Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Technological Forecasting & Social Change

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/techfore

The transformative impact of the circular economy on marketing theory

Rana Mostaghel a, b, *, Pejvak Oghazi c, d, Ana Lisboa e
a
Mälardalen University, Sweden
b
Stockholm Business School, at Stockholm University, Sweden
c
Sodertorn University, School of Social Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden
d
Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland
e
Business and Economics Department at the School of Technology and Management and Centre of Applied Research in Management and Economics (CARME) of the
Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The circular economy (CE) is growing, and an increasing number of businesses are becoming aware of it. Demand
Circular Economy from customers and new regulations from policymakers motivated many practitioners to transform their business
Marketing models into circular business models. However, academia has not followed the same pace. Considering that the
Strategy
circular economy encloses unique attributes, it is crucially required to re-frame traditional marketing strategy
Theory
theories. This article rigorously investigates marketing theory and practice in the CE, identifies the challenges of
Theory-in-use
Circular Business Model marketing in the CE, and introduces a new definition of marketing and additional stimulus in the marketing mix.
Further, the article provides theoretical and managerial implications.

1. Introduction 2016). Whereas traditional models focus on the extrac­

t–produce–use–dispose of the lifecycle, encapsulating the product “end-
The sustainability debate is not new. Ever since the emergence of of-life” concept, CBMs follow the closing the life cycle principle
environmentally conscious consumers in the late 1960s, issues such as (Kirchherr et al., 2017). In this regard, CBMs encourage material and
environmental protection, damage prevention, and reflection on the product reduction, reuse, recycling, and recovery (Genovese et al.,
consequences of one generation's actions for future generations have 2017). To do so, firms need to rethink their operations and find ways to
been in the spotlight (Leonidou et al., 2010). Nonetheless, this eco- eliminate waste, replace finite resources with renewable resources, and
conscience intensified over recent years and sustainability concerns consider the extension of product lifecycles (MacArthur, 2013). H&M's
from both customers and policymakers pressure changes in different campaign of textile recycling or Gina Tricot's RENT your party outfit
industries. (e.g., Quoquab and Mohammad, 2020; Weber et al., 2021). initiative are some illustrative examples of such ways (Mostaghel and
For instance, a study with 1000 Swedish customers revealed that 95 % of Chirumalla, 2021).
them considered sustainability as an important factor when purchasing The shift toward a circular economy (CE) represents an “economic
products and services (Insight Intelligence, 2019). Further, countries and value win-win approach” to dealing with resource scarcity and
such as Sweden or the Netherlands plan to build a waste-free economy waste disposal (Homrich et al., 2018, p. 534). It also represents an ac­
by 2040 (Circular Sweden, 2023) and 2050 (Hope, 2022) respectively. ademic understudied area. Marketing definitions and practices need to
France already requires companies to recycle, reuse or donate their constantly evolve to keep abreast of market developments and meet the
unsold products (Hope, 2022). expectations of diverse stakeholders. However, there is still work to be
A circular business model is “one in which a focal company, together done in incorporating CE and CBM in this regard. For instance, there are
with partners, uses innovation to create, capture, and deliver value to still no clear standards for the value proposition of a CBM (Stål and
improve resource efficiency by extending the lifespan of products and Corvellec, 2018). This may raise doubts concerning organizational sus­
parts, thereby realizing environmental, social, and economic benefits” tainability reports (Berglund and Sandström, 2013; Lewandowska et al.,
(Frishammar and Parida, 2019, p. 4). Circular business models (CBMs) 2017) and make it difficult to retrieve information on the circularity of
differ substantially from traditional business models (Bocken et al., firms' activities (Insight Intelligence, 2019). Moreover, while authors

