Theories of sustainability: Re-imagining a marketing-indigenous understanding of sustainability

Abstract

Sustainability demands system-level transformation, yet marketing theory remains largely grounded in firm-centric, transactional, and equilibrium-based assumptions that are ill-suited to address planetary-scale challenges. This article responds to the need for more conceptually ambitious marketing scholarship capable of grappling with sustainability as a dynamic, contested, and future-oriented phenomenon. We identify key conceptual and methodological barriers that have constrained sustainability theorizing in marketing and examine how foundational perspectives within the discipline can be re-imagined and extended to meet these demands. Through a review of conceptual contributions in AMS Review, we trace how sustainability-related thinking has evolved within the field and assess the potential of three marketing-indigenous theories—Service-Dominant Logic, Resource-Advantage Theory, and Market Shaping—to inform the development of sustainability theory. Building on this foundation, we propose a future research agenda structured around four interlinked themes: (1) advancing system-level theorizing, (2) reimagining stakeholder responsibility to include nature and future generations, (3) conceptualizing sustainability as a dynamic resource domain, and (4) enabling prospective theorizing to support the shaping of more sustainable market futures.