Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Success factors for environmentally sustainable product innovation: a

systematic literature review
Janine Fleith de Medeiros, Jose Luis Duarte Ribeiro, Marcelo Nogueira Cortimiglia*
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Industrial Engineering, Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99, 5
Andar, 90035-190 Porto Alegre, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The growing awareness regarding environmental sustainability has fully reached business reality. Con-
Received 29 June 2011 sumers and companies alike are looking for alternatives to mitigate pressing environmental demands
Received in revised form resulting from continuous population and economic growth. On the other hand, companies must deal
12 August 2013
with an increasingly competitive scenario where innovation is regarded as a survival need in most
Accepted 29 August 2013
markets. It is thus clear that systematic academic research is paramount to guide companies to succeed
Available online 13 September 2013
in environmentally sustainable product innovation. In this context, this paper (i) consolidate extant
research and aggregate findings of different studies on environmentally sustainable product innovation
Keywords:
Innovation
through an interpretative framework of published literature on the topic, and (ii) map critical success
Product development factors that drive the success of product innovation developed in this new logic of production and
Sustainability consumption. To achieve these objectives, a systematic literature review on environmentally sustainable
Green products product innovation was conducted. Results show that there are four main critical success factors for
environmentally sustainable product innovation: market, law and regulation knowledge; interfunctional
collaboration; innovation-oriented learning; and R&D investments. The factors identified in this research
and corresponding variables were subjected to a brief empirical test by professionals. The test allowed a
preliminary approval of the developed framework and identification of the most important variables
within each factor. A research agenda based on the state-of-the-art on the topic is also proposed.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction organizations. However, other than developing strategically and

economically viable novelty, innovation nowadays is understood as
Innovation means change or novelty (Tidd et al., 2001). At the a latent need that has to be undertaken in a way that social and
beginning of the 20th century, Schumpeter (1939) stated that environmental issues are also contemplated. This particular aspect
economy expansion is directly dependent on innovation. According validates the sustainability triple bottom line approach, concept
to him, innovation can take the form of new products, new pro- introduced by Elkington (1997) according to which an organiza-
duction processes or methods, new markets or even new sources of tion’s results must be measured against the interrelated environ-
supply. Since then, the concept of innovation has been extensively mental, economic and social dimensions.
discussed and improved upon (see, for instance, the recent interest Thus, the quest for environmentally sustainable performance
in the concept of business models documented by Boons et al., levels is relevant not only to environmentalists and ecologists, but
2013; Schneider and Spieth, 2013), but the core aspect of novelty also to social, political, economic and managerial scientists and
as determinant of change and economic progress has been practitioners. In this context, government, society and market are
preserved. driving forces towards the increase in both consumers’ and com-
Given the increasingly competitive context of the contemporary panies’ ecological awareness (Roberts, 2003; Matos and Hall, 2007;
economy, as well as equivalence in terms of offering in many Gold et al., 2010). This is why organizational management must
market segments, it is argued that innovation can support differ- acknowledge not only prescriptive models and deliberate strate-
entiation and generate sustainable competitive advantage for gies, but also descriptive models and emergent strategies that
contemplate organizational growth through low environmental
impact practices (Sharfman et al., 2009). Considering that several
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 51 3308 4005.
companies face growth limits because of environmental issues, the
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J.F. de Medeiros), ribeiro@ practice of sustainable innovation deserves even greater impor-
producao.ufrgs.br (J.L.D. Ribeiro), [email protected] (M.N. Cortimiglia). tance (Zsidisin and Siferd, 2001; Handfield et al., 2005; Zhu et al.,

0959-6526/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.08.035
 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86 77

Table 1
Papers in each search and journal.

Journals Search 1 Search 2 Search 3 Search 4 Selected papers

Business Process Management 0 0 0 5 1

Design Studies 2 5 22 4 0
Ecological Economics 41 41 14 339 10
Ecological Modelling 4 0 0 58 0
Environmental Management (NY) 8 8 1 56 0
Environmental Modelling & Assessment 0 0 1 9 0
Environmental Quality Management 18 25 7 35 0
Environmental Research 0 0 0 7 0
Environmental Science and Technology 77 18 7 132 0
Environmental Science & Policy 4 6 1 87 0
European Business Review 1 5 1 12 0
European Journal of Innovation Management 1 5 1 31 2
European Management Journal 10 12 3 9 0
Harvard Business Review 2 5 0 12 1
Industrial Marketing Management 9 11 5 11 1
International Journal of Operations & Production Management 6 11 4 19 4
International Journal of Production Economics 4 29 24 37 4
International Journal of Production Research 1 25 18 14 2
Journal of Business Ethics 20 55 4 111 11
Journal of Business Research 11 19 0 17 1
Journal of Cleaner Production 161 129 212 378 20
Journal of Environmental Management 21 17 18 162 2
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 0 2 0 6 0
Journal of International Business Studies 0 0 0 0 0
Journal of Product Innovation Management 0 2 0 0 0
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 0 0 0 14 1
Management of Environmental Quality 0 8 6 0 0
Management Science 1 2 0 1 1
Research Policy 8 14 3 23 2
Science of the Total Environment 7 9 7 55 0
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 9 11 3 72 1
Technovation 7 14 4 12 3
Total 433 488 366 1726 67