* Corresponding author at: Mälardalen University, Sweden.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (R. Mostaghel), [email protected] (P. Oghazi), [email protected] (A. Lisboa).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122780
Received 17 June 2022; Received in revised form 3 August 2023; Accepted 4 August 2023
Available online 12 August 2023
0040-1625/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
R. Mostaghel et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

such as Sanclemente-Téllez (2017) and Vadakkepatt et al. (2021) pro­ To determine the databases and keywords to include in the study, we
vide an overview of the marketing-sustainability relationship concerns, established a panel of three experts. What regards databases, we selected
there are still issues to be addressed. Notwithstanding the existing four (Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and Science Direct), based on
literature advances on understanding CE and CBM concepts, relevance, their reliability in indexing highly ranked journals, to preclude the
and challenges (e.g., Kalmykova et al., 2018; Kirchherr et al., 2018), the exclusion of influential and relevant articles in the final profile (cf.
existing perspectives on marketing in a circular economy are frag­ Mostaghel and Chirumalla, 2021). For the keywords, we chose “retail”,
mented. This fragmentation is apparent in the multifarious approaches “marketing”, “sustainable”, “green”, and “circular”. We opted to focus
to marketing in the CE. For instance, some studies suggest the integra­ on the retail industry due to its key role in the supply chain (Lange and
tion of all aspects of sustainability (i.e., environmental, economic, and Velamuri, 2014) and its contribution to economic labor and growth
social) in the marketing mix (e.g., Vadakkepatt et al., 2021). Others (Tambo, 2014). Over recent years, retail faced changes, namely
suggest measuring the impact of firms' circularity level on purchase emphasizing sustainability, an increasingly pertinent factor in customer
intention (Papadas et al., 2019). For most research agendas and execu­ purchases (e.g., Confente et al., 2020). The keyword search was con­
tive decisions, this ambiguity is harmless. However, CE is the new ducted on March 4, 2022.
normal, and an organic marketing theory will enlighten marketers and In order to include all possible combinations and variations of the
assist them to build a CE-suitable competitive advantage and market keywords, we used Boolean operators (AND) and a wild card (*). The
position. specific queries used in each database are available in Table 1. To secure
In such a context, the purpose of this study is threefold. The first aim the quality of the articles, we limited the results to English, academic
is to identify the existing theoretical and empirical changes in marketing peer-reviewed articles in business, management, and economics (cf.
that address the transformation of economies into circular economies. Mostaghel and Chirumalla, 2021). Given the extensive number of arti­
The second aim is to ascertain the critical factors necessary for mar­ cles obtained by initial searches, no additional keywords were added to
keting theory in the circular economy. Lastly, this study proposes a new decrease the search bias (cf. Mostaghel and Chirumalla, 2021).
theoretical view of marketing that meets the requirements of the circular The search, including all the filtering options, resulted in 8 articles in
economy. Thus, our study seeks to answer the following research EBSCO, 170 articles in SCOPUS, 947 articles in Science Direct, and 9 in
questions: Web of Science, for a total of 1134 articles. These articles were stored in
EndNote 20 and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
RQ1. What is the position of marketing in the circular economy in the
