Heat records, heavy rain events, fires in the rainforests, melting glaciers and Fridays for Future on the roads around the world – many people realize that there can and should no longer be a “business as usual!” With regard to personal consumption So in consequence of being able to preserve the living space on earth for future generations. In the third part of this series, we focus on the view of companies and producers and make it clear what advantages they have through the focus on sustainability in production, logistics and sales.
The three pillars of sustainability
“Sustainability is a term that has meanwhile been interpreted in many ways”, this year the authors Elsa Pieper and Gregor Weber came up with this summary. They drew a pragmatic comparison with a stool: in order to be able to sit comfortably and stably, the legs must be of the same length. In this graphic comparison, these three legs correspond to the 3Ps of sustainability, where each P stands for the first letter of the words People, Planet and Profit. So the ecology, economy and society or the social, which together form the three pillars of sustainability in a company.
According to Pieper and Weber, corporate culture is of central importance for the success of companies. It is also of central importance that, in addition to customers and shareholders, in the interests of sustainability, other groups of people are also kept in view, which, according to the authors, also includes the families of the employees, the people in global supply chains and future generations, the environment and should also include the climate.
Benefits for companies
In 2019, the Thai researchers Soonsiripanichkul and Ngamcharoenmongko examined a connection between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the value of a retail business. In doing so, you argue that the more positive images are used in connection with sustainable development goals in marketing, the more likely it is that the positive associations associated with the respective business will be strengthened.
An empirical study from Spain published in 2020 in the Journal of Product and Brand Management confirms in its analysis the assumption that innovation and sustainability are the key variables for the image of a retail company. According to the results of the Spanish researchers, sustainability is closely linked to the quality of the products and the company itself, and the resulting positive image has a high impact on customer loyalty in large retail companies.
The same team of researchers goes one step further in a publication published this year and sees in the dynamic and turbulent environment in which retail companies operate, in addition to the pure competitive advantages with sustainable products and services, an opportunity for progress and even the survival of companies . From this, the clear need to focus more on sustainable business models is derived.
sequel follows
Part 1 and Part 2 of the series “What actually is sustainability?”
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