2008; Sharfman et al., 2009). To face this pressing issue, dissemi- environmentally sustainable product innovation through an inter-
nation of technological and organizational innovation oriented pretative framework of published literature on the topic, and (ii) to
towards improving life quality and considering both current and map critical dimensions of success factors that drive the success of
future environmental needs is required. products developed in this new logic of production and con-
Thus, although consumption increase can be considered an sumption. These objectives are achieved through a systematic
environmental risk, when analyzed through an ecoefficiency literature review.
paradigm that contemplates the reduction of natural resource use, This paper is structured as follows. First, methodological pro-
it can generate opportunities for sustainable innovation diffusion cedures employed in the systematic literature review are discussed
(Freeman, 2003; Berchicci and Bodewes, 2005). in Section 2. Results of the systematic literature review on critical
In this sense, there are already important academic research success factors for environmentally sustainable product innovation
contributions regarding development of green innovation products follow in Section 3, where an interpretative framework mapping
(Geffen and Rothenberg, 2000; Zhu et al., 2005; Zhu and Sarkis, the main domains of research in environmentally sustainable
2007; Verghese and Lewis, 2007; Ras and Vermeulen, 2009) and product innovation success factors is proposed. Finally, a consoli-
proposal of reference models capable of identifying and aggre- dated list of critical success factors for green product innovation is
gating competences for sustainable innovation (Bowen et al., 2001; proposed in Section 4 and conclusions are presented in Section 5.
Berchicci and Bodewes, 2005; Handfield et al., 2005; Vachon and
Klassen, 2008). However, there is still ample room for research in 2. Method
this area.
Among the existing gaps, the lack of a validated set of success To identify critical success factors for environmentally sustain-
factors driving market performance of environmentally sustainable able product innovation and consolidate published research on the
products stands out (Green et al., 1996; Christmann, 2000; Darnall topic, a systematic literature review was conducted. Systematic
and Edwards, 2006). It can be argued that methods to measure reviews are characterized by a planned and structured approach to
market performance of traditional products may be not enough to reviewing published academic research by using organized and
capture the success dynamics for products developed within an replicable methods to identify, select, and critically assess literature
environmentally sustainable approach, that is, green products (also searches (Tranfield et al., 2003; Jones, 2004). As the method allows
known as eco-friendly or environmentally sustainable products). for relatively high procedural and analytical objectivity and repli-
Green products are those that hold the potential to aggregate long- cability, systematic reviews are increasingly being employed in
term benefits, reduce consumer stress and ameliorate customer management literature (Hallinger, 2013).
environmental responsibility while maintaining its positive quali- The methodology followed for the literature review included
ties (Maxwell and van der Vorst, 2003; Cambra-Fierro et al., 2008; two main phases: selection and analysis. The selection phases
Triebswetter and Wackerbauer, 2008). In this context, the objective comprised gathering a comprehensive set of publications in the
of this paper are: (i) to consolidate extant research on desired areas, while the analysis phases consisted of a careful and
78 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86

critical examination of the publications to identify patterns and innovation success factors and the identification of the critical
recurrent themes. In particular, the systematic review followed a success factors that drive the success of environmentally sustain-
five-step scheme based on recommendations by Margarey (2001), able product innovation.
Tranfield et al. (2003), Jones (2004), and Thorne et al. (2004) that
included: (i) problem definition; (ii) selection of journals; (iii) se- 3. Overview of research on environmentally sustainable
lection of studies; (iv) critical appraisement and evaluation; and (v) product innovation
synthesis. The description of these steps follows next.
First, in line with the overall objective of the research, the aim of In this section and the next, results from the systematic litera-
the systematic review was to identify factors and variables that ture review are reported. In particular, this section presents a
drive market success of environmentally sustainable product general overview of the research on environmentally sustainable
innovation, with special emphasis on practices actually imple- product innovation and proposes an interpretative analytical
mented in industry. framework synthesizing the 67 main contributions along five
Given the stated research objective, the selection of journals was research domains. It should be highlighted that one of the key
conducted next. Key data source was limited to peer-reviewed concepts that guide this research is that of product innovation, that
journals, as they can be considered established and validated is, innovation that bring new products and/or technologies to the
knowledge elaborated through rigorous scientific method. Using as market (Lukas and Ferrell, 2000). In this context, environmentally
selection criteria the alignment between stated aim and scope of sustainable product innovation involves the development of
each publication and the objective of the research, a total of 32 products or technologies that are both market-oriented and cause
journals from Business, Management, Economics, Finance and En- the minimal environmental impact possible (Maxwell and van der
gineering were included in the key data source (Table 1). Vorst, 2003; Baker and Sinkula, 2005).
For the next step, selection of studies, a search was conducted Factors found in the 67 key studies subjected to critical
within the 32 journals in the data source with the following com- appraisement and evaluation were classified under an analytical
bination of keywords: ‘environmentally sustainable product inno- framework comprised by five dimensions. The construction of the
vation’. The keyword combination was used as selection criteria for analytical framework has resulted from integrating contributions
the ‘title’, ‘keywords’, and ‘abstract’ fields in each paper. Types of from disparate research areas such as marketing, economics,
documents included in the search were ‘articles’ and ‘reviews’, and innovation management, product development and business
no time limits were established. The first search resulted in a management. The dimensions of this framework were defined ac-
sample of 433 publications. Additional searches were conducted cording to research patterns and main results depicted in the 67
with the keyword combinations “environmentally friendly prod- key studies.
ucts”, “eco-design” and “environmental sustainability”. The addi- The first dimension of the analytical framework corresponds to
tional searches produced a total of 2580 papers. After duplicates studies aimed at mapping factors and variables that influence green
were removed, the abstracts and metadata of all papers were innovation market acceptance. This dimension directly derives
independently analyzed by three researchers oriented to select from the marketing discipline and its main contribution is to list
only papers whose research questions and results were directly and prioritize variables that influence consumer attitudes and
related to success factors for environmentally sustainable product cognitive processes that drive the buying decision regarding sus-
innovation. Book reviews, non-academic papers, industry reports tainable innovation. In this sense, Bhate and Lawler (1997)
and papers that did not relate to the issue at hand were excluded. observed that the influence of psychographic and situational vari-
The whole sample was divided between the three researchers. At ables on market acceptance of environmentally sustainable inno-
the end of this stage, the pool of publications was narrowed down vation is stronger than the influence of demographic variables,
to 67 papers that effectively addressed the issue of success factors which indicates that consumer age, income, and social class are not
for environmentally sustainable product innovation. This set of decisive factors when considering the acquisition of environmen-
publications was then subjected to critical appraisement and tally sustainable product innovation. This was later confirmed by
evaluation by the researchers. The analysis was focused on the Halme et al. (2006), Houe and Grabot (2009) and Yalabik and
identification of factors that positively impact market performance Fairchild (2011). Moreover, Welsch and Kühling (2009) showed
of organizations that make available environmentally sustainable that the consumption pattern of reference persons influence
innovation in different economy sectors as measured by the level of buyers’ decisions regarding the acquisition of solar energy equip-
diffusion of innovative products. ment and organic food.
Finally, for the data synthesis stage, an aggregative approach Similarly, Byrne and Polonsky (2001) concluded that the inclu-
was employed in order to summarize findings of the reviewed sion of all stakeholders during the whole process of green inno-
studies. Such aggregative approach relies heavily on the re- vation strongly influences market acceptance of innovation
searcher’s subjective interpretation about the reviewed papers. outcomes. Rennings (2000) and Beise and Rennings (2005) further
This is so because, as Tranfield et al. (2003, p. 212) aptly put it, observed that in the case of sustainable products of foreign origin,
“there tends to be low consensus concerning key research ques- adoption depends mostly on a proactive behavior by consumers
tions in management research”. Thus, a certain degree of subjective wishing such innovative products coupled with a favorable regu-
latitude must be given to the researcher conducting the review, as lative environment. Lee et al. (2006) showed how the availability of
the specificities of each study must be considered and compared to knowledge and information flows about the environment, such as
the other studies in order to derive shared meanings and to ab- news about local air quality and global warming, help to articulate
stract an interpretation scheme useful for the declared purposes of demand for environmentally sustainable products. It has also been
the review. Given that the aim of the review is to provide a con- shown that drivers of consumption of eco-friendly products can be
ceptual understanding of factors that drive innovative green strikingly similar to factors that lead to demand of traditional
product success, as measured by their level of diffusion in the products, such as price and quality (Brécard et al., 2009; Brouhle
market, results were analyzed using pattern-matching techniques and Khanna, 2012).
(Tharenou et al., 2007). The results of this aggregative approach The second dimension of the analytical framework corre-
include both the analytical framework that maps the main do- sponds to studies whose main goal was to identify drivers of
mains of research in environmentally sustainable product organizational environmental responsibility. The motivation
 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86 79