Next, we removed all the duplicates in EndNote leaving 1114 arti­
academic literature?
cles. After these steps, we proceeded with the filter based on the titles
RQ2. What are the current challenges facing marketing in the circular and keywords, resulting in 712 articles. Then, we read the abstracts,
economy? reducing the number of articles to 313. Finally, reading the entire article
resulted in a final profile of 26 articles. All articles without a clear focus
RQ3. How does marketing theory need to evolve to serve the circular
on marketing in the circular economy as, for example, Muposhi et al.
economy?
(2022), were removed at this stage.
The organization of this paper is as follows. After this introductory
section, Section 2 provides an overview of the research method. Section
3 discusses the state-of-the-art of marketing in the circular economy and Table 1
pinpoints the leading researchers in this area. In Section 4, we propose a Queries and steps used for the search in the databases.
new theoretical view of marketing in the circular economy. Finally, Database Query Refined by
Section 5 provides the discussion, conclusions, theoretical and mana­
Web of (ALL = (“marketing strategy”)) Articles, English, Economics,
gerial implications, as well as limitations of the study, and delineation of science AND ALL = (“circular Business, Management, Materials
avenues for future research. economy” or sustainability or Science Multidisciplinary, and
green) AND ALL = (Retail*) Engineering Industrial,
2. Methods EBSCO “marketing strategy” AND Peer-reviewed Articles, English,
“retail*” AND (“circular
economy” OR green OR
In this research, we employed two research methods. First, we con­ sustainability)
ducted a systematic literature review to understand the current theori­ Science “marketing strategy” AND Articles, English,
zation of marketing in the circular economy. Then, we employed the Direct “retail*” AND (“circular
economy” OR green OR
theories-in-use (TIU) approach. TIU is especially valuable in construct­
sustainability)
ing organic marketing theories, particularly with regard to emerging Scopus “marketing strategy” AND Business Management and
phenomena. Furthermore, this approach is recommended to extend (“retail” or retailer or retailing) Accounting, Articles, English
perspectives and address ambiguities. Next, we present each method in AND (“circular economy” OR Language
detail. green OR sustainability.
Web of (ALL = (Marketing)) AND ALL Articles, English, Green
science = (circular*) Sustainable Science Technology,
2.1. Systematic literature review Economics, Business,
Management, Materials Science
A systematic literature review and bibliometric analyses assist in the Multidisciplinary, and Engineering
Industrial, Green, Economic,
identification of themes in the existing literature (Chauhan et al., 2022;
Business,and Management
Kunisch et al., 2018). EBSCO All Fields: ((“marketing AND Peer reviewed, and Academic
(“circular*”) Journals, English, Reading,
2.1.1. Search protocol Remove duplicates
For the systematic literature review, we employed the prevailing Science All Fields: (Marketing and English, Research Articles,
Direct circular) Business, Management and
search protocol, which is an “organized, transparent, and replicable pro­ Accounting, Including only the
cess” (Littell et al., 2008, p. 1). The steps used to retrieve articles are journals in business administration
namely: 1) determination of keywords and databases; 2) search in the Scopus All Fields: (Marketing and Business Management and
selected databases; 3) identification and removal of duplicates; 4) filter circular) Accounting, Articles, English
Language
based on title and keywords; 5) reading of abstracts; and 6) reading of
the entire article (cf. Salvador et al., 2020). Note: Data was retrieved on February 1 and March 11, 2022.

