Essays on perceived social sustainability of brands

Abstract

Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and prioritizing them as a universal approach has become a primary agenda for business entities. Besides the environmental aspects, marketing priorities should be reframed around social sustainability dimensions as an opportunity to build a sustainable competitive advantage. My dissertation aims to understand the social sustainability of a brand as perceived by its consumers. In two independent and thematically relevant essays, conceptually and empirically, I measure and validate the perceived social sustainability of brands. In essay one, I address the concerns of research on social sustainability and present the base to synthesize current knowledge of the domain. I map the literature on social sustainability and compile information from all the disciplines to guide scholarly attention in the social dimension. Fifteen different social sustainability streams were identified in the research. I also discuss the theories used in social sustainability research and envision the future direction of research on social sustainability. In essay two, I develop and validate the Perceived Social Sustainability of Brands (PSSB) scale. Results from two empirical studies were used to establish the psychometric properties of the PSSB scale. Findings reveal that PSSB comprises six underlying dimensions, namely: supporting education, supporting community, supporting innovative growth, supporting poverty elimination, supporting healthy living, and supporting sustainable water management. The PSSB scale is developed around the guidelines and resolutions adopted by the UN general assembly – "Transforming our World: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development", consisting of 17 SDGs. Based on the empirical studies, a final refined scale with 26 measurement items was developed after testing for reliability and validity. Importantly, in the second part of the essay, I also tested the predictive validity of the scale, which shows that PSSB is a valid predictor of outcomes such as brand image and brand trust.