behind research in this domain is to understand why and how The third research dimension refers to methods for the devel-
companies decide to invest in environmentally sustainable prod- opment of sustainable innovation described in literature and
uct innovation. It differs from the first research dimension because adopted in practice. This research dimension is basically a partic-
its aims are focused on internal organizational factors, whereas ular subset of product development management literature and is
research on green innovation market adoption is customer- usually oriented towards the understanding of the inner workings
oriented. Iyer (1999), for instance, analyzed organizational prac- of environmentally innovation product development. Up to this
tices related to environmental sustainability and proposed a stage, this research dimension is still relatively incipient. As thus,
model to assess their consequences and the level of organizational studies tend to be mostly case studies or specific proposals for new
responsibility. In a similar tone, Zhu et al. (2005), Cetindamar product development methods that focus on environmental sus-
(2007), Chen (2007, 2008) and Aragón-Correa et al. (2008) tainability. A chief representative of this research dimension is
investigated why companies adopt an environmental responsible Hanssen (1999), who presents the comparative results of six
attitude. Specifically, Chen (2007) proposed a construct that ex- distinct case studies on environmentally sustainable innovation
plains a set of green competences that a company must acquire or based on the same methodology. Hanssen’s (1999) focus was to
develop. These competences include an organizational culture identify methods and frameworks behind the green innovation
oriented towards an environmentally friendly offering. This cul- process and its consequences. Also Chen (2001), Eder (2003), and
tural approach requires proactive managers with a contingency Maxwell and van der Vorst (2003) deal with methodologies for
view of the business that are able to innovate on products and developing environmentally sustainable products. Each study
processes and establish value-added partnerships. The impor- proposes a different method, but all have in common the need for
tance of involving management in the development of environ- mapping market behavioral trends as well as agile adaptation to it
mentally sustainable product innovation is also highlighted by and a prompt product development process involving different
Jamali (2006) and Rehfeld et al. (2007), while González-Benito areas within the organization. Similarly, Foster et al. (2000) iden-
and González-Benito (2008) and Zailani et al. (2012) emphasize tified the similarities between motivational factors for the devel-
the role of market orientation in a firm’s ability to develop envi- opment of green products and services inferring that organizations
ronmentally sustainable innovations. should orient their offerings according to market needs, thus
Also Pujari et al. (2003), Jabbour (2008) and Kammerer (2009) reinforcing the importance of market and learning orientation
verified the subjacent dimensions behind environmentally sus- competences. Finally, Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010) proposed an
tainable innovation practices, as well as the relative influence of analytical framework to explore the diversity in eco-innovation
management variables, processes and their interfaces on innova- practices according to design, user, product service, and gover-
tion performance. They found that both organizational maturity nance dimensions. The framework was then used to analyze five
level and quality of relationships with partners in the value system case studies of sustainable innovation. Results indicate the impor-
are highly important for environmentally sustainable product tance of functional sectors such as R&D, marketing and operations
innovation. Similarly, Pujari et al. (2004) pointed out that organi- acting together in an integrated way with external stakeholders for
zational antecedents of top management support and functional developing successful environmentally sustainable product
interface of environmental specialists with design and product innovation.
managers affect the environmentally responsive behavior in new The fourth dimension of the analytical framework includes
product development. Besides, Cambra-Fierro et al. (2008) and studies that investigate the effects of sustainable innovation on firm
Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010) ratified the relevance of the inte- competitiveness and performance. As it would be expected, this
gration among organizational areas and between the firm and its research domain includes mostly contributions from the business
main stakeholders. Correspondingly, Mickwitz et al. (2008) studied management discipline. Baker and Sinkula (2005) proposed a
the role of political tools in environmentally sustainable technology construct that examines the relationship between environmental
innovation and diffusion and found that both macro-, meso-, and marketing and organizational performance. They conclude that
microeconomics issues impact drivers of sustainable innovation. environmental marketing positively influences the organization’s
Also Peng and Lin (2008), while conducting an analysis on external managerial capabilities such as new product development proac-
environment interference potential, specifically regarding the tivity, but does not directly influences the achievement of
regional setting where companies are located, confirmed that competitive advantage. Walsh and Beatty (2007) and Fraj-Andrés
mesoeconomic issues are especially relevant to promote environ- et al. (2009) also tested the effect of environmental marketing on
mental innovation within organizations. distinct dimensions of organizational performance, while Chen
According to Hemel and Cramer (2002), internal stimuli for (2009) developed a construct to assess green brands and its im-
environmentally sustainable product innovation are more impor- plications on performance.
tant than external stimuli. Among the internal stimuli discussed, In a similar vein, Chen and Chang (2012) confirmed that green
the authors point out innovational opportunities, expected increase competences such as dynamism, transformational leadership and
of product quality and new market opportunities as the most creativity positively influence green innovation development per-
influential towards ecodesign. Conversely, Porter and Linder (1995), formance. Chen et al. (2006), Peng and Lin (2008), Brito et al.
Horbach (2008) and Horbach et al. (2012) emphasized the role of (2008), Triebswetter and Wackerbauer (2008), Visser et al.
environmental regulation in fostering environmentally sustainable (2008), Naranjo-Gil (2009) and Arevalo (2010) all report gains,
product innovation. However, as described by Montalvo (2003, particularly regarding adding value to the brand, associated with
2008), rigorous environmental regulation that does not consider innovations that bring increased sustainability. Similarly, Gonzalez-
technical change dynamics as well as environmental and economic Benito’s (2008) exploratory study mapped the effect that proac-
risk perceptions by firms can actually hinder environmentally tivity has on environmental management performance. The results
sustainable product innovation. confirm the importance of this competence on environmentally
Overall, it was observed that research on drivers of organiza- sustainable product innovation success.
tional environmental responsibility indicate that flexible and pro- Boons and Wagner (2009) discuss the different perspectives
active organizational culture and high levels of internal and available to assess economic and ecologic performance and identify
external integration are the most important enabling competences four dimensions of analysis: the firm, markets, production and
for green innovation. consumption systems, and economic systems. Vachon and Klassen
80 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86