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R. Mostaghel et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

Acknowledging that the number of articles in the final portfolio was Table 2
rather restricted (only 26), we decided to run the systematic literature Characteristics of the firms involved in data gathering.
review excluding the keyword “retail” to see if we missed any relevant, Company Industry Turnover/ Registered Gathered dataa
or influential articles. number of year
This second literature review was conducted on March 11, 2022, employees
(2022)
using the keywords of “marketing” and “circular*”, as recommended
based on the panel of experts. The initial search, with English language, Case 1 Manufacturing 51 million 2007 Interview with
academic peer-reviewed articles, and the disciplines of business, man­ plastic and SEK the CEO, on
bioplastic goods 25 Zoom, and Sales
agement, and economics as filters, resulted in 1288 articles. Particularly, (B2B) employees Manager, on
EBSCO provided 124 articles, SCOPUS 91, Web of Science 325, and Zoom, in April
Science Direct 707. Removing duplicates in EndNote led to 1129 arti­ and October 2022
cles. The examination of the titles and keywords reduced the number of respectively, 60
min each,
articles to 325. After reading the abstracts, the list was reduced to 165
websitea,
articles. Finally, reading the entire articles to focus on marketing in the sustainability
circular economy and removing articles that ignored this clear focus (e. report (2021)
g., Guy et al., 1994) resulted in a final pool of 33 articles. Case 2 Retailing -Baby 15 million 2017 Interview with
Combining the articles of both queries, 33 and 26, and removing and kid products SEK the CEO, on
(B2C) 10 phone, 30 min,
duplicates, resulted in 52 articles. Thereafter these articles were dis­ employees March 2023
cussed among the expert panel, and 17 articles were removed leading to websiteb.
a final portfolio of 35 articles. There are many studies on sustainability Case 3 Service for the 36 million 1992 Interview with
marketing, green marketing, and corporate social responsibility; how­ elderly (B2C) SEK (2021) the CEO, face-to-
62 face, 30 min,
ever, very limited studies focused on the circular economy.
employees March 2023,
websitec.
2.2. Theories-in-use (TIU) approach Case 4 Highly 9 million 2004 Interview with
innovative SEK the CEO, face-to-
TIU is especially suitable for “identifying and defining important Labtech 10 face, 30 min,
equipment (B2B) employees March 2023,
constructs that reflect the practical world of marketing, including an­ Websitec.
tecedents and consequences of marketing phenomena” (Zeithaml et al.,
2020, p. 35). The process starts with focal research constructs drawn Three additional interviews were conducted with a European Parliament
member and a bank representative.
from the systematic literature review. Following the recommendations a
The websites were accessed latest on December 5, 2022.
of Zeithaml et al. (2020), the identified constructs are examined using b
The websites were accessed latest on March 9, 2023.
case study research. To do this process, we performed the abstraction c
The websites were accessed latest on April 6, 2023.
from raw data, that is say, we pooled several raw data elements into a
higher-order category and assigned a label to it.
Business Strategy and the Environment; and Journal of Business
To be as parsimonious and accurate as possible, we used a multiple
Research. However, when considering the number of citations, the
case study approach and performed interviews for each case (cf. Averina
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Business
et al., 2022). The range of firms included in the case study varies in
Research, and Business Strategy and the Environment has the highest
industry type, and level of circularity; still, all firms show concern for
sum of citations, with 1237, 416, and 411, correspondingly.
sustainability and have developed strategies to contribute to all pillars of
The literature shows that marketing strategy is a determinant of the
sustainability (i.e., environmental, social, and economic). Table 2 fur­
success or failure of a firm (Palmatier and Sridhar, 2020) and that
nishes details of the gathered data. Specifically, two cases were business-
marketing assists firms to deal with specific market characteristics
to-business (B2B) and two were business-to-consumer (B2C). Addition­
(Papadas et al., 2019). With markets embracing a circular economy, it
ally, we conducted two interviews with a bank representative and one
became clear marketing's important role in the CE (Gandolfo and Lupi,
interview with a European Parliament member, to capture the point of
2021). The emergence of the Green Marketing Orientation concept is an
view of investors and policymakers. All interviews lasted between 30
example of how marketing is mirroring the changing social and business
and 60 min. Further, we gathered secondary data from websites, and
landscapes (Papadas et al., 2019).
sustainability reports (when available) for triangulation and a deeper
Given the circular economy ecosystem, for a firm to succeed in it
understanding of each case.
there should be a well-functioning community, society, and environ­
ment. Thus, many firms took an active role in contributing to all these
3. Results
aspects in various ways. According to the information presented on our
case study firms' websites, Case 1 recently installed charging posts for
This section presents the results of the literature review. The aims
their guests and employees along with their circular offerings; Case 2 has
were to identify the current situation of marketing and its challenges in
a donation program with a local organization; and both Cases 3 and 4
the circular economy.
show respect for the planet and human rights.
3.1. Position of marketing in the circular economy in the academic
literature 3.2. The challenges of marketing in the circular economy

The information from the 35 articles was saved in an SPSS file. It According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is “the
included the name(s) of the author(s), the year of publication, the title of activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
the article, the title of the journal, and the number of citations received delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers,
by each article from Google Scholar (retrieved on March 13, 2022). clients, partners, and society at large” (AMA, 2017). Although this is a
Fig. 1 illustrates the number of citations per journal, based on the widely diffused definition, and frequently reviewed and reapproved/
summation of the number of citations of the articles included in the modified, it neglects a crucial element in present-day lives, which is
portfolio. In terms of the articles, the top three journals, with 6, 5, and 2 environmental sustainability. Considering the diffusion of CE and the
articles, respectively, are Resources, Conservation, and Recycling; recognition of sustainability as a critical topic nowadays, the first

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R. Mostaghel et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

Number of articles per journal

Number of citations per journal

Fig. 1. Number of publications and number of citations per journal.

