Sustainability and Interactive Network Branding in Fast-changing Business Environments

This editorial is part of our BEER Spotlight Editorial Series, where we aim to shed light on relevant topics in business that we believe need more academic attention in BEER and beyond. In this editorial, we address the topic of sustainability in relation to interactive network branding (INB) in the context of fast-changing business environments.

Manifold crises are currently affecting business markets, threatening the existence of companies. These include, but are not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, global supply chain issues, and the war in Ukraine. These crises are increasing the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of business environments (see Bennett & Lemoine, 2014), calling for a need to develop novel strategies and business models (Koporcic & Törnroos, 2019a; Markovic, Koporcic, et al., 2021). Moreover, in the current fast-changing and ever more competitive business environments, customers and other stakeholders are increasingly expecting organizations to positively contribute to society, reduce their negative impacts on the natural environment (e.g., Markovic, Sancha, & Lindgreen, 2021), and have distinctive and authentic brands (Markovic, Iglesias, et al., 2022). Accordingly, both sustainability and branding are increasingly considered essential components of viable business models and organizational strategies (Koporcic & Törnroos, 2021).