(2008) and Albino et al. (2012) argue that interfunctional collabo- product innovation. They found out that handing out incentives for
ration directly influences green product performance, while Lin green innovation development and easing internal communication
et al. (2013) show that market demand positively affects green mechanisms are essential for promoting the integration of orga-
innovation and company performance. To Halila and Rundquist nizational areas that deal with environmentally sustainable prod-
(2011), a network with diverse competences supports successful uct innovation. Finally, Jabbour et al. (2012) investigated to what
environmentally sustainable product innovation. This network, extent green teams qualify the green new product development
according to them, is particularly relevant for solving technological process. Results reveal that firms whose use of green teams is most
issues in eco-innovations. intense reap benefits in terms of environmental management
To Testa et al. (2011), strict environmental regulation impacts quality.
competitive performance in the building and construction sector. A summary of the interpretative analytical framework synthe-
According to them, a stringent environmental regulation e as sizing the 67 main contributions along five research domains is
measured by the frequency of inspection e provides a positive shown in Fig. 1.
impulse for increased investments in technology infrastructure and
innovative products, which finally impacts business performance. 4. Environmentally sustainable innovation success factors
Similar results were also found by Doran and Ryan (2012).
The fifth research dimension include studies investigating how Analyzing the contributions of the studies included in the sys-
interfunctional collaboration impacts environmentally sustainable tematic literature review, four factors directly related to the success
product innovation. This research dimension is closely related to of environmentally sustainable product innovation were identified:
knowledge management and organizational learning literature. Its market, law and regulation knowledge; interfunctional collabora-
main motivation has been to understand how different organiza- tion; innovation-oriented learning; and R&D investments. The
tional resources and methods can be articulated to allow or main contributions related to each success factor are discussed
improve environmentally sustainable product innovation. In this next.
sense, Ellram et al. (2008) found that the coordinated application of
the three dimensions of concurrent engineering to new product 4.1. Market, law and regulation knowledge
development process and corporate environmental responsibility
brings higher benefits than a piecemeal strategy to challenge single According to Iyer (1999), Rennings (2000), Chen (2001), Beise
environmental issues one at the time. Similarly, Pujari’s (2006) and Rennings (2005), Zhu et al. (2005), Mickwitz et al. (2008),
empirical approach to the study of eco-innovation influence on Kammerer (2009), Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010), and Horbach
market performance showed the importance of cross-functional et al. (2012), environmentally sustainable product innovation de-
integration and coordination, particularly when environmental pends on consumers willing and able to acquire such innovations,
professionals are included in the process. This was also observed by environmental-friendly legislation, government incentives, and
Aschehoug et al. (2012) and De Marchi (2012), who investigated educational campaigns that disseminate sustainable culture among
how environmentally-related information from both internal and society. To these authors, organizations will invest efforts towards
external stakeholders qualify the development process for green innovative cleaner technologies and production processes if these
innovation. three forces are well intertwined and if companies recognize these
Battisti (2008) studied the dissemination of technologies related external factors. Similarly, Yalabik and Fairchild (2011) state that
to green products, listing gaps such as organizational financial green innovation is driven more by competitive market pressure
performance versus advances in technology promoted by R&D. than by the influence of consumers and environmental regulations.
Hallstedt et al. (2010) explored the communication and decision- Moreover, according to Köhler et al. (2013) and Kiss et al. (2013),
making processes between top management and the teams incentive policy programs, comprising financial or information
involved with development of environmentally sustainable support, may accelerate mass production of sustainable innovation

