Sustainable Communication and the Dominant Social Paradigm: Can They Be Integrated?

Abstract

The relationship between marketing and the environment has been examined since the early 1970s but began to focus on advertising in the early 1990s. Environmentally related ads were frequently analyzed for content, and then a framework for green advertising was developed, expanding the domain of inquiry to the level of paradigms. This article expands on both of these areas of research by examining both green advertising and sustainable communication and positioning them within the dominant social paradigm of western industrial society. It is argued that achieving sustainable consumption is problematic for both areas because their goal contradicts the basic elements of the paradigm. For meaningful change to occur over time, it is necessary to develop the theory of sustainable communication further and expand knowledge of the functioning of the dominant social paradigm of western industrial societies.