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To achieve an economy within ecological boundaries that meets the needs of all requires societal transitions (i.e. systemic changes of collective cultures, structures and practices). Such a societal and economic transition requires corporate and entrepreneurial organisations to transform their businesses, business models and societal roles. While the importance of companies for sustainable development has been acknowledged in the existing literature the link between transformations at the organizational level and sustainability transitions beyond organizational boundaries needs further investigation. This contribution therefore unpacks the duality of companies in sustainability transitions: they are subject to the transformative changes in the economy and society, and they can be leaders of sustainability transitions of the economy and society. Companies are challenged to proactively manage a simultaneous build‐up of sustainable and phase‐out of unsustainable products, services and practices. Key approaches for sustainability transformation management are discussed and conclusions for research and practice deducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the influence of product lifetime labelling on purchase decisions. Based on consumer theory of Lancaster, experimental survey data are collected from a population representative sample of 499 German consumers, using choice‐based conjoint analysis. Hierarchical Bayes utility modelling suggests a substantial positive effect of product lifetime labelling on purchase decisions. However, the effect is not linear but decreasing with higher levels of product lifetime. The relative importance of the product lifetime label is found to be higher than that of the product's energy consumption or brand. Additionally, we show that the introduction of product lifetime labelling renders the positive influence of existing brands on purchase decisions less impactful. Therefore, strategic implications for companies differ substantially, depending on companies' current brand‐building. Besides implications for business strategy, the study informs marketers and policymakers about the potential of product lifetime labelling to stimulate the supply of, and demand for, more durable products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectuation, as an emerging theoretical approach in entrepreneurship, is receiving increasing attention in research and practice. Still, the integration of effectuation in sustainable entrepreneurship literature is sparse, and its influence on the sustainability orientation of ventures has so far not been examined in the academic literature. This article, therefore, investigates the influence that causal and effectual behaviors have on the sustainability orientation of established entrepreneurial ventures. This is important to consider, especially if entrepreneurial behaviors were to influence sustainability orientation negatively, this could potentially thwart the venture's ability to create lasting sustainability value. Based on a quantitative survey among 140 sustainable ventures, we find support for the hypothesis that causal behaviors reinforce sustainability orientation. We demonstrate that effectual behaviors exert a positive influence on sustainability orientation as well. Thus, the experimentation and flexibility of goals that ventures possess reflect that effectual behaviors are not at the expense of sustainability orientation. These results can inform sustainable entrepreneurs and educators to use both behaviors purposefully and highlight causal and effectual behaviors are equally important elements for sustainable entrepreneurship education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for environmentally friendly products is a key challenge for sustainable development in market economies. Still, how consumers react to favorable and unfavorable environmental information of different quantitative extents is largely unknown. This research therefore uses prospect theory and competing theoretical foundations to derive pertinent hypotheses and test them by using a multi‐level structural equation model. The analysis draws on a survey‐based experiment conducted among a representative sample of the German population. Results confirm key assertions of prospect theory. The negative effect caused by unfavorable product carbon footprint information on WTP is stronger than the positive effect caused by respective favorable information. Besides this negativity bias, consumers tend to generally reward or punish deviations of a product's environmental performance from industry average instead of consistently accounting for the size of these deviations. From a sustainable development perspective, the observed patterns highlight a problematic contrast between the need for substantial environmental improvements and limited market incentives for companies. Consequently, political intervention is needed to introduce negative labeling, raise consumers' reference points, set minimum industry standards, and subsidize companies for radical improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the stakeholder‐agency theory, this study empirically investigates the impact of sustainability performance on financial performance. We rely on a sample from the German DAX30, MDAX, and TecDAX from 2008 to 2017. In contrast to former studies concentrating on the German market that tested a direct linear relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance, a time‐lagging and curvilinear regression analysis was carried out, and evidence of a U‐shaped relationship was found. This implies that sustainability management aiming at increasing financial performance should proactively strive for very high levels of corporate sustainability to meet the needs of investors and further stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "business case for sustainability" is a notion often referenced in the corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility literature. Whereas