Research Dimension References

Factors/variables influencing green Bhate and Lawler (1997); Rennings (2000); Byrne and Polonsky (2001);
innovation adoption Beise and Rennings (2005); Halme et al. (2006); Lee et al. (2006);
Brécard et al. (2009); Houe and Grabot (2009); Welsch and Kühling
(2009); Yalabik and Fairchild (2011); Brouhle and Khanna (2012) .
Drivers behind organizational Porter and Linder (1995); Iyer (1999); Hemel and Cramer (2002);
environmentally responsible behavior Montalvo (2003; 2008); Pujari et al. (2003); Pujari et al. (2004); Zhu et
al. (2005); Jamali (2006); Cetindamar (2007); Chen (2007; 2008);
Rehfeld et al. (2007) ; Aragon-Correa et al. (2008); Cambra-Fierro et al.
(2008); González-Benito and González-Benito (2008); Horbach (2008);
Jabbour (2008); Mickwitz et al. (2008); Peng e Lin (2008); Kammerer
(2009); Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2012); Horbach et al. (2012); Zailani
et al. (2012).
Methods to develop sustainable Hanssen (1999); Foster Jr. et al. (2000); Chen (2001); Eder (2003);
products and services Maxwell and van der Vorst (2003); Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010).
Effects of sustainable innovation in Baker and Sinkula (2005); Chen et al. (2006); Peng and Lin (2008);
competitiveness and organizational Walsh and Beatty (2007); Brito et al. (2008); Fraj-Andrés et al. (2009);
performance Gonzlez-Benito (2008); Triebswetter and Wackerbauer (2008); Vacon
and Klassen (2008); Visser et al. (2008); Boons and Wagner (2009);
Chen (2009); Naranjo-Gil (2009); Arevalo (2010); Halila and Rundquist
(2011); Testa et al. (2011); Albino et al. (2012); Chen and Chang (2012);
Doran and Ryan (2012); Lin et al. (2013).
Interfunctional collaboration in green Pujari (2006); Ellram et al. (2008); Battisti (2008); Hallstdta et al.
innovation development and market (2010); Aschehoug et al. (2012); De Marchi (2012); Jabbour et al.
performance (2012).

Fig. 1. Analytical framework synthesizing current research on environmentally sustainable product innovation.
 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86 81

on products or processes, supporting learning and the development an adequate environmentally sustainable product development
of specific knowledge in organizations. process. The same trend is observed by Carrillo-Hermosilla et al.
Complementarily, Cambra-Fierro et al. (2008) and Fraj-Andrés (2010), who evidenced not only how marketing, R&D and opera-
et al. (2009) argue that, when market realizes that organizational tions must act systemically, but also the need for key stakeholder
practices minimize negative environmental impact, companies involvement and integration in order to implement green innova-
tend to obtain benefits related to cost and differentiation. In a tion. De Marchi (2012) ratifies the importance of integrating
similar vein, Rehfeld et al. (2007) noticed that environmental external stakeholders like suppliers, educational institutions and
certification positively influences adoption of green innovation. research institutes. The author highlights the fact that such inte-
To Chen et al. (2006) and Chen (2009), environmentally sus- gration is more important in environmentally sustainable innova-
tainable practices add value to a brand as they generate positive tion than in traditional innovation. According to Aschehoug et al.
awareness towards the brand, as well as increased perceived (2012), environmental-related information from external stake-
quality and trust that may positively impact customer holders can generate positive outcomes in environmentally-
satisfaction. oriented innovation projects.
Hanssen (1999), Baker and Sinkula (2005), Lee et al. (2006), Specifically regarding integration among areas as a success
González-Benito and González-Benito (2008), Beise and Rennings factor for environmentally sustainable product innovation, Pujari
(2005), Peng and Lin (2008), Brito et al. (2008) and Naranjo-Gil et al. (2003) affirm that there is more interaction than conflicts
(2009) all confirm that market knowledge and organizational between traditional and environmentally-oriented product devel-
adaptation towards market characteristics are positively related to opment models. Pujari et al. (2004) and Pujari (2006) noticed that
success of environmentally sustainable innovations. Thus, organi- integration of environmental specialists in environmental new
zations operating at global levels must adapt processes and prod- product development projects positively influences market per-
ucts to local demand in order to reap increased profitability. formance. Similarly, Maxwell and van der Vorst (2003) proposed a
Moreover, according to Brécard et al. (2009), Brouhle and Khanna method for developing effective sustainable products and services
(2012) and Lin et al. (2013), environmentally sustainable product integrated into company strategies, business functions and overall
innovation that meets target consumers’ requirements positively supply chain. Hallstedt et al. (2010) confirmed that superior green
influence overall firm performance. product development performance requires the complete incor-
Foster et al. (2000) state that knowledge about buyers’ in- poration of an environmentally sustainable vision into all areas of
tentions and buyers’ level of involvement in production and con- the organization, as well as the internal availability of incentives for
sumption of green innovation directly impact environmental this approach.
activities promoted by companies. Also Pujari et al. (2003), Visser As a last aspect of the factor dealing with interfunctional
et al. (2008) and Doran and Ryan (2012) observed that the devel- collaboration, Ellram et al. (2008) identified that concurrent engi-
opment of green innovation and its market success depend on neering can be an important tool for improving environmentally
customer behavior analysis, which can generate increased satis- responsible practices in companies. Gonzalez-Benito (2008) states
faction, loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. Cetindamar (2007) that widespread proactivity and continuous exchanges among
and Triebswetter and Wackerbauer (2008) also highlight the different areas promote a distinctive characteristic that drives
importance of competitor practice analysis. sustainable innovation performance improvements.
Still on the topic of knowledge about buyer behavior and in-
tentions regarding environmentally sustainable product innova- 4.3. Innovation-oriented learning
tion, Bhate and Lawler (1997) found that psychological and
situational factors are more influent to the development of envi- The last success factor identified e innovation oriented learning
ronmentally friendly behavior than demographic factors. Simi- e is especially dependent on cultural barriers. As Eder (2003)
larly, Halme et al. (2006) and Houe and Grabot (2009) showed that notices, cultural barriers can be an impediment for seizing mar-
when environmentally friendly products increase buyer perceived ket opportunities related to environmentally sustainable product
quality of life, consumers are more likely to acquire them inde- innovation. Chen (2007, 2008), in a similar tone, shows how su-
pendently of sex, social class, employment and age group. More- perior green product performance can be achieved when the
over, when buyer decision making is considered, it is necessary to whole organization develops a set of green competences that in-
understand not only buyer’s consumption patterns, but also the fluence management processes. Chen and Chang (2012) found out
consumption patterns of reference persons (Welsch and Kühling, that creativity in the context of environmentally sustainable
2009). product innovation depends on the set of green competences
developed and a proactive approach from leadership. Aragón-
4.2. Interfunctional collaboration Correa et al. (2008) have also identified leadership proactivity as
one of the relevant variables impacting green innovation
Considering interfunctional collaboration, Byrne and Polonsky performance.
(2001) identified that synergy among different sectors must To Battisti (2008), the corporate ability to rethink processes
happen not only internally, but also among the stakeholders according to different lenses allows to reduce the gaps between
involved in environmentally sustainable product development and technological improvements and economic results. Learning pro-
delivery processes. According to Chen (2007, 2008), Triebswetter pensity within an organization favors the required integration for
and Wackerbauer (2008), Vachon and Klassen (2008) and Albino successful implementation of the triple bottom line approach
et al. (2012), successful environmentally friendly innovation is (Jamali, 2006).
driven by a mixture of internal and external factors, such as avail- To Jabbour (2008) and Arevalo (2010), companies oriented to-
able technology, development costs, consumer pressure and wards developing environmentally sustainable solutions are pri-
governmental regulations. marily those that develop a consistent way of learning through
In a similar tone, Jabbour (2008) and Jabbour et al. (2012) critical reflective analysis of their actions. Hallstedt et al. (2010)
highlight the importance of both organization maturity level and complement this reasoning by emphasizing companies’ support
relationships between organizational areas and other players from mechanism (chiefly flexibility) among the variables that underpin
the delivery chain (especially those responsible for the logistics) for the success of green innovation.
82 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86

