Sustainability and Stakeholder Marketing in a Consumerist World

This essay delves into the critical aspects of sustainability in marketing within the context of 21st-century global consumerism. It examines the various challenges faced by modern organizations, including intense competition, rising marketing costs, technological advancements, and ethical considerations like data privacy and cultural sensitivity. The essay highlights the influence of consumerism, defined as the economic and social order promoting acquisition of goods and services, and its impact on companies' abilities to deliver mutually beneficial social, environmental, and economic values. Using the example of Xiaomi, the essay illustrates how consumerism affects marketing strategies, particularly emphasizing the need for companies to adapt and innovate to meet consumer demands while navigating ethical dilemmas and balancing stakeholder interests. It concludes by discussing the economic, social, and environmental implications of consumerism, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that prioritizes both consumer satisfaction and long-term sustainability.

Sustainability and Stakeholder
Marketing

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Sustainability in marketing and consumerism
Marketing in today’s world is not limited to one or two areas or to one country. When we talk
about marketing in 21st century it is mainly concerned with global marketing which is capable
of attracting customers at the global levels and at the limited cost. Sustainability in marketing
has been the major concern of the companies in today’s time. There are various aspects of the
marketing that needs to be dealt when it comes to maintaining its sustainability (Font and
McCabe, 2017). Since the resources are limited hence it has become critical for the marketing
management to look after the sustainability element in marketing. This is not only necessary
for the growth of the organisation but it is also critical for improving the stake of the
organisations in the global markets that too in the long term. Consumerism also has impact on
the ability of the organisations. This essay is going to reduce the sustainability challenges
faced by the organisation of 21st century. At the same time it will also illustrate the way in
which consumerism impact on the ability of the firm to deliver mutually beneficial social,
environmental and economic values.
It is critical for the firms in the modern day business to ensure that sustainability of the firm
remains on the better side and in this regards the role of the marketing has become highly
critical. There are different types of challenges that modern day organisations have to face
when it comes to do marketing. The most likely challenge that is having impact on the 21st
century firms in terms of managing their marketing sustainability is competition (Kumar, et al
2012). The competition in the marketing has gone to much higher levels and due to this every
firm is investing in the marketing in larger amounts. Apart from this the quality of the
marketing has also to be increased. At the same time there are large numbers of innovations
that are going on in different firms due to this companies have to further invest higher on the
marketing (Sharma, et al 2010). The better the innovation capacity of the firm the better is
their chance to improve sustainability of their marketing.
There is a significant increase in the cost of the marketing which is a challenge for the
company. This is because there had been increase in the aggressiveness with which marketing
is done within the organisation. Increasing cost also has impact on the financials of the firm
hence affecting the sustainability of the overall firm. Since companies are planning for long
term sustainability hence they also have to look at improving their financial condition
(Nayak, et al 2019). It is seen that population demands in different parts of the world has
changed and this change in the population demands has critical impact on the way an
organisation is doing their marketing. Since people switch from one company to another

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smoothly as they are highly informed due to modern technologies used hence companies had
to change their marketing campaigns at regular intervals. This has slow but long term impact
on the operations of the firm.
Another challenge is the technologies that are used in the marketing as they are changing at
much faster rate and the costs of these technologies are also on the higher side. The
organisations that are able to upgrade their technologies at regular intervals are able to gain
competitive advantage over the rivals. Hence the technological resources of the firms get
outdated soon which has impact on the sustainability of the firm (Peattie, 2011). Inter-
connected technologies have further escalated the situations to much higher levels as its
utilisation favours and dis favour the organisation on the regular intervals. With
advancements in technologies skill requirements are also increasing and if the company fails
to address the skill related challenges in a better manner then there is a greater chance that
sustainability of marketing done by the firms gets under the question mark.
There are many ethical challenges that are surrounding the modern day marketing of the firm.
Ethical issues that are creating a challenge for the sustainability in the marketing includes
being privacy related to the personal data of the individuals, over peeping in the personal
lives of the people and too much marketing on all the platforms with which the people are
connected. This creates sustainability related challenges in the marketing (Clarke, Hawkins
and Waligo, 2014). This also includes the cultural aspect that is attached with the business. It
can be seen that a marketing campaign that might not offend people from one culture might
offend the other. This can be easily seen in the case when companies use idols in their
marketing campaigns. Sometimes it can go so wrong that people of that culture might not
purchase that product in the future (Rettie, Burchell and Riley, 2012). It is seen that higher
amount of investment is made on the consumer care initiatives and the way in which
marketing is done. This can be understood in terms of the fact that today’s marketing is
focused towards making investments that illustrates the consumer care and not just the lip
service. Walk the talk is not so easier for the firms in today’s time. Marketing must illustrate
the challenges that are faced by the people and the solution that their products and services
are offering with respect to those challenges has impact on the sustainability of the marketing
(Kemper and Ballantine, 2019). Consumerism has also pushed the companies towards ethical
dilemma. For example the people are demanding for the low cost products but for producing
low cost products companies have to reduce the quality yet their marketing needs to show
that they are best. This ethical dilemma is difficult for the firm to manage.