some see sustainability and the business case as contradictions and thus emphasize the existence of trade-offs, others highlight how (potential) business cases can be created by managing ecological, social, and economic aspects. Both views have in common that the "business case" is implicitly or explicitly seen as creating financial performance, often for one group of stakeholders, only. The fact that a business case is not a given phenomenon but has to be co-created in the exchange between and with contributions from various stakeholders has so far not been analysed in depth. By taking a stakeholder theory perspective, this article extends the existing research on what business and a business case are about and analyses the understanding of business cases for sustainability and how they can be created with and by stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with environmentally-oriented crowdfunding projects. Drawing on agency-theory, it analyses the implementation of such projects, after they have been successfully financed via-crowdfunding. More specifically, this article firstly investigates whether environmental ventures implement the measures they have advertised during the crowdfunding campaign. Secondly, it examines in how far environmentally-oriented ventures disclose the environmental benefits that have been created based on the implementation of the measure financed via crowdfunding. It thereby uses data gained from a platform specialized in funding projects that serve combatting climate change. The results show that the measures advertised are commonly implemented. However, only few projects disclose information on the actual environmental benefits created. Thus, funders are unable to evaluate whether the environmental benefits advertised during the crowdfunding campaign are actually realized. Image 1 • Post-funding phase of environmentally-oriented crowdfunding projects is analyzed. • Most projects are implemented after successful funding. • Disclosure of information on the actual environmental benefits created is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the public debate on the environmental orientation of firms has intensified, there is a lack of understanding about the consequences of that orientation, especially in terms of its impact on firms' networking behavior. In order to fill this gap, this paper analyzes the impact of external and internal environmental orientation on start-ups’ network characteristics, because networks are both vital for the success of start-ups and resource demanding. More specifically, the effects of environmental orientation on networking frequency and network size among start-ups are analyzed. Empirical data from 248 technology-based start-ups shows that those firms with a strong external environmental orientation have significantly higher networking frequencies and build larger networks. Conversely, a strong internal environmental orientation is linked to smaller networks. Thus, the results highlight the relevance of differentiating between the external and internal environmental orientation of start-ups because both concepts can have very different effects. From a practitioner perspective, the results have important implications with regard to the resources required for networking and the opportunities and barriers that tend to accompany internal and external environmental orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic debate why and how companies are dealing with sustainability is dominated by two main arguments-the profit-seeking and the legitimacy-seeking view. While the first argues that companies (only) establish sustainability management measures if this helps to increase their economic success, others emphasize that companies predominantly react on societal pressure dealing with sustainability (only) to secure legitimacy. Whereas both lines of argument have gained a lot of attention in academia, little is known about their relative importance in shaping corporate practice. This papers aims to fill this gap with an empirical analysis of corporate practices of large companies in ten countries worldwide. To capture the organizations' rationale in sustainability management practice, we systematically applied various measures related to actors and operational activities focusing on the companies' intention to pursue sustainability management, the integration of sustainability management to the core business, and the actual implementation of related measures. Overall the findings indicate that seeking legitimacy dominates corporate sustainability management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the huge global environmental problems and their political and economic impacts, companies are challenged to improve their performance with regard to issues such as climate change. To successfully reduce corporate environmental impacts, management not only needs to develop environmental strategies, it also has to use effective sustainability management tools for their implementation. There are many studies reported in the literature on sustainability management tools such as life cycle assessments or sustainability reports. However, with few exceptions little is known about the efficacy of these tools. We address this research gap by analyzing survey data from the largest companies of five industrialized countries and empirically test the impact of implementing sustainability management tools on key dimensions of corporate environmental performance. The findings show that the implementation of sustainability management tools does reduce environmental impacts per unit of revenue. However, different groups of tools are found to be effective for different purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing corporate sustainability strategies requires knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. While much progress has been made in developing such tools in both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies, the literature claims company size positively affects