Table 2
Synthesis of critical success factors and its constituent elements according to the literature review.

Factor Variable Principais Autores

Market, law and Customer expectation fulfillment Iyer (1999), Rennings (2000), Chen (2001), Pujari et al. (2003), Beise and
legislation Rennings (2005), Zhu et al. (2005), Mickwitz et al. (2008), Visser et al.
knowledge (2008), Kammerer (2009), Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010), Doran and Ryan
(2012) and Horbach et al. (2012).
Comply with laws and regulations Rennings (2000), Chen (2001), Beise and Rennings (2005), Zhu et al. (2005),
Mickwitz et al. (2008), Kammerer (2009) and Horbach et al. (2012).
Financial or information support from government Köhler et al. (2013) and Kiss et al. (2013)
Knowledge about cultural variables that influence buyer Hanssen (1999), Baker and Sinkula (2005), Beise and Rennings (2005), Lee
behavior et al. (2006), González-Benito and González-Benito (2008), Peng and Lin
(2008), Brito et al. (2008) and Naranjo-Gil (2009).
Knowledge about factors that drive sustainable buying Foster et al. (2000), Brécard et al. (2009), Brouhle and Khanna (2012) and Lin
et al. (2013).
Knowledge about consumption patterns of reference Bhate and Lawler (1997), Halme et al. (2006), Houe and Grabot (2009) and
persons Welsch and Kühling (2009).
Competitor monitoring Cetindamar (2007), Triebswetter and Wackerbauer (2008) and Yalabik and
Fairchild (2011).
Interfunctional Cultural predisposition towards collaboration Gonzalez-Benito (2008), Hallstedt et al. (2010) and Albino et al. (2012).
collaboration R&D, marketing and production integration Pujari et al. (2003), Pujari et al. (2004) and Pujari (2006).
Stakeholder integration (suppliers, universities, Byrne and Polonsky (2001), Jabbour (2008), Carrillo-Hermosilla et al. (2010),
environment specialists, etc.) Aschehoug et al. (2012), De Marchi (2012) and Jabbour et al. (2012).
Innovation- Elimination of cultural barriers Eder (2003), Jamali (2006) and Battisti (2008).
oriented Development of a set of green competences (proactivity, Chen (2007, 2008), Aragón-Correa et al. (2008), Hallstedt et al. (2010) and
learning creativity and experimentation) Chen and Chang (2012).
Development of critical reflective analysis capability Jabbour (2008) and Arevalo (2010).
R&D Investments Investment in cleaner technology research Porter and Linder (1995), Hemel and Cramer (2002) and Horbach (2008).
Investment on/adoption of methods for sustainable product Hemel and Cramer (2002); Montalvo (2003, 2008); Horbach (2008) and
development Boons and Wagner (2009).
Investment in R&D infrastructure Montalvo (2003, 2008), Testa et al. (2011) and Horbach et al. (2012).
Investment in qualified human resources Montalvo (2003, 2008) and Zailani et al. (2012).