challenge of marketing in the CE is the marketing definition (Rafi, important means to raise awareness and inspire customers toward cir­
2022). cular offerings.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that current Extant literature emphasizes the customers' crucial role in the suc­
theories tend to concentrate on the period between the beginning of the cess of circular business models (e.g., Mostaghel and Chirumalla, 2021).
customer journey and the purchase. Hence, marketing theories have There are indications that the success of marketing programs could be
paid scant attention to stages such as product maintenance and disposal dramatically enhanced by educating the carefully selected target market
or product recycling (Parsons and Maclaran, 2009). To encompass the (Galati et al., 2022; McCarthy et al., 2019; Rundle-Thiele et al., 2008).
entire product life cycle, from the design and development phase to its Efforts such as “household wasteful behavior”, which relates to con­
disposal or recycling, firms need to rethink their operations or materials sumer behavior at the disposal stage of products, are key in addressing
used and engage in greater collaboration, both internally and externally this challenge (Principato et al., 2021).
(Weetman, 2016).
Another defying issue for marketing in the CE is customer awareness 4. The circular economy has changed the core of marketing
and adoption. Transition into the CE introduced new sorts of products theory
such as waste-based products, remanufactured products (Pisitsankkha­
karn and Vassanadumrongdee, 2020) or edible insects (Van Huis, 2020), 4.1. Antecedents of transforming into the circular economy
which sometimes are not customer appealing. To deal with this, firms
should emphasize environmental, and social benefits and inform their Firms transform their traditional business models into circular
customers. Our findings are clear about this: firms must raise customer business models for several reasons. Institutional Theory (North, 1990)
awareness of their innovative sustainable offerings and their circular emphasizes that human interactions are forced by formal forces (e.g.,
business models. The sales manager from Case 1 stated: laws and regulations) and informal forces (e.g., social norms and con­
There are two major groups of sustainability-conscious customers: ventions). Different countries are investing in both tracks. On the one
(1) those who are open to receiving information, and (2) those who are hand, governments are setting rules and regulations in favor of a circular
extremists and position themselves against specific product types or economy, such as environmental regulations in the USA (Pamulaya,
materials. The latter group is not really open to learning the new solu­ 2022). On the other hand, actions are infusing the concept in all
tions in the circular business model. educational levels from kindergarten to university levels. Increasing
Similarly, the CEO of Case 2 enlightened that their innovative sus­ awareness among citizens at all levels builds social norms to some
tainable offerings are unknown to the majority of customers. Thus, firms extent. Thus, (1) regulations and (2) social norms are two major ante­
cannot only rely on broadcasting information via websites, they need to cedents of the CE transition. The third driver is (3) anticipated perfor­
include other communication tools in order to increase awareness of mance, not only for the focal firm, but also for the stakeholders,
their investments and activities concerning respect for the planet and environment, and society. Next, each antecedent is further explained.
individuals. Some of the examples include collaboration with local
schools and higher education entities, in terms of guest lecturing or 4.1.1. Regulations
conference/roundtable participation; being present at local fairs, and National governments' and the European Commission's regulations
meeting their clients' customers (i.e., the end-user) to personally portray impose the transformation into a circular economy. The first circular
the information. Social media can also be helpful as a communication economy action plan was introduced in 2015 to stimulate the transition
tool. Its adoption by a growing group of customers, including the of the European Union (EU) into the CE and there is a global level in this
younger generations (Datareportal, 2023), makes social media an action plan (European Commission, 2023). The interviewed member of

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R. Mostaghel et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

