BUU44705 Sustainable Marketing 2025/26

(20 ECTS)

Lecturer: 

Sarah Browne 

Email: sarah.browne@tcd.ie

Office Hours: email for appointment

Pre- Requisite: None

Not Available to Exchange Students

Module Description

Throughout the twentieth century, capitalism emerged as the dominant paradigm based on the idea that infinite economic growth was a prerequisite to improving the quality of life for humankind and to generate sufficient wealth to challenge many socio-economic issues of the time. As more of society became governed by markets and private enterprise, marketing became ever more influential. It was tasked with and has succeeded in developing tools to drive innovation and continuous demand for goods and services, which in turn has afforded many in developed economies unprecedented levels of affluence, choice, pleasure, comfort and convenience.

Emission-intensive production and consumption however, is having a catastrophic impact on our ability to live safely and sustainably within planetary boundaries. Marketing as a discipline has attempted to respond to these concerns, with the emergence of ‘green’, ‘environmental’ and ‘sustainable’ marketing approaches, encouraging consumers to consider the true cost of the material things they buy and to switch to greener alternatives. While there are some positives to be taken from this shift in marketing orientation, the underlying assumption is that marketing’s role is to guide consumers toward ‘better’, ‘more sustainable’ consumption, yet never to question whether the take-make-waste production and consumption cycle can ever truly be sustainable. This module encourages students to consider this and other difficult questions such as; can we legitimately consume our way out of crisis? What if the route to happiness and well-being isn’t through acquisition of material wealth?

Based on principles of transformative (strong) sustainability, students will be asked to conceive of a more radical vision of marketing theory, practice and role in society. Exploring several examples in critical marketing, sustainability marketing, not-for-profit and social marketing, students will engage with concepts that straddle other disciplines, such as, circularity, behaviour change, advocacy and social lobbying and post-growth.

Students will apply their learning to a project showcasing how social marketing can encourage a transition away from consumerist-centric lifestyles and instead, place value in principles such as societal well-being, public and planetary health, post-materialism, slow consumption, sufficiency, community, collectivism, citizen activism, and more.

Graduates from this capstone will be well-positioned for careers in sustainability marketing, social marketing agencies, not-for-profit and social enterprise, thinktanks, academia, or advocacy and civil society roles.

Learning And Teaching Approach

The module adopts a transformative learning approach to sustainability that emphasizes experiential, inquiry-based learning, and capacity building skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and deep reflection. The module aims to progress students through the three levels of sustainability education (Sterling, 2011) from learning how to ‘do things better’ (Conformative), towards ‘doing better things’ (Reformative), and finally advancing to ‘seeing things differently’ (Transformative).

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

1. Understand and critically assess the history, assumptions and contestations of corporate marketing practice and its relationship to hyper-consumption from different perspectives (commercial, consumer, civil society and environment).
2. ‘Unlearn’ some problematic micromangerialist marketing perspectives promoted by the dominant social paradigm within business curricula such as continuous growth and profit maximisation above all else.
3. Analyse key sources of qualitative and quantitative evidence, through interdisciplinary breadth and depth of reading, to identify and critically assess pressing socio-ecological issues facing society today.
4. Network with key actors in the field of social and sustainability marketing, not-for-profit marketing, advocacy groups, and other civil society organisations to gauge current best practice in this space.
5. Apply a radically different approach to marketing that i) prioritises collective well-being ii) encourages acceptance of new ideas and ways of living/consuming/being and iii) drives behavioural and policy change for the betterment of society.
6. Drawn their own conclusions regarding the role and responsibility of business and marketing to shareholders, stakeholders, society and the environment.

Assessment (to be confirmed)

This module will be assessed through continuous assessment only (no final examination) and will combine graded assessment components based on the following:

• Attendance and active participation in class discussion
• Evidence of deep engagement with module reading materials
• Primary and secondary research skills
• Project design and management
• Professional, academic, reflective writing.

A full and detailed outline of the module schedule and assessment will be provided well in advance of the module start date.

Relation to Degree

We are at a turning point, and the time to raise important questions about the taken-for-granted yet problematic assumptions underlying the ideology of neoliberal capitalism within business schools is now. Trinity Business School (TBS) has committed to placing sustainability as a ‘cornerstone’ of its programme architecture and design with a pledged goal of ‘arming students with the tools to tackle global challenges’. Furthermore, TBS has developed it’s mission to Transform Business for Good. This means business which is: Impactful (‘good’ in terms of high-performance);  Ethical (‘good’ from a moral perspective) and Sustainable (a permanent ‘for good’ interpretation). TBS degrees encourage a responsible view of business, exploring one’s personal and professional potential, and engagement with grand challenges.

This module is an ideal Capstone to deepen and solidify these goals and mission. It encourages deep reflection on the discipline of marketing, challenging the uncritical acceptance of some of its underlying assumptions, but also hopefully inspires students to reimagine a potential positive marketing and communications role and career for themselves in which the end goal is not corporate profit maximisation at all costs, but instead, encouraging and promoting societal and environmental wellbeing.

Workload

This is a 20 credit module, meaning 500 hours of work is needed over the course of the year.

Textbooks And Required Resources

All required reading material will be available on Blackboard. Multiple copies of textbooks will be in the library or available as eBooks from TCD library database.

Recommended pre-requisite reading for this module:

• Hastings, G. (2022). Hyperconsumption: Corporate Marketing Vs. the Planet. Routledge.
• Belz, F. M., & Peattie, K. (2012). Sustainability marketing: A global perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
• French, J., & Gordon, R. (2019). Strategic social marketing: For behaviour and social change. Sage Publications

Student Preparation For The Module

All students will have read the material and submitted any required work/ preparatory task each week in advance of the lecture.

Course Communication

Please note that all course related email communication must be sent from your official TCD email address. Emails sent from other addresses will not be attended to.

Biographical Note

Sarah Browne is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in Trinity Business School. I have lectured on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, teaching modules in marketing, strategic management, business research methods, marketing and society, and social marketing.  My current research interests centre on the role of social marketing in transitioning to a post-growth society. I have conducted research on critical food marketing, exploring the commercial determinants of public health. My work has been published in Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Business Strategy, Social Science and Medicine, Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, International Journal of Health Policy and Management. I have delivered a social marketing workshop for Irish public health organisations.  I have co-written news articles and been interviewed by news publications on subjects ranging from critical food marketing, conspicuous consumption, advertising standards and rulings, and consumer behaviour during Covid-19.