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Digital Sustainability: The Use of Digital Tools to Promote Sustainable Behaviours

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 1096

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Kent Business School, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, UK
Interests: modelling of consumer behaviour

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Guest Editor
Fashion Marketing, Department of Materials, School of Natural Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Interests: digital sustainability; technology; retail marketing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The role of marketers is constantly changing. Consumer behaviour trends change, and we see strong socio-political movements campaigning for marketers to place purpose over profit. A new marketing paradigm for sustainable development has become a sine qua non. The United Nations clarified several goals for sustainable development. One of these goals, number 12, refers to sustainable production and consumption.

This Special Issue aims to substantiate how digital marketing tools can help achieve such sustainable consumption. Within digital tools, we include both consumer-facing technologies and communication tools to diffuse and promote sustainability.

This call invites contributions from both marketing and consumer behaviour specialists, but also cross-disciplinary perspectives to inform all interested parties. It aims to push forward current definitional understanding as well as thinking and solutions that are fit for purpose with respect to marketing and sustainability.

It hopes to start with an overview, contrast and assessment of the relevant definitions in the extant literature. The conceptualisation of digital sustainability is multidimensional and multiple approaches may be needed simultaneously, but a coherent, consistent, concise and accurate interface must also be maintained so as to better understand the focus. The articles can concentrate on one sector or be cross-sectoral, in one country or more; both qualitative and/or quantitative articles are welcome. Moreover, the Special Issue can accommodate research as well as management practice articles as long as they advance current knowledge and clarify best high-quality practices.

Potential topics within digital sustainability:

  • Sustainability communication in digital channels: (virtual) influencers.
  • Use of technology to promote sustainable consumption: AR, AI, IIT, consumers shopping behaviour in digital channels, etc.
  • Sustainability and online/omnichannel retailing: online retailing, flexible design of physical spaces, metaverse, etc.
  • Virtual assets and their impact on sustainability: Blockchain/ NFTs.
  • Digital branding: sustainable brands positioning.

Prof. Dr. Georgios Chryssochoidis
Dr. Marta Blazquez Cano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • digital sustainability
  • technology
  • sustainable communication
  • digital channels
  • digital branding

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 1071 KiB  
Article
Research on the Effectiveness of Virtual Endorsers: A Study Based on the Match-Up Hypothesis and Source Credibility Model
by Haiyan Kong and Hualong Fang
Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1761; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051761 - 21 Feb 2024
Viewed by 719
Abstract
In the digital era, businesses are actively integrating advanced technology and innovative marketing strategies to achieve sustained growth. Notably, virtual endorsers play a key role in driving enterprises towards digital transformation in the field of digital marketing. Understanding consumer attitudes towards the use [...] Read more.
In the digital era, businesses are actively integrating advanced technology and innovative marketing strategies to achieve sustained growth. Notably, virtual endorsers play a key role in driving enterprises towards digital transformation in the field of digital marketing. Understanding consumer attitudes towards the use of virtual endorsers in digital marketing is especially important for enterprises employing digital tools to realize a sustainable business model. To this end, this research adopts the match-up hypothesis and source credibility model as its theoretical framework, delving into the impact of virtual endorser–product fit and credibility features (attractiveness, expertise, and trustworthiness) on product attitudes, as well as the interactive effects of these features with product types. We collected feedback data from 376 participants through an online questionnaire and validated our hypotheses using the PLS-SEM model. The results demonstrate that virtual endorser–product fit positively affects credibility, with higher credibility further enhancing consumers’ attitudes toward products. Additionally, the source credibility model partially mediates the relationship between the match-up hypothesis and product attitudes, with attractiveness exerting the most significant impact. Finally, we observed variations in consumer attitudes toward products endorsed by virtual endorsers based on product types. The findings of this study provide a solid theoretical basis for a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes towards the application of virtual endorsers in marketing and offer practical suggestions for businesses to leverage digital tools for sustainable development. Full article
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