the European Parliament expressed: products, price, place, and promotion. Later, Booms and Bitner (1982)
International trade is important for the countries in the EU. Through added participants, physical evidence, and the process of service assembly.
different rules and regulations, organizations within the EU and those To reflect the circular economy, we propose the addition of planet, per­
trade with the EU have to take steps toward the transformation into a son, and profit, transforming the current marketing mix to 10Ps (See
circular economy. Fig. 2).
Even investors require firms to transform their business models into
circular ones. The interviewed bank representative explained that: 4.2.1. Planet
We strive to pave the way to a circular economy by setting Planet refers to all activities that the firm has embarked on to save
measurable goals for the firms and following their achievements in this the environment on planet Earth. This is achievable through external
regard. This is highly important for our clients who trust our judgment in activities, offerings, and internal activities.
investing in the right organizations. Several dialogues with executives
and policymakers secure the knowledge transformation. (1) External activities are firms' environmentally-friendly activities
outside. These include improvements in supply chain manage­
4.1.2. Social norms ment to decrease CO2 emissions. To assist these supply chain CE-
Social norms are a significant driver of the circular economy. Cases 1 enabling activities, firms can invest in leading technologies such
and 2 declared that they transformed their BM into a CBM for the reason as Advanced Analytics, 3D Printing, the Internet of Things, Ma­
that their organizations truly believe in sustainability. The organiza­ chine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain (Palcek,
tion's values in these cases are aligned with sustainability goals. This is 2022). An example of external activity is the adoption of reverse
reinforced by the results of a global study of 1374 respondents on cir­ logistics in Cases 1 and 2. This is a form of supply chain man­
cular economy investment motives, where more than 25 % of re­ agement that accesses end-of-life products and reincorporates
spondents expressed that they invest in CBM because it is the right thing them into the manufacturer's logistics strategy.
to do (Statista, 2019). (2) Offerings activities enclose firms' activities and decisions that
allow them to align product/service features with the CE. This
4.1.3. Anticipated performance should be considered from the product/service design stage. As
Smith (2022a) estimated the worldwide revenue generated from CE an example, Case 1 chooses renewable materials such as vege­
in 2026 will be a total of roughly 713 billion USD, which is more than table fats and oils to include in its manufacture of bioplastics.
the double amount in 2022 with approximately 339 billion USD. Many Case 2 also employs recyclable materials and opts to use, almost
organizations opt for CBM to improve their firm performance, branding, exclusively, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified wood,
and sustainability impact. In this regard, the sales manager from Case 1 GOTS (the Global Organic Textile Standard)-certified organic
explained that: cotton, and certifications with clearly defined criteria and highly
There should always be an economic motivation for any transition in respected worldwide. Further, Case 2 has also banned the usage
business. CBM is a win-win solution for the seller and buyer in the long of harmful or dangerous chemicals in the entire production chain.
term. (3) Internal activities refer to the firms' inside initiatives to align with
CE. As an example of such initiatives, the CEO of Case 1 identified
4.1.4. Consumer pressure the installation of solar panels and charging stations for electrical
The majority of customers worldwide took some sort of circular ac­ vehicles. These activities allow the firm to decrease the envi­
tion in 2021 such as a) buying new products with recycled properties; b) ronmental impact on the planet.
buying secondhand products; c) buying fewer products; d) performing a
circular action to extend product life; e) performing a circular action to 4.2.2. Person
manage end-of-life; or f) renting instead of owning (Smith, 2022b). Person refers to all activities that the firm has undertaken to secure
Among the 2900 respondents of this study, only 7 % had no idea about social sustainability. This factor entails diversity, safety, and empow­
the circular economy theme (Smith, 2022b). Thus, knowledgeable erment of all stakeholders.
consumers are key in the CE transition. These are the consumers that
tend to choose the offerings from firms that strive to transform into a CE. (1) Diversity involves including people from different social and
To this concern, the CEO of Case 2 asserted: ethnic backgrounds genders, or sexual orientations. This should
Due to requests for sustainable products from our customers, we had apply to all individuals related to the business in some way, such
to search for new suppliers who could deliver products with recycled as employees or board members. For years, inequality and
properties. discrimination were seen as an opportunity for market segmen­
tation. However, due to the identification of its pernicious im­
4.2. Marketing strategy in the circular economy pacts, marketing research, education, and practice altered their
approach regarding it (Park et al., 2023). Diversity-embracing
Considering the acknowledged relevance of circularity in the current activities are practiced in Cases 2, 3, and 4.
business and research settings, along with the concern to constantly (2) Safety refers to securing the work environment of all involved
review marketing definitions and practices to keep pace with market individuals. This can be done in multiple ways. For example, Case
changes, it seems appropriate to review the definition accordingly. 1 pursues a better work environment for the employees of their
Given the abovementioned considerations, the identified critical factors, clients by choosing specific materials to reduce noise in the
and the theoretical and empirical changes faced by marketing in the CE, workplace and injury to their staff. Case 2 clearly chooses fair
we put forward a more holistic view of marketing in the circular econ­ business partners, to secure the safety and security of employees
omy. Thus, we propose the following definition of marketing: in the second tier of suppliers.
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for (3) Empowerment is giving power to individuals. The awareness of
creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that empowerment's importance nowadays led to the emergence of a
have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large with literature stream on diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) as
respect for the environment and individuals throughout the life cycle of bases of individuals' empowerment, regardless of their back­
the offering. grounds and origins (e.g., Ferraro et al., 2023). In our case
Building on this definition, we propose extending the existing mar­ analysis, we found that Case 2 has children's welfare at the heart
keting mix theory. In 1960, McCarthy (1960) proposed the original 4Ps: of its business.

