Sustainable Marketing Orientation and Sustainability Performance of Nigerian Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Sustainable marketing is a strategy for building ethical capabilities, cost optimization, social value delivery, environmental differentiation and competitive advantage. Underpinned by resource‐advantage (R‐A) theory, this paper studied how sustainable marketing orientation (SMO) factors, Eco‐innovation (EI), and operational openness (OO) individually and/or collectively interact to determine the sustainability performance (SP) of 13 major water producing SMEs in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. A sample of 315 managers and officers directly or indirectly involved in marketing and sustainability programmes was studied through cross‐sectional design and self‐administered questionnaire. Analyzing the data and testing the hypotheses using SmartPLS, the results showed that SMO factors and EI significantly affect SP, with strategic integration (SI) having the most critical effect. Similarly, social commitment (SC), ethical capabilities (EC), and SI affect the flow of EI programmes; and EI and SI influence OO. Therefore, integrated systems that ethically and morally address environmental and social issues produce sustainability outcomes beyond the economic pursuit of R‐A theory. Sustainability adoption is no longer optional in modern markets rather a core driver of resilience, value creation, and long‐term application of heterogeneous, imperfectly mobile resources to enrich comparative advantage and R‐A's domain. Managers were advised to invest in social engagement and integrate the different layers of stakeholders in developing environmentally friendly programmes, suggesting a revision of R‐A theory and embedding sustainability into corporate culture and strategic planning processes.