Building Sustainability into Services Marketing: Expanding decision-making from a mix to a matrix

In line with the AMA's revised (2007) definition of marketing, which aligns with the societal marketing orientation by requiring that Marketing create value not just for individual consumers and organisations but also for society at large, this paper proposes a Sustainability Services Marketing (SSM) framework. At present, services marketing managers have little guidance on how to pursue sustainability and achieve sustainable development goals. The SSM addresses this gap in a systematic, holistic and transparent way by ensuring sustainability cascades through the strategic marketing planning process. The traditional services marketing mix is expanded to include partnership, and the eight elements are cross-referenced against the three pillars of the triple bottom line - Planet, People and Profit - to produce the Sustainability Services Marketing Matrix (SSMM). The model is described and illustrated with brief case examples, and implications for theory and practice, and potential directions for further research are discussed.