Corporate Sustainability in a Fragmenting Global Marketplace: Implications for International Marketing

Introduction

Corporate sustainability strategies, or initiatives, refer to the series of proactive and responsive actions designed by a firm to tackle latent and expressed social and environmental issues facing society, to ensure superior economic performance (Nwoba et al., 2021). Such sustainability is increasingly seen as a central pillar of international marketing strategy, influencing how firms compete, create value, and respond to environmental and societal challenges across global markets (Bıçakcıoğlu et al., 2019; Nwoba and Bıçakcıoğlu-Peynirci, 2025). Recent global sustainability assessments underscore the urgency and strategic relevance of social and environmental challenges to corporate strategy and global market competition. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Report 2025 indicated that only around 35% of global SDG targets are on track, while the Deloitte Global Sustainability Report 2025 suggested that 83% of firms have increased sustainability investments (Deloitte, 2025; United Nations, 2025).

The global economic landscape is undergoing substantial transformation as rising geopolitical tensions, regional conflicts, and growing trade frictions contribute to increasing fragmentation and uncertainty in international markets (Andrews et al., 2026; Luo and Tung, 2025). These are also febrile times for policy. For example, policies such as the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (2022), and emerging sustainability reporting regulations across major economies, are prompting multinational firms to redesign production processes, supply chains, and sustainability reporting systems to comply with increasingly divergent environmental standards across markets. Furthermore, companies such as Unilever must adapt packaging and waste management practices across countries to comply with varying environmental regulations, including the European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive and plastic bans introduced in markets such as India. Similarly, Volkswagen has adjusted its corporate sustainability strategy across regions by expanding electric vehicle and battery production in the United States to benefit from Inflation Reduction Act (2022) subsidies, while simultaneously investing in low-emission vehicle technologies and stricter carbon compliance measures to meet more stringent regulatory requirements in the European Union. These developments call for research on the conditions under which corporate sustainability strategies are developed and implemented, as firms navigate emerging tensions and frictions, shifting environmental regulations, evolving certification systems, and divergent stakeholder expectations across markets.

Recent research highlights the importance of understanding why firms adopt corporate sustainability strategies and how such initiatives influence firm-related outcomes in international markets (Burritt et al., 2020; Nwoba et al., 2021). In this line of research, a central debate concerns whether it “pays to be green”. Some studies emphasize the potential costs of implementing socially and environmentally focused initiatives, while others point to benefits such as improved efficiency, reputation, and market performance (Ambec and Lanoie, 2008; Dangelico and Pontrandolfo, 2015; Leonidou et al., 2017). These discussions are increasingly echoed in research examining corporate sustainability strategies across international markets, where diverse institutional environments and stakeholder expectations provide fertile ground for further research. In this vein, firms operating across international markets frequently encounter heterogeneous regulatory frameworks, diverse stakeholder expectations, and varying levels of environmental and social awareness across countries. The growing fragmentation of environmental regulations and sustainability policies across countries increasingly requires firms to adapt their corporate sustainability strategies to diverse institutional environments. These complexities make the formulation and implementation of corporate sustainability strategies particularly challenging in international contexts and highlight the importance of examining corporate sustainability strategies from an international marketing perspective.

This special issue aims to advance understanding of corporate sustainability in a fragmenting global marketplace by examining how firms develop, implement, and adapt sustainability-oriented strategies across international market and their effects on firm-related outcomes. We invite submissions examining green business strategies, corporate sustainability strategies, export venture sustainability strategies and economic, social and governance (ESG) related initiatives in international marketing, as well as their implications for firms, consumers, and societies at large. This special issue invites submissions of both conceptual and empirical manuscripts, employing diverse procedures that include conceptual/theoretical and empirical (quantitative and/or qualitative) approaches. We encourage multidisciplinary approaches. Potential research questions for submission to this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• What new theoretical perspectives are needed to understand corporate sustainability strategies in an increasingly fragmented global marketplace?
• How do geopolitical tensions and trade frictions reshape the corporate sustainability strategy decision-making processes of multinational enterprises in a fragmented global marketplace?
• How do firms design and adapt corporate sustainability strategies across fragmented and heterogeneous institutional environments? What resources and capabilities are needed to do so?
• How do firms balance global standardization and local adaptation of corporate sustainability strategies across diverse regulatory and market environments?
• How do rising populism, political ideology, nationalism, and anti-globalization sentiments reshape firms’ corporate sustainability strategies across international markets?
• How do diverse stakeholder pressures across fragmented international markets influence the design and implementation of corporate sustainability strategies? Do these make firms more agile and responsive to corporate sustainability issues?
• How do corporate sustainability strategies differ across developed and emerging markets in a fragmented global marketplace characterized by uneven institutional and regulatory conditions?
• How do multinational enterprises distinguish between mandatory and discretionary adaptation of corporate sustainability strategies across fragmented regulatory and institutional environments?
• How do cross-cultural differences and fragmented institutional environments influence consumer attitudes and perceptions toward corporate sustainability strategies and their outcomes in international markets?
• How do network ties, inter-organizational relationships or greenshoring shape the development and adaptation of corporate sustainability strategies in fragmented international markets?
• How do managerial microfoundations shape how firms conceptualize corporate sustainability in fragmented international environments?
• How do digitalization and emerging technologies support firms in managing and adapting green business strategies in fragmented global markets?
• How do firms leverage knowledge and learning processes to develop and transfer corporate sustainability strategies across markets characterized by regulatory fragmentation and institutional heterogeneity?
• What are the antecedents, boundary conditions, and performance outcomes of export venture sustainability strategies in fragmented international markets with varying environmental regulations and stakeholder pressures?
• How do firms manage divergent environmental regulations, certification systems, and ESG reporting requirements across countries?
• How do global value chain configurations influence the development and implementation and performance consequences of corporate sustainability strategies in a fragmented international marketplace?

List of topic areas

• Corporate sustainability
• Green business strategies
• Environmental strategies
• Global marketplace
• International marketing
• Fragmented global markets
• Global disruptions

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/imrev

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/imr 

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/09/2027

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 01/11/2027