application. However, the role of knowledge as amediating factor has not yet been investigated. Using the knowledge-based view as a theoretical underpinning, this paper draws on empirical survey data from SMEs and large companies in Germany. It analyzes how company size affects the degree of knowledge and application of sustainability management tools. Even though the results reaffirm that SMEs know and apply significantly less tools, company size does not influence the share of tools applied once they are known. Thus, knowledge is identified as a key difference between SMEs and large companies as well as an important mediator to promote sustainability management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conceptually synthesizes prior studies on sustainable entrepreneurship against the background of the multi-level perspective. It thereby relates separate streams of literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainability transformations and ecopreneurship, which have previously not been systematically connected and synthesized, to the multi-level perspective. The paper furthermore provides suggestions on how the multi-level perspective can be advanced based on the inspirations of these previously only sparsely-connected streams of literature. Finally, implications for entrepreneurs, academia and politics are presented: means to increase the contribution of sustainable entrepreneurship to sustainability transitions are suggested, and the importance of growth and degrowth is discussed in the context of sustainable entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little empirical research has been conducted on perceptions of the types of sustainability information dealt with by different managers in internal company processes. In this study the roles of different managers are distinguished based on contingency theory and using the categorisation in the sustainability balanced scorecard concept. Expected sustainability information types are identified for these roles and hypotheses are derived and tested about perceptions of the types of sustainability information in different management roles. Interviews identified 116 roles involved with sustainability information in a set of leading German and UK sustainability reporting companies. Results from analysing sustainability information types contingent upon different management roles contribute to the understanding of sustainability accounting systems and practices and how companies can best support different management roles with appropriate sustainability information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realisation of many environmental ventures requires funding from external parties, which is not always easy to obtain. Crowdfunding offers a new potential source of financing, which is frequently expected to favor environmentally oriented ventures. However, little is known if and how crowdfunding can be effectively used for such ventures. The article empirically examines this phenomenon by analysing how the environmental orientation of crowdfunding projects influences their likelihood of successful funding. Surprisingly, no positive connection between environmental orientation and crowdfunding success can be observed in the dataset used. Therefore, reasons for the relatively low rate of success of environmentally oriented crowdfunding projects are discussed and potential measures to assist in the more effective use of crowdfunding in the context of sustainability are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines links, similarities, and dissimilarities between stakeholder theory and sustainability management. Based on the analysis a conceptual framework is developed to increase the applicability and the application of stakeholder theory in sustainability management. Concluding from the analysis, we identify three challenges of managing stakeholder relationships for sustainability: strengthening the particular sustainability interests of stakeholders, creating mutual sustainability interests based on these particular interest, and empowering stakeholders to act as intermediaries for nature and sustainable development. To address these challenges three interrelated mechanisms are suggested: education, regulation, and sustainability-based value creation for stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By addressing the financing gap for sustainable entrepreneurs, crowdfunding holds great potential to tackle environmental and social issues. Characterizing the target group of crowdfunding projects can enhance their funding success because a higher number of supporters can be attracted. Still, little knowledge is available about the types of supporters who invest in sustainability-oriented crowdfunding projects. Therefore, this study identifies such supporters' socio-demographic characteristics and individual values based on Schwartz's theory of basic human values. Drawing on a data set of 282 respondents from the German population, the typical supporter of sustainability-oriented crowdfunding projects is young, well-educated, familiar with crowdfunding and holds low levels of self-enhancement and conservative values. Based on these insights, recommendations are made for project initiators, as well as platform providers, which include specifically targeting younger, well-educated individuals with rather liberal and less-conservative values. • Quantitative survey among active and potential German crowdfunders. • Identification of investor characteristics in sustainable crowdfunding. • Target group is young, well-educated and familiar with crowdfunding. • Self-enhancement and conservative values are low among sustainable crowdfunders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at integrating the bodies of literature on stakeholder theory and sustainability accounting. Using the conceptual methodological approach of theory synthesis, stakeholder theory is employed as a method theory to advance sustainability accounting as a domain theory. On this basis the concept of 'Accounting for