Global warming and sustainability: Understanding the beliefs of marketing faculty

• Published date: 01 November 2018
• Author: Joya A. Kemper,Paul W. Ballantine,C. Michael Hall
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1664
• Date: 01 November 2018

SPECIAL ISSUE PAPER

Global warming and sustainability: Understanding the beliefs of

marketing faculty

Joya A. Kemper

1

|Paul W. Ballantine

2

|C. Michael Hall

1

1

Department of Management, Marketing and

Entrepreneurship, UC Business School,

University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New

Zealand

2

UC Business School, University of

Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Correspondence

Joya A. Kemper, Department of Management,

Marketing and Entrepreneurship, UC Business

School, University of Canterbury, Private Bag

4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand

Email: joya.kemper@pg.canterbury.ac.nz

Addressing climate change and sustainability topics in university research and teaching is

paramount; however, the majority of marketing studies and courses do not examine these

concepts. We investigate global warming beliefs and the sustainability values, attitudes, and

beliefs of marketing faculty to understand how these may impact upon the state of sustainability

research and teaching within the marketing academy. Using an online survey method, marketing

faculty were surveyed from around the world. We found that belief in global warming was high

and that this was affected by political ideology and research area. We also found broad percep-

tions of sustainability (i.e., beyond the environmental domain) in marketing faculty, possibly more

so than previous higher education studies have revealed. However, a greater belief in market

ideology to solve sustainability issues also exists. We found significant effects or associations

between gender, political ideology, religion, expertise, region of current residence, and region

of conferred highest degree on sustainability beliefs (definition, conception, and attitudes).

Considering that we find a high belief in global warming and a broad and holistic understanding

and positive attitude towards sustainability, questions remain about why only limited research

and teaching has been done on the intersection between marketing and sustainability.

1|INTRODUCTION

Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time, and the produc-

tion of consumer goods has a significant impact on greenhouse gas

(GHG) emissions (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC],

2014). The climbing temperatures (atmospheric and ocean), rising sea

levels, and melting ice sheets from climate change affect all life on earth

(IPCC, 2014). The recent 2015 Paris Climate Summit demonstrated the

commitment by 195 countries to limit temperature increases to 1.5 °C.

However, climate change as a wicked problem—one which lacks defini-

tion and scope and is a symptom of other problems (e.g., overconsump-

tion, reliance on fossil fuels)—presents several challenges to preventing

heating beyond 1.5 °C, one of which is perceptions of global warming

(Rittel & Webber, 1973). For example, 67% of Americans believe that

global warming is happening, whereas 16% believe that it is not

happening, with the remaining 17% not being sure (Leiserowitz,

Maibach, Roser‐Renouf, Feinberg, & Rosenthal, 2015).

The overconsumption of products, and the very production, trans-

portation, and consumption of these goods, leads to increased GHG

emissions (Brundtland, 1987; IPCC, 2014). Moreover, industry contrib-

utes to approximately 31% of GHG emissions, transport 14%, and agri-

culture and land use 24% (IPCC, 2014). Consequently, sustainable

development (SD) requires society to take into account economic

practices on the natural and social environment (Borland & Lindgreen,

2013). SD has been proposed as the solution to various environmental,

social, and economic problems, and is defined “as development that

meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of

future generations to meet their own needs”(Brundtland, 1987, p. 43).

Indeed, climate change is Goal 13 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustain-

able Development by the United Nations. At the very least, sustainabil-

ity requires a shift in our consumption patterns with an understanding

that the carrying capacity of the earth has already been surpassed

(Borland & Lindgreen, 2013). A more likely scenario is that society will

require a fundamental transformation of our relationship between

people and the planet, and the way we consume and produce

(Hopwood, Mellor, & O0Brien, 2005).

Global warming discussion has not yet entered mainstream

academic research in marketing. Considering that the production,

consumption, and transportation of goods is a leading cause of GHG

emissions, questions must be raised about the marketing academy0s

ability and willingness to engage in a meaningful discussion about

marketing0s role in GHG emissions, and how marketing can contribute

to global warming prevention.

At the forefront of this debate exists the contradictory nature of

sustainability, especially environmental sustainability, and marketing

(Varey, 2011). The question remains whether marketing, with its focus

Received: 25 April 2017 Accepted: 3 July 2017

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1664

J Public Affairs. 2018;18:e1664.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1664

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of8