۱- Introduction

۲- Theoretical background

۳- Study overview

۴- Method

۵- Procedure

۶- Results

۷- Studies 2a & 2b: scale development

References

Abstract

Business-to-business (B2B) buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to judge the true sustainability of supply chain partners (Oruezabala & Rico, 2012). Yet threequarters of buyers in the OECD report they will dismiss potential supply chain partners who fail to meet sustainability criteria (Pierre, 2008). B2B firms then, cannot afford any confusion over their sustainability practices and positioning. Unfortunately, there are no sustainability positioning measures for firms to assess this, and there is no agreed upon operationalization of a highly sustainable firm vs a weakly sustainable firm. As such, this research creates a B2B sustainability positioning scale and taxonomy. First, interviews with buyers and marketing managers determine perceptions of supplier sustainability practices and defines B2B levels of sustainability. Second, exploratory and confirmatory scale development studies are conducted with 578 experienced industrial buyers. The resulting B2B sustainability positioning scale shows that a sustainably superior positioning for B2B addresses five key factors: (1) sustainability credibility, (2) concern for environmental impact, (3) a careful consideration of stakeholders, (4) resource efficiency, and (5) a holistic philosophy. This scale is intended as a tool to help B2B marketers understand and better leverage their sustainability practices and communications around sustainability.

Introduction

How a firm’s sustainable practices and operations are managed and articulated is becoming an increasingly important part of business-tobusiness (B2B) marketing and communications strategy. Yet B2B green marketing is little understood, and buyers in decision making units remain uncertain of the level of sustainable attributes in the goods and services they buy in the supply chain (Earl & Clift, 1999; Oruezabala & Rico, 2012). With firms increasingly needing to meet ISO standards as a minimum requirement for trade, it becomes more difficult to differentiate the “strongly” sustainable from the “weakly” sustainable. Yet there is no way for marketers to assess their B2B sustainability positioning. This research first sets out to provide clearer operationalization of the levels of sustainability. Secondly, it develops a B2B sustainability positioning scale so marketers can assess and more clearly articulate their B2B sustainability positioning. Organizations that practice sustainability do not necessarily practice green marketing and clearly communicate their sustainable efforts in the supply chain. On the other hand, organizations that practice green marketing may not necessarily practice sustainability (Simula, Lehtimaki, & Salo, 2009). The resulting lack of clarity on what defines “green” or “sustainable” practices indicates that business buyers can be uncertain if firms in their supply chain are truly acting sustainably in their practices or are “greenwashing” (i.e., using pro-environmental buzzwords in marketing communications without embracing sustainably superior activities; Simula et al., 2009). In this way, buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to judge the true sustainability of suppliers (Oruezabala & Rico, 2012). Yet, as the OECD shows, threequarters of buyers report they will dismiss potential supply chain partners who fail to meet sustainability criteria (Pierre, 2008). Any confusion over sustainability practices and positioning can cost B2B firms.