4.4. R&D investments designers’ capabilities to efficiently respond to external environ-

ment requirements and inputs regarding environmentally sus-
Porter and Linder (1995) pointed out that organizations willing tainable product innovation. Besides, Halila and Rundquist (2011)
to embrace environmental sustainability must invest in research to compared products generated in both environmentally sustainable
develop new technologies and qualify their productive systems and innovation and traditional innovation approaches and found out
new product development processes. Hemel and Cramer (2002) that firms that adopt environmentally sustainable innovation
and Horbach (2008), whose studies map environmental innova- practices tend to develop strong partnerships with a range of
tion determinants, support the perception that organizations that different stakeholders in order to increase the probability of solving
wish to succeed in environmental new product development must technology-related issues.
invest in tools and methods that can support these objectives.
Hemel and Cramer (2002) state that, contrary to many studies, 4.5. Synthesis of identified factors and variables
internal stimuli are as important as external stimuli as drivers of
environmental management. The same authors list the main so- Table 2 shows a synthesis of the critical success factors and its
lutions used by companies that develop environmental innovation: constituent elements that influence environmentally sustainable
(i) investment in material recycling, (ii) use of recycled materials, innovation, as well as the authors that support each element.
(iii) research to extend product lifespan, and (iv) investment in Regarding market, law and legislation knowledge, results from
energy consumption. literature review point out that besides consumer expectations,
To Montalvo (2003, 2008) and Boons and Wagner (2009), also society and government expectations must be considered
adequate production systems can improve the performance of when planning and implementing environmentally sustainable
environmentally sustainable product innovation. In fact, Montalvo product innovation. Moreover, studies revealed the importance of
(2003, 2008) argues that not only institutional capabilities but conducting investigations on consumer behavior, especially con-
also technological capabilities (such as qualified human resources, cerning situational and psychological variables that may impact
laboratories and equipment) are important factors that influence choice and usage of green products.
the adoption of greener technologies. Horbach et al. (2012) also The literature review also supports a number of constituting
state that external factors such as environmental regulation and elements that can be added to the interfunctional collaboration
buyer behavior are not the only factors driving environmentally critical success factor. Besides the issue concerning the need for
sustainable product innovation. These authors explicitly point out integration of R&D, marketing and production areas, literature
technological competences and resources available as an important emphasizes the establishment of networks connecting stake-
internal factor. holders, pointing out that the success of environmental sustainable
Testa et al. (2011) argue that the higher the control exerted by innovation can be strongly related to the synergy among supply
governmental regulatory bodies, the higher the probability of in- chain actors.
vestments in technology and equipment and, consequently, the Moreover, the literature review suggests an additional critical
higher the probability that environmentally sustainable innovation success factor: innovation-oriented learning. This factor is related
performs satisfactorily. Similarly, Zailani et al. (2012) found out that to the organizational capability to change its own vision, elimi-
the higher the technical capabilities of designers, the higher the nating obsolete procedures and systems (in the present case, the
 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86 83

Table 3 oriented Learning factor, five professional signaled the develop-

Relevance of variables according to professionals which develop environmental ment of a set of green competences among the most relevant items.
sustainable innovations.
Finally, for the R&D Investment factor, the variables emphasized
Factor Variable Mentions were investment in/adoption of methods for sustainable product
Market, law Customer expectation fulfillment 07 development and investment in qualified human resources.
and Comply with laws and regulations 06
regulation Financial or information support from 02 5. Conclusions
knowledge government
Knowledge about cultural variables that 02
influence buyer behavior There are several contributions related to the development of
Knowledge about factors that drive sustainable 07 environmentally sustainable product innovation in academic
buying literature. By analyzing the studies that focus on environmentally
Knowledge about consumption patterns of 00
sustainable product innovation, it can be concluded that these can
reference persons
Competitor monitoring 03
be organized along a five-dimension interpretative framework ac-
Interfunctional Cultural predisposition towards collaboration 01 cording to each study declared research problem. Thus, there are
collaboration R&D, marketing and production integration 08 studies that aim to identify factors and variables that influence the
Stakeholder integration (suppliers, universities, 08 green innovation adoption or rejection by the market, while others
environment specialists, etc.)
investigate the reasons and drivers behind environmental
Innovation- Elimination of cultural barriers 01
oriented Development of a set of green competences 05 responsible behavior by organizations. Moreover, there are studies
learning (leader proactivity, creativity and focused on methods to develop sustainable innovation, studies that
experimentation) analyze the effects of green innovation on competitiveness and
Development of critical reflective analysis 02 studies that investigate aspects related to interfunctional
capability
R&D Investment in cleaner technology research 02
collaboration.
investments Investment/adoption of methods for 06 The critical success factors identified in this research were
sustainable product development subjected to a preliminary evaluation conducted by professionals
Investment in R&D infrastructure 02 who work in the product development area of Brazilian companies
Investment in qualified human resources 05
that develop environmental sustainable innovations. These factors
and their corresponding variables can also be used to conduct di-
agnostics on company or cluster potential for environmentally
excessive focus on the economical aspect of the innovation). Thus, sustainable product innovation. This would require the develop-
key elements for this success factor include eliminating cultural ment of appropriate research instruments as well as procedures for
barriers, developing a set of green competences, and developing collecting and analyzing data. The diagnosis procedure could then
the capacity for critical reflective analysis as well as flexible deci- be repeated periodically as a supporting tool for organizational
sion support mechanisms. strategic planning, especially in companies that wish to further
Finally, the R&D investment factor is listed. Concerning this explore the path to environmental sustainability.
factor, the variables investment in research and new technologies, In the following paragraphs, a research agenda for the topic of
adoption of methods for developing green products, laboratory and environmentally sustainable product innovation highlighting is-
equipment and qualified human resources were widely cited. Ac- sues and approaches particularly relevant in this area is proposed.
cording to literature, sustainable development cannot be supported The research agenda follows the five dimensions of the interpre-
without a continuous industrial development, oriented to offer tative framework described earlier.
technological packages capable of meeting such social contempo- It was observed that the literature on environmentally sus-
rary demand. tainable product innovation can be divided in five broad groups of
To evaluate the proposed framework (see Table 2), an empirical studies according to their overall research problem. The first
test was carried out. The test involved 10 professionals who work in dimension of the analytical framework corresponds to studies
the product development area of 10 Brazilian companies operating aimed at mapping factors and variables that influence market
in different areas, such as food industry, agricultural implements acceptance of green innovation. In this sense, it should be pointed
and metalworking. After presenting the framework and provide out that current studies do not explicitly consider environmentally
clarification regarding the meaning of the terms, the test comprised responsible customers’ willingness to pay for green products.
two simple questions: (i) ‘do you consider the list complete or Therefore there is a clear gap for research on the issue of price
suggest some inclusion/exclusion?’ and (ii) ‘please, indicate up to 7 elasticity versus value perception of environmentally sustainable
items among this list that you consider critical for environmentally products. Another gap in current research on environmentally
sustainable innovation’. sustainable product innovation regards consumers’ decision mak-
Regarding the first question, there was no indication by the ing processes when facing the choice of buying green versus
professionals of inclusion or exclusion of items, which allows for traditional products including elements such as level of commit-
preliminary approval of the developed framework. However, three ment towards sustainability values, attributes of green innovation
professionals affirmed that integrating other areas besides mar- and factors that drive environmentally responsible buying
keting, R&D and production, such as logistics and financial, would behavior.
be beneficial to the success of interfunctional collaboration. The There is also much opportunity for research on the second
results of the second question, aimed at establishing a preliminary dimension of the interpretative framework approaching reasons
hierarchy of the variables within each factor, are shown in Table 3. and drivers behind environmental responsible behavior by orga-
As shown in Table 3, customer expectation fulfillment, comply nizations. Overall, although current research has identified a
with laws and regulations, and knowledge about factors that drive number of drivers of environmentally responsible firm behavior
sustainable buying are the variables most quoted by interviewees (e.g., appropriate organizational culture, management proactivity
regarding the Market, Law and Regulation Knowledge factor. For and involvement in environmentally sustainable innovation, and
the Interfunctional Collaboration factor, internal as well as external market orientation), there is still much to investigate regarding
integration variables were highlighted. Concerning the Innovation- how these drivers effectively work.
84 J.F. de Medeiros et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 65 (2014) 76e86

