-0005
Ottman, J. A. (1998). Green marketing: Opportunity for innovation (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill.
Pomering, A. (2017). Marketing for sustainability: Extending the conceptualization of the marketing mix to drive value for individuals and society at large. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 25(2), 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.011
Ranjbari, M., Morales-Alonso, G. Z., Esfandabadi, Sh., & Carrasco-Gallego, R. (2019). Sustainability, and the sharing economy: Modeling the interconnections. Direccion y Organizacion, 68, 33–40. https://doi.org/10.37610/dyo.v0i68.549
Remi, R. (2020). Sustainability sells: Why consumers and clothing brands alike are turning to sustainability as a guiding light. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/sustainability-as-a-value-is-changing-how-consumers-shop
Retkutė, K., & Davidavičienė, V. (2021). Application of multichannel access and customer journey map in the context of innovative business projects. Journal of Service, innovation and Sustainable Development, 2(1), 100–120.
Riaz, H., Davidavičienė, V., Ahmed, H., & Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė, I. (2022). Optimizing customer repurchase intention through cognitive and affective experience: An insight of food delivery applications. Sustainability, 14(19) 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912936
Saraswati, N., & Wirayudha, A. (2022). Sustainability marketing mix on purchase decision through consumer’s green attitude as the moderating variable. International Journal of Economics, Bussiness and Accounting Research (IJEBAR), 6(3). https://jurnal.stie-aas.ac.id/index.php/IJEBAR
Straková, J. (2015). Sustainable value added as we do not know it. Business: Theory and Practice, 16(2), 168–173. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2015.453
Suardi, I. D. P. O., Widhianthini, Arisena, G. M. K., Sukewijaya, I. M., & Krisnandika, A. A. K. (2023). Status of agriculture resources sustainability and agricultural policy in Denpasar city, province of Bali, Indonesia. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 23(3).
Temri, L., & Fort, F. (2009). Partage des bonnes pratiques de développement durable: le cas des PME agroalimentaires du Languedoc-Roussillon. Innovations 2009/1(29), 103–125. https://doi.org/10.3917/inno.029.0103
Todorovic, V., Maslaric, M., Bojic, S., Jokic, M., Mircetic, D., & Nikolicic, S. (2018). Solutions for more sustainable distribution in the short food supply chains. Sustainability, 10, Article 3481. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103481
Van der Waal, J. W. H., & Thijssens, T. (2020). Corporate involvement in sustainable development goals: Exploring the territory. Journal of Clean Production, 252, Article 119625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119625
Varey, R. J. (2013). Marketing in the flourishing society megatrend. Journal of Macromarketing, 3(4), 354–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146713489150
Voola, R., Bandyopadhyay, C., Voola, A., Ray, S., & Carlson, J. (2022). B2B marketing scholarship and the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs): A systematic literature review. Industrial Marketing Management, 101, 12–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.11.013
White, K., Habib, R., & Hardisty, D. J. (2019). How to SHIFT consumer behaviors to be more sustainable: A literature review and guiding framework. Journal of Marketing, 83(3), 22–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919825649
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press.
Wu, Y.-C., & Lin, S.-W. (2021). Integrated approach for exploring critical elements that affect the sustainable development of cultural and creative industries. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 22(3), 596–615. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2021.14261
Zou, G. L., & Chau, K. W. (2015). Determinants and sustainability of house prices: The case of Shanghai, China. Sustainability, 7, 4524–4548. https://doi.org/10.3390/su7044524