Responsible marketing and consumption starts with changing mindsets: How educators can embed responsible marketing and consumption into curricula

Responsible marketing and consumption should start with business education to change the mindset of future leaders. As educators, we have a duty to embed responsible marketing and consumption components into curricula, yet we often meet resistance. Therefore, we present an example of how educators can embed responsible marketing and consumption into curricula and encourage students to consider the implications of marketing practices. Most people, including academics and students, find the “real world” practical implications and consequences of responsible marketing and consumption difficult to comprehend. We demonstrate, via the use of an experiential learning approach, how we can get students to understand the concept of responsible marketing and consumption beyond theory, implement practical actions, and change minds while ensuring that students acquire the required future employability skills. This is particularly important as, e.g., the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) state that learners need to fulfil their potential and contribute to the well-being of their communities and the planet. Underpinned by the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), we present the key responsible skills that students should develop as future marketers. More specifically, we demonstrate the use and outcomes of authentic assessments to enable such skill development. Authentic assessments enable students to think, plan, and implement actual solutions. Via authentic assessments, we also focus on creative design thinking and solution development inspired by marketing's product development approach. Finally, we offer a roadmap for module and programme design, to enable educators to adopt such an approach into their own modules in which responsible marketing and consumption is central to programme delivery.