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R. Mostaghel et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

Fig. 2. Identified themes and dimensions.

4.2.3. Profit operating costs decreased by installing solar panels. This shows
Profit refers to all stakeholders' economic gains, obtained from that producing clean energy not only lowers the business opera­
transaction, operating, and capital costs reduction. tions' impact on climate but also lowers operating costs. One
additional example was the impact of Case 1 resource loops
(1) Transaction costs refer to expenses associated with conducting strategy, with recycling allowing a reduction of about 10 % of
economic transactions. These costs decrease with the establish­ production costs.
ment of long-term relationships. One of CBM's strategies is (3) Capital costs are expenditures that relate to the acquisition or
slowing the resource loops (Bocken et al., 2016). This means improvement of assets such as licenses, facilities, or equipment.
focusing on eliminating waste, maintaining products/materials in These types of costs can be reduced by CBM. For instance, Case 1
the value chain for a longer period, and recovering end-of-life strives to deliver the most efficient and economical solutions to its
products to further use (Bocken et al., 2016). It is achievable by customers. The firm invests in long-term relationships rather than
producing high-quality products, as done by Rolex and Mielé; focusing short time profits, by renting recyclable products instead
maintaining the same production line, to repair products and of selling them. This way clients lower their capital costs, as
extend their lifetime, as decided by Vitsoe or even discouraging renting represents operating costs.
customers to buy a product if they already have one, as does
Patagonia.
4.3. Consequences of aligning with the circular economy
(2) Operating costs are ongoing expenses related to the day-to-day
business operations. In this sense, Case 1 stated that its
The transformation of a business into a circular business model

Fig. 3. Antecedents and consequences of transforming into circular business models with marketing in the circular economy.

6
R. Mostaghel et al. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 195 (2023) 122780

represents multiple consequences, not only in sustainability impact, but and sustainability impact, brand equity, and firm performance as con­
also in brand equity, and firm performance (see Fig. 3). sequences of marketing in the CE.
In what concerns managerial implications, the study brings new light
4.3.1. Sustainability impact to managers. First, it summarizes the requirements of the circular
Sustainability outcomes relate to fulfilling current generations' needs economy in terms of marketing, which helps practitioners and execu­
without compromising the future. To do this, it is key to balance eco­ tives to understand them and adapt their strategies accordingly. Second,
nomic growth, environmental care, and social well-being (e.g., Vadak­ the study highlights the challenges of marketing in the circular economy
kepatt et al., 2021). Circular business models strive to close the resource and alerts managers to develop new collaborations or adapt current ones
loops, slowing resource loops or narrowing resource flow (Bocken et al., with diverse actors in the ecosystem. Finally, it calls attention to the
2016); thus, with a focus on the planet as one of the elements in the need of aligning internal activities and marketing aims, in that the entire
marketing mix, they will contribute to environmental sustainability. business model should align with the marketing goals in the circular
Further, the “person” reflects social sustainability, and “profit” relates to economy. Moreover, a key component in successful marketing in the
the win-win economic aspects of all stakeholders. Consequently, all circular economy is a competent and dedicated staff, along with moti­
activities have some kind of impact on sustainability. vated managers and leaders.
The study is not exempt from limitations. In fact, the limitations of
4.3.2. Brand equity this study are similar to the ones of others conducting a literature review
Brand equity refers to the value premium that customers are willing (e.g., Mostaghel et al., 2022) and TIU case study approaches. First, a
to pay for a specific brand. Brands with higher brand equity have greater possible limitation lies in the keywords employed in the search for ar­
positive differential responses in the marketplace (Aaker, 2009). The ticles. Even though we ran two separate searchers in four business
implementation of marketing in a CE improves customers' perception of administration databases to cover the most relevant and influential
the brand's quality and desirability. Along these lines, the positioning of studies, we may have excluded relevant articles that did not employ the
Cases 1 and 2 as green and sustainable producers differentiated them in exact keywords we used. Second, due to the nature of our research, we
the market by addressing the customers' needs with recyclable products. could not fully examine the identified constructs. Future research can
move forward by using empirical data to test these constructs. This study
4.3.3. Firm performance is a first step toward a better understanding of marketing in the CE. The
Finally, firm performance is a measure of how well the firm is per­ ongoing debate and embracement of CE in several areas of the business
forming, which can be measured, for example, in terms of profit, growth, setting evidence its increasing importance, and theoretical and empir­
market value, return, economic value added, or customer satisfaction ical research are sorely needed.
(Carroll, 2004). The CE-aligned marketing mix contributes to firm per­
formance (Zucchella and Previtali, 2019) by reducing energy con­ Declaration of competing interest
sumption (e.g., Case 1), decreasing production costs (e.g., Case 1), and
increasing market share (e.g., Case 2). I, the corresponding author of this manuscript, certify that the con­
tributors' and conflicts of interest statements included in this paper are
5. Discussion, theoretical and managerial implications correct and have been approved by all co-authors.