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Forecasting the requirements of the future is a challenge for the company. Forecasting is not
only essential in production and other departments of the organisation but it is also critical for
the marketing in the 21st century. This can be understood in terms of the fact that data helps
an organisation to find out the demands of the people and accordingly they can change their
marketing campaign to obtain desired results (McDonagh and Prothero, 2014). The company
that is able to forecast the trends and likings of the employees in a better manner is able to
achieve the desired results. The companies that are not able to forecast the trends in
marketing in an effective manner are more likely to lose their marketing benefits at quick
pace.
Consumers are the persons that purchases goods and services for personal utilisation. On the
other hand consumerism is understood as the economic and social order that promotes
acquisition of services and goods in an ever-increasing manner. This term became popular in
the industrial revolution where mass-production led to over production and due to this there
was imbalance between the numbers of products that was produced and the numbers of
products that was according to the consumer demands. Behavioural change tactics are used in
the organisation to ensure that people remain attracted towards the marketing done by the
company (Stolle and Micheletti, 2013).
It is seen that companies in today’s time are willing to invest higher on building the interest
in the minds of the people so that they are able to make higher sales. The interest is generated
by building an technological environment where whatever people does on the internet
medium gets poked by the things that they have searched before. At the same time there is
also showing of the products at regular intervals to show that they are dealing with the
customers in an effective manner. It is seen that in today’s competitive world, the economic
policies of the companies are inclined towards emphasizing more on the consumption
(Kaufmann, 2014). The free choice of the consumers must orient the manufacturer’s choice
of the way things are produced and the things that are produced and hence will be able to take
maximum economic benefits. Another aspect of the consumerism suggests that consumers
must be informed and they should also be the part of the decision making body.
Xiaomi ensures consumerism by promoting the interests of the people and at the same time
enhancing the strengths of their products in such a manner that it is able to reduce the
challenges faced by the company. Xiaomi ensures that they are able to improve the skills of
the individuals in terms of their research capabilities. This allows Xiaomi to bring products

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that are better than their rivals on the basis of different parameters. It is seen that company
regularly conducts an open session where its leaders informs the people about in which path
they are going to move in the future. Company on different marketing platforms checks the
reaction of the people on the path they aim to take (Li, 2016). It is due to this that they are
able to attract the consumers towards their business. Better the consumer’s demands have
been understood better is the chance that company can be able to retain the consumers.
Companies like Xiaomi also develop the skills that are in their employees so that it will give
them source to meet the demands of the people. It is seen that companies like Xiaomi makes
efforts towards their marketing and they continuously enhance their resources so that in
future also they are able to deal with the challenges that can come in their business.
However it is not all the good that is brought by consumerism. The first challenge that
consumerism has brought for Xiaomi in economic terms is the fact that they will have to
continuously enhance the spending on the marketing and other types of features so that they
remain ahead of their rivals. They also have to increase the investment on the innovation
which will have direct impact on the funds of the company hence benefits of the consumers
are ensured but the economic value that they can give to their company (Zheng, 2018).
Mutually beneficial economic value to their stakeholders cannot be given by the Xiaomi
because the amount of the economic benefits that they can give to their investors. In the time
when the consumers prefer to purchase products that are at the lower cost hence the benefits
that company could have given with the higher prices to its stakeholders and the cash
revenues that it can gain. It’s the consumers that have become more important than any other
stakeholders even its employees.
Consumerism also has also created second kinds of challenges in terms of social values that it
gives to its stakeholders. This can be understood by the fact that for protecting consumers
companies have taken marketing to another level where they are unable to look at the
sustainability factors at which they could have if they have not concentrated so much on
sustainability. In order to overcome the challenges in sustainability of marketing, companies
like Xiaomi had to overlook at the social values that they have in the market. Mutually
beneficial social values in the form of ensuring social justice through fair economic policies
are not able to be implemented due to consumerism (Business Line, 2019). Manufacturers are
compelled to produce products that are safe but it is seen that in over the years companies are
looking for developing products that benefits the consumers and the safety of the people is
under the question mark. This can also be seen in the case of Xiaomi where some of its

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mobile phones exploded while it was charged and it was because companies did not used
protective technologies rather they used materials that reduced the price of the products.
Since marketing is done on the broader scale hence masses are targeted which has impact on
the individuality of the people. This is why most of the cultures are getting extinct.
Consumerism also had impact on the environment values to its stakeholders. This can be
understood in terms of the fact that there is excess utilisation of resources especially the
natural resources has created a third kind of challenge. This has depleted the environment and
hence environmental values are at stake. It promotes too much production as when companies
will not do so then they will not be able to improve their growth rate and if they do so then
there will be over utilisation of resources which will have direct impact on the environmental
values of the company (Bain, 2017). For instance in order to remain in the market Xiaomi
had to do production that is at larger scale but the amount of waste that is generated in the
production is having impact on the environment and they are unable to protect the
environmental values that they have been made for them. It is seen that degree of confidence
in sustainable purchase is also low for the organisation as this company does not know that
up to what amount the green purchase will help the firm especially in terms of developing the
products that will also be liked by the people. Fourth kind of challenge that it will have to
deal is to maintain its credibility in the long term when they have to manage the quality of the
product and the cost they will have to invest. Fifth is the challenge that they will have to face
in the consumerism is to improve their competitive strength. This is because if the company
is too much focused on developing products as per the people’s demand then they will be not
be able to improve their sustainable competitive strength.
In conclusion it can be said that marketing sustainability is facing many kinds of challenges
especially in the time when the consumerism is at the peak and competition in the market has
gone to the cut throat level.

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