Sustainability Marketing Beyond Greenwashing: A Bibliometric Mapping

Abstract

This article aims to map the development and structure of knowledge about sustainability marketing that goes beyond the practice  of greenwashing using a bibliometric approach. Data was taken from the Scopus database with keywords related to sustainability marketing, green marketing, and greenwashing. Included articles are limited to  English-language journal and review articles  that explicitly address sustainable marketing, green claims, and sustainability communication in a business context. The data was then analyzed using performance analysis and science mapping techniques with the help of VOSviewer software and Bibliometrix packages. The mapping results show that sustainability marketing research is still very centered on three core keywords, namely greenwashing, marketing, and green marketing. The keyword network forms several main clusters related to sustainability marketing and reporting strategies, sustainability and transparency communication, linkages with corporate social responsibility and the circular economy, and green macroeconomic contexts. The overlay analysis indicates a shift in focus from the initial study of consumer behavior, CSR, and environmental sustainability to more cutting-edge issues such as sustainability communication, social media utilization, and carbon footprint disclosure. The country collaboration map shows the dominance of several key countries with a fairly wide network of international cooperation. These findings confirm that the future research agenda needs to move beyond the identification of greenwashing towards the development of sustainability marketing practices that are more transparent, verifiable, and make a real contribution to the transition to a green economy.