Abstract
While companies are investing increasingly in sustainability measures, the effects of firms’ sustainability actions on consumer perceptions should not be taken for granted and deserve to be investigated. By adopting the interpretative lens of consumer culture theory, this paper defines a set of cognitive dimensions which can describe consumer perceptions of sustainability actions and the behaviors of small–medium enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of identifying the relationships between firms’ sustainability actions and the economic performance of SMEs. To this extent, the cognitive dimensions proposed by Green & Petre (1996) are re-elaborated to define a set of customer cognitive dimensions in the sustainability domain (resilience, wholeness, mapping, coding, and engagement). Thus, the relationships between SMEs’ sustainability actions and behaviors, the defined cognitive influencers and SME performance is empirically tested. In particular, a survey of a sample of 1137 customers of 175 Italian SMEs is analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings show that the adoption of certain sustainability actions influences consumer perceptions, which in turn impacts the economic performance of SMEs.
Highlights
In recent decades, the relationships between consumers and firms have been influenced by several socioeconomic trends such as globalization, new information technologies and increasing environmental sensitivity [1,2]
The findings show that the adoption of certain sustainability actions influences consumer perceptions, which in turn impacts the economic performance of small–medium enterprises (SMEs)
Given the multiple definitions provided regarding sustainability and sustainable development [31], and according to [32], the need to extend the study of the relationships between firms and consumers in the context of sustainability clearly emerges, with the further aim to take into account the cognitive dimensions of consumers as key determinants in affecting market relationships [33,34,35]
Summary
The relationships between consumers and firms have been influenced by several socioeconomic trends such as globalization, new information technologies and increasing environmental sensitivity [1,2] Such trends have been analyzed by adapting old theoretical approaches within more flexible frameworks [3,4] in order to take the sociological and psychological dimensions of customers into account [5,6,7]. There are neither data nor models to evaluate all these elements in a suitable way To bridge this gap, this paper defines a set of cognitive dimensions which can describe consumer perceptions of the sustainability actions and behaviors of small–medium enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of identifying the relationships between firms’ sustainability actions and the economic performance of SMEs. The undertaking of sustainability actions by firms should be strategically evaluated based on the prediction of customer perceptions and the related impact (positive, null, or negative) on expected revenues. This paper is structured as follows: in Section 2, the theoretical background is presented, and the research hypotheses are derived; in Section 3, the research method is described and the analyzed data are summarized; in Section 4, the results are presented; and in Section 5 discussions, conclusions and possible future research directions are presented
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