The role that marketing academics play in advancing sustainability education and research

To advance sustainability education and research sustainability needs to be integrated into subjects, such as marketing, which do not currently actively promote such topics. Instead, the marketing discipline promotes continuous consumption and advocates for material accumulation as indicators of national and individual success, even when research has shown this does not make individuals happy. This qualitative research seeks to understand the experiences of marketing faculty engaged with sustainability and their perceived ability to create impact in their own institution and the larger academic community. This research utilizes institutional theory which can offer theoretical insight into the ability for change in higher education, especially through the individual as an institutional entrepreneur. The contribution of this research lies in its discussion of a framework which explores how academic actions may be classified according to their perceived and anticipated reward and societal impact, as well as tactics which can be employed by academics to create institutional change. (c) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.