Sustainability marketing myopia: The lack of persuasiveness in sustainability communication

Abstract

Sustainability communication in accommodation businesses tends to be factual and descriptive, as companies are concerned with product-based messages that focus on what they do, and they appear not to understand the potential benefits of constructing messages that would influence consumers to behave more sustainably, which is effectively sustainability marketing myopia. An analysis of 1835 sustainability messages from award-winning businesses shows that messages communicate facts not emotions and benefits for society as a whole rather than for the individual customer. The messages are explicit but passive and not experiential, hence they positively affect the cognitive but not the affective image of the business. The lack of message normalization and customer focus reinforces the image of sustainability being a niche concern. We reflect on the reasons for these shortcomings and highlight opportunities to improve persuasive communication, which we have now applied commercially in more than 400 website analyses and 60 training courses.