KOREASCHOLAR

economic growth and revenue / profit expansion, we will end up with overconsumption and wastes, bringing serious damage to our planet (Kotler, 2015). He advocated the transition from the growth-oriented economy to the steady-state economy. This research explores marketing in such steady-state economy. Researchers have put efforts in developing theories in related concepts such as social marketing (e.g., Kotler & Zaltman, 1971) and corporate social responsibility (CSR; see Peloza & Shang, 2011 for a review). Inoue and Kent (2014) developed a conceptual framework that explains antecedents and consequences of corporate social marketing. However, their research, as well as those on CSR, has not addressed marketing in steady-state economy. Thus, we attempt to fill this research gap by developing propositions. We conducted multiple case studies (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin 2014). Based on theoretical sampling, three firms were selected from different industries (food, alcohol, and furniture) with different technologies, located in different areas in Japan (Tokyo, Nagano, and Kagoshima). We collected primary and secondary data, and conducted interviews. In spite of the differences, the three firms run business similarly. First, they pursue a sustainable growth and not a rapid growth. Second, doing what is good for society is a part of their business goal and not CSR. Finally, they choose inefficiency than lowering the product quality.economy are developed: P1. Selling high quality products at profitable but reasonable price enhances firm’s credibility, which in turn improves the probability of firm’s long-term survival. P2. Limiting distribution channel allows firm to avoid price competition and set reasonable pricing, which in turn improves the probability of firm’s long-term survival. P3. Marketing mix of high quality product, reasonable pricing, and limited distribution channel generates positive word-of-mouth, allowing firm to save promotion costs. P4. Prosocial behavior in procurement increases the brand loyalty, which in turn improves the probability of firm’s long-term survival. P5. Portfolio of business-to-business and business-to-consumers businesses allows stable management and building strong brand. Further research is needed to develop these propositions into hypotheses and empirically test them with large samples. The authors hope that this research will be the first step for “steadiness-oriented marketing.”

• Satoko Suzuki(Kyoto University, Japan)
• Akinori Iwamoto(Kansai University, Japan)
• Tomoko Kawakami(Waseda University, Japan)