Marketing has long focused on boosting sales, profits and customer satisfaction.

But a new review warns that the social and environmental costs are being left off the balance sheet.

The research highlights three big ideas that could reshape the field: service-dominant logic, resource-advantage theory and market shaping.

All are designed to help businesses think beyond transactions and build systems of value creation that last.

Examples are already here.

Silver Fern Farms launched carbon-neutral beef and advanced traceability, while agritech firms are using precision farming to regenerate soils.

Greenbox keeps IT equipment in circulation through refurbishment and resale, and Ecostore has pushed for new packaging standards.

Māori businesses weave intergenerational stewardship into their strategies, showing models that challenge mainstream practice.

Associate Professor Julia Fehrer (Business School, University of Auckland)

The authors say marketers should:

• Think in systems, not silos

• Count future generations as stakeholders

• Treat sustainability as a strategic asset

• Imagine tomorrow’s markets, not just today’s

For Hibiscus Coast businesses, the message is clear.

Whether it’s farms in Wainui, retail in Silverdale or service providers across Whangaparaoa, sustainability isn’t a side project.

It’s fast becoming central to how markets operate and how locals choose who to buy from.

The research was carried out by Associate Professor Julia Fehrer (University of Auckland), Professor Mark Peterson (University of Wyoming) and Professor Bård Tronvoll (University of Inland Norway).

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