Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science - Call for Papers: Sustainable Marketing and Innovation

Sustainable Marketing and Innovation 

Guest Editors: 
Neeraj Bharadwaj, The University of Tennessee
Anders Gustafsson, Norwegian Business School
Jagdish N. Sheth, Emory University 

Submission Deadline: July 15, 2025

Introduction and Background:
Sustainability represents a foremost consideration among academics and executives alike. Specifically, marketing scholars and practitioners strive to better understand the implications of sustainable marketing and innovation activities on the consumer journey, business performance, and broader societal goals (see, e.g., Marketing Science Institute’s 2024 Research Priorities). To this end, this special issue aims to stimulate deeper insight into the topic of sustainability, which refers to “integrating environmental and societal concerns into business decisions and actions” (Bhattacharya and Jekielek 2023).

This special issue strives to attract even greater attention to sustainability as a critical area of study. Prior research within prestigious marketing and innovation journals explores how, why, and when sustainability initiatives ⎯such as cause-related marketing (e.g., Ballings, McCullough, and Bharadwaj 2018; Schamp et al. forthcoming), corporate social responsibility (Kang, Germann, and Grewal 2016), corporate social irresponsibility (Kim, He, and Gustafsson 2024), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors (Singh et al. 2023), green marketing (Cronin et al. 2011), inclusivity (Rodriguez-Vila, Nickerson, and Bharadwaj 2024), and sociopolitical activism (Bhagwat et al. 2020)⎯ shape consumer behavior, marketing strategies, new business processes and offerings, and the long-term viability of businesses and societies.

Submission Guidelines:
Papers targeting this special issue should be submitted through the JAMS submission system (https://www.editorialmanager.com/jams), and will undergo a similar review process as regularly submitted papers. Submissions for the special issue begin June 1, 2025 with the final deadline for submissions being July 15, 2025. Please direct questions pertaining to the special issue to either Neeraj (nbharadwaj@utk.edu) or Anders (anders.gustafsson@bi.no). An associated special session will be held at the 2025 AMS conference (in Montreal). We encourage (but do not require) a 4-page Abstract submission to the 2025 AMS conference.

Read the full Call for Papers here.