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The growing importance of sustainable development establishes a significant and developing challenge for environmental economics and natural resources. This challenge is such big that if it is not measured and controlled then it will ruin the life of the future generations that’s the reason why every field now a days strive to work hard to have Sustainable Value Creation (C.V.). The question arises what is sustainability, a more relevant answer is provided by The Borderland commission (1987) which says to be sustainable is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
While this looks clear but if we observe it thoroughly and closely there are some complications and difficulties in it (Smart Green: How to Implement Sustainable Business Practices in Any Industry-and Make Money By Jonathan Estes page 6-8). The first problem which is a marketing problem is in the needs of the present and no one today knows of what level of needs we are talking about.
The second difficulty is an ethical question that relates to the future and intergenerational Justice, how we know what the needs of the future generations will be and how far do we look into the future? These two questions I. E. Marketing and ethical must be explained much more clearly and precisely than the definition of he sustainability suggests. The world economies currently face many challenges in the domain of public and commercial policy and one of the most crucial challenges they are facing is sustainable development.
According to the projections of United Nations (UN) on population growth, the population of the world will most likely reach nine (9) billion people by the year 2050 with most of the growth taking place in emerging and developing countries. It is the commitment of UN to improve environmental and social performance associated with sustainable development. It mess that it is highly unlikely to achieve the goals set by the UN with current unbalanced consumption, marketing and production practices.
Creating consumer demand for sustainable products and services is not an easy task because the consumers traditionally behave to maximize their own utility. Many consumers think that anything which is good for the entire society in the long term is always the best option for the individuals in the short term and unfortunately for most of the consumers the positive attitudes toward sustainable development is not hon. in their actual consumer behavior and purchases.
There are differences in what people say and what they actually do. Sustainable consumer behavior can be enhanced by positioning sustainable behavior with consumers’ self-interest and by making sure that this self-interest is understood and recognized thoroughly and can be acted upon (Encouraging Sustainable Behavior: Psychology and the Environment edited by Hans C. M. Van Trip page 3, 4). Consumers when they consume sustainable also behave in a way that shows or signals there superiority over others.
Marketing forts should be made to enhance sustainable consumption that leads to reduction in the trait of signaling instinct I. E. Our inclination to signal to others that we hold valued traits. The objective of sustainable marketing is to include and combine the environmental concerns in the marketing effort; this means that if the consumers are given better, more complete and more concise information on the sustainable products offered to them this will drive more and more companies to produce products and services that are good for the environment.
Sustainable marketing can take the strategies of conventional marketing to promote sustainable products and services not only by labeling the green products but also from working with positioning strategies of product, promotion, price and placement and rigorously engaging in market creation by addressing a large number of customers.
The company’s marketing strategy throughout the supply chain from product development to consumption should include sustainability in it. Many companies are focusing on the implementation of sustainable consumption; they are finding the ways to direct the people’s thinking to orthorhombic challenges and problems by using different marketing and communication strategies that lead to sustainable consumption.