The Central Role of B2B Marketing and Sales in Reframing Value Creation for Sustainable Transformation

Call for Papers – The Central Role of B2B Marketing and Sales in Reframing Value Creation for Sustainable Transformation

Journal: Industrial Marketing Management (IMM)
Publisher: Elsevier
Journal metrics: Impact Factor 7.5, CiteScore 15.2

Submission window: 1 August 2026 – 1 November 2026

This special issue explores how B2B marketing and sales functions can drive sustainable transformation by reframing value creation in the face of climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss. It invites research that examines how B2B firms—often large resource users with high environmental footprints—can simultaneously deliver economic and environmental value to customers and society through circular, regenerative, decarbonised, and service‑oriented business models.

Why this issue matters

• B2B firms are central to global value chains and have significant leverage over resource efficiency, emissions, and waste, yet their marketing and sales practices remain under‑studied in sustainability transitions.

• Rising regulatory, institutional, and societal pressures push B2B firms toward circular economy, net‑zero, and regenerative models, but integrating these into core marketing and sales strategies is still nascent.

• Digital platforms, AI, and data‑driven tools enable new forms of transparent, circular, and service‑based value creation, but are often under‑leveraged in B2B marketing and selling processes.

This SI explicitly positions B2B marketing and sales as strategic drivers—not just supporters—of sustainable transformation, and seeks to build theoretical and managerial knowledge on how they co‑create value in environmentally sensitive markets.

Key themes and sample topics

Submissions may be theoretical, empirical, or conceptual, and are encouraged to address marketing, sales, organisational, and ecosystem‑level transformations. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• B2B marketing and sales in circular, regenerative, and low‑carbon economies

  • How B2B firms re‑design value propositions, offerings, and customer relationships to support circularity, net‑zero pathways, and biodiversity‑positive outcomes.

  • Case studies of customer‑centric, low‑carbon, or circular business models in B2B sectors (e.g., manufacturing, energy, construction, ICT).

• Policy, regulation, and B2B sustainability

  • How environmental regulation, ESG requirements, and public‑policy frameworks shape B2B marketing and sales strategies.

  • The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder engagement in B2B sustainability transitions.

• Digital technologies, AI, and platforms for sustainable value creation

  • Use of AI‑driven analytics, digital twins, IoT, digital product passports, and B2B platforms to enhance traceability, resource efficiency, and circularity.

  • How digital platforms support buyer‑led, ecosystem‑centred purchasing journeys and servitization‑based selling models.

• Customer and buyer‑centre dynamics

  • Understanding buyers’ challenges in balancing economic performance, risk, and sustainability and implications for value‑based and sustainability‑oriented selling approaches.

  • How multi‑actor buying ecosystems and purchasing‑sales integration reshape value‑chain design and sustainable procurement.

• Servitization and circular business models

  • Product‑as‑service, leasing, reuse, repair, and remanufacturing models and their impact on sales strategies, revenue models, and customer relationships.

  • Organising and orchestrating loop‑closing, resource‑efficiency, and decarbonisation initiatives through inter‑organisational collaboration.

• Organisational capabilities and learning for sustainability

  • How firms experiment, fail, learn, and adapt in sustainability‑driven transformation processes.

  • The role of internal and external networks in accelerating adoption of sustainable marketing and sales practices.

Guest editors

• Prof. Pia Hautamäki, LUT University, Finland

• Prof. Leena Aarikka‑Stenroos, Tampere University, Finland

• Prof. Adam Lindgreen, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

• Prof. Andrea Urbinati, LIUC Università Cattaneo, Italy

• Prof. Paavo Ritala, LUT University, Finland

Submission details

• Submission portal: Elsevier Editorial Manager for Industrial Marketing Management:
  https://www.editorialmanager.com/immgt/default2.aspx

• When submitting, select article type: “VSI: B2B Marketing and Sales in Sustainable Transformation”.

• Important dates:

  • Submission opens: 1 August 2026

  • Submission deadline: 1 November 2026

• Papers must be unpublished and not under review elsewhere, and should be 6,000–8,000 words in length.

• Submissions must comply with the journal’s Guide for Authors; poorly written or non‑compliant manuscripts may be desk‑rejected.

• All papers will undergo double‑blind peer review, with the aim of reaching editorial decisions within two rounds of revision where feasible.

Papers should clearly articulate how B2B marketing and sales are central to reframing value creation in the context of environmental sustainability and should provide theoretically grounded, empirically rich, and managerially relevant insights.

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