Open Access

Greenwashing, defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image” can cause multifarious problems for companies. The phenomenon of greenwashing has, however, not attracted much attention in the event marketing literature to date. The purpose of this paper is twofold. It first describes and analyses the specific characteristics and features of greenwashing in event marketing. It then seeks to identify the current fundamental approaches of how to avoid greenwashing in event marketing and to assess their potential. A two-step literature analysis with complementary search approaches served as a methodical framework. First, journals related to event marketing were screened for the keywords “greenwashing” and “greenwash”. Next, the general literature was consulted for the same keywords. The results clearly demonstrate that the subject of greenwashing has been widely neglected in the event literature. There appears to be no overall concept or approach that allows event actors to avoid greenwashing, albeit various individual initiatives exist. However, it also became clear that initiatives against greenwashing in event marketing can be developed and implemented in the short and long term, for example by integrating different stakeholders. Additional political and juridical efforts based on specific guidelines are also necessary to prevent greenwashing in the future. The study is the first one to provide a systematic approach to the topic of greenwashing in the context of event marketing, including relevant approaches for its avoidance. It can thus help practitioners to better detect and avoid greenwashing in the event industry and to guide similar research in the future.

Organizational culture, environmental sustainability, and digitalization have an impact on the business development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME). Dimensions associated with organizational culture (e.g., attitudes, norms, assumptions) give a sense of identity and determine behavior. The latter include general approaches concerning the organizational impact on the natural environment (environmental sustainability) or the adoption of digital technologies (digitalization), which can cause profound transformations of the business model. These three concepts have been investigated separately and scarce attention has been paid to their relationship. To enable SMEs to successfully manage this complex relationship, our study cumulates existing knowledge, offering the first integrative view on organizational culture, level of environmental sustainability, and level of digitalization and their interactions. Through a systematic literature review protocol supplemented where possible by meta-analysis we selected 80 significant papers out of 811 peer-reviewed papers analyzed. We developed a network map to display the relations between the three concepts. Quantitative path analysis was used on three bidirectional main paths. For qualitative analysis we developed a novel extension to the Belief-Action-Outcome (BAO) framework, presented for the first time in the paper. Our findings reveal thirteen key dimensions and identify ten links between the key constructs. Strategic orientation, internal capabilities, management, and attitudes are the most investigated cultural dimensions. Furthermore, we integrated interchangeably used terms (e.g. Green IT and Green IS) introducing the novel concept of green digitalization tools. The meta-analysis revealed trends in applied research methods, geographical locations of research, top journals, and a growing interest in the relationship. Finally, we identify gaps in existing research and challenges for future research.

This study proposes Service Dominant Logic as a new explanatory approach to improve our understanding of sustainable events. A two-step analysis serves as a methodical framework. First, literature related to event marketing and Service Dominant Logic is analyzed with a focus on the micro, meso, and macro level. Second, the theoretical discussions are validated and enhanced by a brief case study from the German meetings industry. The findings highlight that the specific investigation of a micro, meso, and macro level within Service Dominant Logic can serve as a promising framework to better explain and depict the complexity of event sustainability.

Das Ziel des Beitrags ist es, die Bedeutung von aktiven Kundinnen und Kunden für ein unterstützendes Marketing Management hin zu einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung am Beispiel der Energiewirtschaft aufzuzeigen. Das Menschenbild des homo sustinens kann von besonderer Relevanz sein, um aktive Kundinnen und Kunden im Marketing Management zu verstehen. Dem homo sustinens zugrundeliegend, der sich am Leitbild der Nachhaltigkeit orientiert, ergeben sich vielfältige Ansatzpunkte für den Austauschprozess mit aktiven Kundinnen und Kunden. Sie können befähigt, instrumentalisiert, unterstützt, erzogen oder optimiert werden.