Sustainability and Stakeholders' is developed. This concept highlights which sustainability topics and which stakeholders to consider in accounting for a given organization and how the inclusion of additional stakeholders and topics can contribute to creating value for stakeholders. In conclusion, this paper highlights that an overly broad inclusion of stakeholder groups and sustainability topics can be replaced by a purposeful selection of stakeholders and topics of particular relevance for the specific organization. As an additional advantage, the concept prevents disconnecting sustainability accounting from conventional accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigates influence of social & environmental orientation in crowdfunding • Environmental orientation increases funding success • Number of supporters mediates influence on funding success • Warm glow theory applied and specified in context of investment-based crowdfunding Environmentally and socially oriented ventures have great potential for contributing to sustainable development. Many expect crowdfunding to be able to unleash this potential by providing financial resources for such entrepreneurs. Thus, the present research investigates how different degrees of environmental and social orientation of ventures influence their success in investment-based crowdfunding. It uses and specifies warm glow theory to quantitatively analyse 318 investment-based crowdfunding projects from the USA and Germany. The results highlight that higher levels of environmental orientation increase crowdfunding success, while no significant influence is observed concerning social orientation. This positive impact of environmental orientation is mediated by the number of funders attained by a particular project. Interestingly, the influence of environmental orientation on funding success is found to be particularly strong in the USA. Based on these findings, this research draws recommendations for environmental entrepreneurs, crowdfunding platforms and policy, as well as for future research. For example, environmental entrepreneurs are advised to prominently communicate the environmental orientation of their ventures in investment-based crowdfunding campaigns, and to increase the visibility of their campaigns, as these are potentially attractive to a huge number of funders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The clothing industry holds huge potential for improvement concerning various aspects of sustainability. Although consumer attitudes towards sustainable products and services, both in general and specifically in clothing, have grown more and more favourable in the past years, the market share of clothing produced in environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways is still lagging behind. This article empirically investigates this phenomenon, known as the attitude-behaviour gap, in the context of sustainable clothing. Based on a large sample of female German consumers, a structural equation model is estimated to assess the magnitude of the attitude-behaviour gap and the impact of possible enablers of, and barriers to, sustainable clothing purchase behaviour. The value-attitude-behaviour hierarchy is used as a theoretical framework, augmented by further psychographic constructs hypothesised to influence behaviour. Apart from a considerable attitude-behaviour gap, the article indicates that a positive attitude towards social-ecological clothing standards, biospheric and altruistic values, as well as an affinity to online and catalogue shopping, enhance sustainable clothing purchases. Egoistic and hedonic values and, remarkably, a preference for durable clothing hinder sustainable clothing purchase behaviour. No significant effects of the suspected barriers – fashion consciousness and price sensitivity – have been identified. The results thus highlight the importance of changing attitudes and values towards sustainability, and of focusing on the durability of sustainable clothing and its availability via retail stores. Highlights • Sustainable attitudes and values are key drivers of sustainable clothing purchases. • An affinity to online and catalogue shopping also fosters purchase behaviour. • Notwithstanding, a large attitude-behaviour gap exists in sustainable clothing. • Self-enhancement values and a preference for durability act as purchase barriers. • Availability and durability of sustainable clothing are keys to market penetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although communicating so-called 'dynamic norms' may promote sustainable consumption behavior, the present study challenges the assumption that their impact is inevitably positive. On the contrary, it seeks to expand current research by establishing when and why sources with vested motives may result in a backfiring effect of dynamic norms. Our experiment (N= 352) investigates consumers' intentions to reduce their meat consumption after reading norm messages from different sources (i.e., a researcher, vegan activist, company representative). In line with the predictions, dynamic norm messages from a researcher led to more sustainable consumption choices than identical messages communicated by a vegan activist or company representative while controlling for gender. Concerning the underlying theoretical mechanisms, a perceived moral superiority and ensuing psychological reactance sequentially explained the backfiring effect for the vegan activist. The backfiring effect for the company representative was mediated by a perceived pro-self-motivation that again resulted in elevated consumer reactance. Overall, the present findings establish the crucial importance of a nudge's source that either fosters or undermines the effectiveness of a dynamic norm message in eliciting sustainable behavior. The results not only contribute to the academic debate on nudging, but can also inform practitioners to choose the most powerful sender (e.g. academics) when designing sustainable norm interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]