Responsible stakeholder engagement marketing

Abstract

• Customer Engagement Marketing (CEM) aims to boost customer/firm relationships. • CEM thus overlooks the quality of the firm’s relationship with other stakeholders. • We thus propose Responsible Stakeholder Engagement Marketing (RSEM). • We define RSEM and develop a conceptual framework of RSEM drivers and outcomes. • We show how RSEM can be used to boost the firm’s relationships with its stakeholders. By strategically cultivating customers’ engagement, Customer Engagement Marketing (CEM) boosts the firm’s relationships with its customers. However, CEM’s isolated customer focus overlooks the importance of cultivating other firm stakeholders’ (e.g., employees’ or suppliers’) engagement with the firm, exposing a pertinent gap in the literature. Addressing this gap, we conceptualize Responsible Stakeholder Engagement Marketing (RSEM) as a theoretical sub-set of the broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept. We define RSEM as a firm’s deliberate strategic effort to stimulate and empower its stakeholders to make responsible contributions to the firm, other stakeholders, and the environment . We also develop a framework and an associated set of propositions that are informed by stakeholder theory, which suggest that a firm’s internal (vs. specific external) stakeholders’ need for the firm’s social responsibility differentially affects its instrumental, compliant and moral RSEM strategy, thereby uniquely impacting (a) its stakeholders’ contributions to the firm, other stakeholders, and the environment, and (b) the firm’s triple bottom-line performance. We conclude by discussing key implications that arise from our analyses.