Advancing the hierarchy of sustainable marketing strategy

What is it about?

This article transforms the Hierarchy of Sustainable Marketing Strategy (HSMS) from a static typology to a dynamic, explanatory model of how firms develop and sustain sustainability strategies. We address a central gap in prior work by theorizing the mechanisms that shape progression through the hierarchy. Drawing on stakeholder, signaling, and align-ment theories, we introduce two novel mechanisms to the literature. Specifically, we propose that organizational progress depends on managing: (1) the signaling gap (when external claims outpace internal change) and (2) the alignment gap (when internal structures lag strategic intent). Together, these mechanisms form an inverted U-shaped tension curve that explains why stakeholder conflicts first intensify and later subside across the hierarchy. The framework contributes to marketing theory by illuminating the temporal dynamics of sustainability tensions and to practice by offering a roadmap to anticipate motivational shifts and select appropriate strategies that align with capabilities over time.

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Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This article extends the HSMS by offering a dynamic account of how firms navigate sustainability tensions across strategic configurations. By conceptualizing the signaling gap and alignment gap as interrelated mechanisms, we explain why sustainability tensions intensify, shift, and sometimes subside as firms align stakeholder expectations with internal capabilities and priorities. In doing so, the framework moves beyond describing sustainability positions to identifying the organizational and strategic conditions under which firms sustain or reposition their efforts. We hope this perspective encourages future research to examine how these tensions unfold across industries, institutional contexts, and stages of strategic development, and to further explore the conditions under which sustainability becomes not only a strategic choice, but a durable source of organizational coherence and stakeholder value.

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