Consumer perception of corporate sustainable marketing strategies for environmental sustainability: A systematic review of empirical evidence and corporate best practices

Abstract

As environmental degradation intensifies stakeholder pressure on business, sustainability has moved from a peripheral concern to a strategic imperative in marketing. This study systematically reviews empirical evidence on consumer perception of corporate sustainable (green) marketing strategies and benchmarks the environmental initiatives of leading global enterprises, with the aim of identifying the antecedents, outcomes, and boundary conditions of favourable consumer responses to sustainable marketing. A systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 protocol. Peer reviewed empirical studies published between 2012 and 2025 that examined consumer perception of sustainable or green marketing were screened against explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, yielding a final sample of 18 empirical studies spanning ten countries and a combined sample of more than 6,100 consumers. The review is complemented by a multiple case analysis of the ten highest ranked enterprises in the Forbes (2024) Net Zero Leaders list, drawing on corporate sustainability reports and disclosures. The synthesis indicates that environmental knowledge, awareness, and concern are the dominant antecedents of favourable consumer perception; that favourable perception translates into green purchase intention, willingness to pay a price premium, satisfaction, loyalty, and positive electronic word of mouth; and that price sensitivity, low income, limited environmental literacy, and greenwashing scepticism attenuate these effects, particularly in emerging economies. Case evidence shows that leading corporations increasingly anchor marketing claims in verifiable, science-based commitments such as net zero targets, circularity, and renewable energy sourcing. The study integrates two streams that are usually examined separately, namely consumer side perception research and firm side sustainability practice, into a single conceptual framework, and derives research propositions, managerial implications, and an agenda for future research.