The present study used bibliometric analysis to identify the leading Data availability
authors and the most impactful studies in the area of marketing in the
circular economy. The acknowledgment of current practices and the­ The data that has been used is confidential.
ories served as a foundation for a new theoretical perspective. This new
perspective extends the existing marketing perspective, by incorpo­ Acknowledgment
rating the CE. The theoretical contributions are as follows.
First, the results of this study identified the current circular economy- The authors are grateful for the anonymous reviewers' and editors'
adapted marketing practices and theories. This provided an overall view dedication, time, and commitment to advancing scholarly discourse.
of the background of marketing in this context. Although Winterich This paper is partially financed by National Funds of the FCT –
(2019) proposed a framework for conceptualizing and assessing sus­ Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project
tainability and there were advances in sustainable marketing (e.g., “UIDB/04928/2020”.
Vadakkepatt et al., 2021), limited research focused on marketing in the
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Rana Mostaghel (Ph.D.) is a Senior Lecturer at the Stockholm Business School (SBS),
business model innovation: evaluation of past and avenues for future research
Stockholm University, and an Associate Professor at the Division of Marketing and Strat­
trends. J. Bus. Res. 146, 134–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.072.
egy, School of Business Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University (MDU), in Swe­
Muposhi, A., Mpinganjira, M., Wait, M., 2022. Considerations, benefits and unintended
den. Her research interest includes Marketing Strategy, Digitalization, and Circular
consequences of banning plastic shopping bags for environmental sustainability: a
Economy. She has published in peer-reviewed international high-ranking journals
systematic literature review. Waste Manag. Res. 40 (3), 248–261. https://doi.org/
including the Journal of Business Research and Psychology and Marketing.
10.1177/0734242X211003965.
North, D.C., 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance.
Cambridge university press, Cambridge. Pejvak Oghazi (Ph.D.) is a full Professor in Business Studies and head of two departments
Oghazi, P., Mostaghel, R., 2018. Circular business model challenges and lessons at the School of Social Sciences, Sodertorn University, Stockholm, Sweden. Professor
learned—An industrial perspective. Sustainability 10 (3), 739. Oghazi is also an associate researcher at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki,
Palcek, M., 2022. Key supply chain technologies used in circular economy worldwide. htt Finland. He holds an MSc in Industrial Management and Engineering in addition to a Ph.D.
ps://www-statista-com.ep.bib.mdh.se/statistics/1110065/supply-chain-key-tech in Industrial Marketing. He has published in peer-reviewed internationbal top-ranked
nologies-circular-economy-worldwide/ (Retrieved April 23, 2023). journals including the Journal of Operations Management, Industrial Marketing Manage­
Palmatier, R.W., Sridhar, S., 2020. Marketing Strategy: Based on First Principles and ment, Journal of Business Research and Psychology and Marketing.
Data Analytics. Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Ana Lisboa (Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Business and Economics Product Development of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. Her research interest includes
Department at the School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic Institute of International Marketing, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. She has published in peer-
Leiria, an integrated research member of the Centre of Applied Research in Management reviewed international high-ranking journals including the Journal of Business Research
and Economics, and an associate research member of the Centre for Rapid and Sustainable and Industrial Marketing Management.