Marketing and the Natural Environment: What Role for Morality?

Abstract

This article explores the literature relating marketing to the natural environment from the point of view of morality. It argues that the issue of morality has not been developed in any comprehensive or cohesive way in this literature and subsequently seeks to provide an analysis of the different ways in which morality has, to date, been applied and used. Five different moral perspectives are identified—namely, fair play, managerialist, reformist, reconstructionist, and interpretist perspectives. These are categorized according to the main moral issues typically examined, the core discipline from which the perspective has been developed, the form of morality ordinarily referred to, and the prevalent subject of moral enquiry. The various approaches are examined and their contribution assessed. The relationship between the perspectives is addressed, and it is suggested that from a macromarketing point of view, the reconstructionist and the interpretist perspectives might be expected to be the most fruitful avenues for future investigation.