Editorial: Family business social responsibility, the circular economy and environmental marketing

Family businesses have a social responsibility to their community due to their position in society and ability to influence market dynamics. Corporate social responsibility is a topic that is important for society due to the expectation that organizations need to consider social as well as economic outcomes (Ratten, 2018). Societal uncertainties including financial crises make the concept increasingly important for the effective functioning of a good society that includes family forms of business activities. Family businesses are accountable to society based on their dealings with others that raise ethical and moral concerns regarding sustainable forms of marketing. Sustainable marketing is defined as “the process of planning, implementing and controlling the development, pricing, promotion and distribution of products that satisfies the following three criteria: (1) customer needs are met, (2) organizational goals are attained, and (3) the process is compatible with ecosystems” (Fuller, 1999, p. 4). Customers, investors and stakeholders are placing emphasis on the social marketing conduct of family business. This means looking at family businesses holistically from how they manufacture or produce products to how they sell them to the marketplace. This development shifts the emphasis on family businesses to just being profit entities to being community providers.The sharing economy has emerged from online digital platforms being used to advertise products and services. The relative ease of uploading information online has transformed family business practices. People's everyday lives involve the use of different types of social networking sites with the most popular being Facebook and LinkedIn. Finding information now involves typing a word into Google to search for entries. People are now accustomed to online websites sharing insights. The necessity of sharing is due to many different products and services being available in society. The Internet culture has given rise to digital marketing and the sharing economy.Arcidiacono et al. (2018, p. 276) states the term “sharing economy” refers to “a new socio-economic model based on collaboration, access to, and the socialization of value production, facilitated by digital technologies”. It is a buzzword as it emphasizes the need for sharing among individuals and entities particularly those involved in family businesses. The sharing economy can be described as access-based consumption as it relies on information being freely available (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). The idea of the sharing economy is that no ownership takes place as services are consumed for a set time period. It is based on social exchange via a market-based transaction so applies to family businesses.Sustainable innovation is a specific type of innovation that focuses on positive environmental change in the marketplace. It is sometimes referred to as environmental innovation for its emphasis on biodiversity factors. Delmas and Pekovic (2018, p. 1071) state that sustainable innovation is “new products and processes to avoid or reduce environmental burden for the benefit of the community”. It seeks to address how innovation can be used in a proactive way to solve environmental problems in family businesses. By doing so it integrates profit and non-profit goals in terms of how family businesses can incorporate environmental issues.The idea of sustainable innovation is to make a noticeable change to how family businesses influence the environment. This can include deriving ideas around pollution and deforestation as well as other environmental issues. Innovation is defined as “the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (e.g. change in product properties), process (e.g. changed delivery methods), marketing method (e.g. new product packaging) or organisational method (e.g. changes in workplace organization) in business practices, workplace organizations or external relations” (Klewitz and Hansen, 2014, p. 58). Sustainable innovation tries to achieve a more responsible use of resources by family businesses. This includes focusing on efficiency and the circular economy in terms of reusing waste.Sustainability involves thinking about future generations in terms of need and opportunity. Improvements to sustainability practices are required in order to balance different societal needs. Sustainable forms of innovation involve diffusing environmentally led change in business practices. This can include inventions that go beyond traditional economic impacts to consider societal benefits that are evident in family businesses. Eco-innovations can form part of sustainability concerns as they represent enhanced processes that are beneficial to the environment. This can include new technologies that offer improved outcomes based on environmental impact. Environmental concerns relate to feelings that people have about changing environmental conditions in society. It is a way to understand a family business’s willingness to change their behavior regarding impacts on the environment. All parts of society are being pressured into considering environmental problems that impact their way of life.The circular economy involves the production of products that are then used and circulated back into the marketplace. Thus, what is considered as waste is made into new products and the process continues. It is a way of understanding the economic implications of sustainability and need for creative solutions. In the past, products were produced then discarded after usage with the remains going into landfill. This created environmental problems in terms of amount of wastage and the non-biodegradable nature of many products.The idea of a circular economy has been around for a while as people and family businesses reused waste. It became fashionable to recycle as more emphasis was placed on the environment. This has resulted in mostly environmental economists coming up with new words and concepts. The circular economy is different from the social economy because it recognizes the need to reuse products. This makes and improvement to resource efficiency and ensures better usage of the value chain.The linear economy is based on the making then disposing of products but the circular economy goes one step further by reusing waste. To guarantee good living conditions and the longevity of the human species a circular economy is required. This means placing emphasis on the responsibility of producers, users and the community. This inspires a more holistic way of thinking regarding waste. A circular economy by design considers biological and climatic factors related to waste. This means focusing on regenerative qualities of products in terms of creating further value. In a circular economy waste can be minimized or avoided depending on how it is perceived. Some waste is valuable to other producers who require it as an input for their products.Green marketing is a way for family businesses to show others that they are concerned with the environment. Often the color green or pictures of trees are used in this form of marketing to indicate it is related to the environment. There is a need for firms to show how they evaluate performance based on environmental prosperity. This is due to profits being important but also related environmental issues such as social justice and equality being emphasized by family businesses. Environmental marketing is about how the land in which we live is influenced by family business practices. Sustainable marketing is more about how to reuse and recycle materials. Green marketing is about how to communicate positive messages about a product or service based on its attributes. It is similar to ecological marketing, which is defined as “all marketing activities that have served to help cause environmental problems and that may serve to provide a remedy for environmental problems” (Russell et al., 1976, p. 145). An environmental disaster can influence a family businesses credibility in the marketplace. This means conducting business based on profitability but also considering other effects. This means stakeholder considerations in terms of how multiple parties are affected by decisions are needed. Often socially responsible initiatives incorporate some form of green thinking. In the past this meant family businesses would have to spend more money on integrating green marketing but recently it has become cheaper to offer sustainable perspectives. This means the benefits of green marketing can be offset through higher sales.Van Dam and Apeldoorn (1996, p. 48) states that environmental problems are “social dilemmas in which individual rational behaviour (that is acting without restraint to maximise short-term gain) causes long-range damage to the entire society”. Environmental problems can be viewed in different ways depending on the circumstances. For people affected they may blame certain firms for the problem or suggest it is a government problem. This means environmental problems can be complex to diagnose and solve for family businesses.A societal approach to marketing emphasizes what the cost to society is from the communications. This means thinking about consumption standards and related moral issues. Most marketers have adapted their practices to incorporate environmental and social ideas. This recognizes a stakeholder view about how marketing affects society. Ecologically concerned customers are interested in how marketing can improve their quality of life. This means emphasizing the long term effects of marketing as a way of being more responsible. These types of customers want to ensure ecologically conscious behavior. This means being less wasteful and facilitating more environmentally responsible production methods.Green marketing places a priority on ecology and environmental friendliness. There has been a transformation from industrial marketing to green marketing. Kilbourne (1998, p. 642) states green marketing should be considered in terms of “differentiating green with a little “g” signifying managerial approaches and truly Green with a large “G” that considers the larger issue of sustainability”. There is no common way to define green marketing but generally it refers to ecological sustainability in communication practices. This means slowing the deterioration of the environment by engaging in a more proactive stance. In order to achieve sustainable economic development, there needs to be green forms of marketing. This will provide insights into how the environment can be prioritized in marketing communications.This editorial has discussed the role of sustainable innovation in family businesses by taking a holistic perspective about the role of social responsibility, the circular economy and environmental issues. Different ways family businesses can be sustainable including by focusing on green marketing initiatives were stated. This helps to build a sense of what it means to be a family business in the current complex global business environment.