Creare valore educando il cliente alla sostenibilità. Quale ruolo per l’impresa commerciale?

Value is no longer conveyed from business to customer. Rather it is produced by both of them together. Businesses, from this standpoint, must pursue the target of creating shared value, while strengthening their competitiveness and generating, at the same time, economic and social growth. Sustainability is one path for moving in this direction.

Retailers, who enjoy direct relationships with consumers, may help to spread greater awareness about sustainable growth and lead towards higher levels of value while educating customers either directly or indirectly.

The purpose of the paper is to look into the role of retailers in educating customers about sustainability and identifying possible signs of co-creation of value. This direction is examined both at theoretical level, analyzing retailer functions, and by performing a qualitative explorative investigation for the purpose of highlighting initiatives implemented by the major Italian distributors and suggesting, in this regard, a possible reference schedule.