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The living product – using the creative nature of metaphors in the search for sustainable marketing

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  • Ingrid Kajzer Mitchell
  • Michael Saren

Abstract

The challenge facing marketing (and business) is letting go of old assumptions and embarking on a journey of unprecedented uncertainty towards a more sustainable marketplace. Current marketing approaches are called into question in this paper and it is argued that they fail to represent adequately – and far less to confront – our relationships with products and the natural environment. This paper challenges marketing in this respect, investigating the consequences of putting marketing into an ecological context. By using the generative and creative power of metaphors we attempt to draw the sustainability debate away from the language of the mechanistic world; where matter is regarded as inert, mute, passive and exploitable. By using the ‘living product’ metaphor as a tool for change we explore the potential for a reorientation towards organizational–environmental configurations that are dynamic and flexible and provide space for dealing with uncertainty. These concepts are then illustrated in a number of practical examples, providing an insight into the potential of marketing in our search towards a more sustainable marketplace. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingrid Kajzer Mitchell & Michael Saren, 2008. "The living product – using the creative nature of metaphors in the search for sustainable marketing," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(6), pages 398-410, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:17:y:2008:i:6:p:398-410
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.526
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mollie Painter-Morland & Geert Demuijnck & Sara Ornati, 2017. "Sustainable Development and Well-Being: A Philosophical Challenge," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 295-311, December.
    2. Christian Fuentes, 2014. "Green Materialities: Marketing and the Socio‐material Construction of Green Products," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 105-116, February.
    3. Mallen, Cheryl & Chard, Chris, 2012. "“What could be” in Canadian sport facility environmental sustainability," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 230-243.
    4. Jo Crotty & Diane Holt, 2021. "Towards a typology of strategic corporate social responsibility through camouflage and courtship analogies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 980-991, May.

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