Time for sustainable marketing to build a green conscience in consumers: Evidence from a hybrid review

Society has become increasingly socially and environmentally conscious owing to global environmental challenges, and COVID-19 has become an eye-opener. Although people have started developing a significant understanding of sustainable consumption, much work remains to be done in this field. Our study recapitulates the research that has been published in the area of sustainable marketing and sustainable consumer behavior over the last three decades. We conducted a hybrid literature review using bibliometric analysis combined with TCM (Theory-Context-Methodology) framework-based approach on a total of 1998 relevant papers published from 1991 to 2021. Our findings validate that the literature in this field has been on the rise, particularly since 2016. The subject area with the highest number of publications was Business & Economics (803). The USA is the major contributor, with (444) publications, followed by England (219) and China (416). The study also classifies the status of the extant literature, notable research gaps, and future research directions following a theoretical framework, empirical methods, and contextual phenomena. The study provides valuable insights into filling the “green attitude-behavior gap”. Given the growing tendency among consumers to go sustainable, this study offers practitioners a new perspective on the much-needed changes in the marketing strategy of companies selling sustainable products. Given the growing importance of people and companies being more environmentally and socially responsible, our study will help pave the way towards this much-desired goal.