The third dimension in the interpretative framework includes comprises variables related to investments in research, infrastruc-
studies on methods for the development of sustainable innovation. ture and specialized human resources necessary to employ greener
Research in this area was shown to be relatively incipient. A main technologies and to achieve superior market performance, given
contribution for future research in this area should be towards legal constraints and buyer expectations.
systematizing the diverse proposals in a consolidated model for Comparing the mapped factors as drivers for successful inno-
environmentally sustainable product innovation development. This vation of environmentally sustainable products to the factors
gap is particularly important for the service sector, since most of the described for the traditional product innovation by authors such as
methods already proposed originate from the manufacturing Cooper and Kleinschmidt (1987), Montoya-Weiss and Calantone
context. (1994), Griffin (1997) and Cooper (1999), we find many corre-
Research on the effects of sustainable innovation in firm spondences, as well as some differences. The main differences are:
competitiveness and performance constitute the fourth dimension (i) in environmentally sustainable product innovation, besides
of the proposed interpretative framework. Research in this area knowledge of customers and competitors, it is stressed the need of
could involve understanding the effects of and the interrelation- knowing regulation and environmental laws as well as policies
ships among the critical success factors for environmentally sus- concerning financial and information incentives oriented to green
tainable product innovation mapped in this paper. Such an innovation practices; (ii) regarding the R&D investments factor, the
understanding could then be applied to establish the relationship adoption of appropriate methods for developing environmentally
between success of environmentally sustainable product innova- sustainable products, as well as research in cleaner technologies,
tion and business performance. are important variables for innovation success; and (iii) the
The fifth and final dimension of the proposed interpretative innovation-oriented learning is a factor specific for the success of
framework refers to research on the impact of interfunctional environmentally sustainable products. This is supported by Quist
collaboration in green product development and market perfor- and Tukker (2013), who point out that green innovation practices
mance of environmentally sustainable product innovation. New require learning processes involving the synergy of tacit knowledge
research in this area could encompass measuring to what extent and theoretical models.
the integration between distinct functional areas within an orga- Finally, as the vast majority of the reviewed research was orig-
nization effectively impacts the market performance of environ- inated in North America, Europe and Asia, it should be pointed out
mentally sustainable innovation. Moreover, given that that there is ample margin for extending the research to other parts
requirements elicited by the market are essential for the success of of the world. Another venue for further research along this topic
environmentally sustainable innovation, it is necessary to conduct would be to test and validate the set of critical success factors
research on how product development techniques such as Quality identified in this systematic literature review through empirical
Function Deployment (QFD) can contribute to the development of research.
eco-innovations.
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tion in the region of Munich and its impact on company competitiveness. Administration and Business. Her research currently spans the topics of product
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more sustainable chemical products. J. Clean. Prod. 16 (No.1, Supplement 1), ment, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, where he is also Head of Department
S85eS94. and Coordinator of the Laboratory for Optimization of Products and Processes. He is
Verghese, K., Lewis, H., 2007. Environmental innovation in industrial packaging: a author of numerous works on quality engineering, reliability, and quantitative
supply chain approach. Int. J. Prod. Res. 45 (18e19), 4381e4401. methods applied to industrial engineering published in international journals and
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Yalabik, B., Fairchild, R.J., 2011. Customer, regulatory, and competitive pressure as tion systems at the Industrial Engineering Department, Federal University of Rio
drivers of environmental innovation. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 131 (2), 519e527. Grande do Sul. He has a Ph.D. in management engineering from the Politecnico di
Zailani, S.H.M.Z., Eltayeb, T.K., Hsu, C.-C., Tan, K.C., 2012. The impact of external Milano, Italy. His main research interests include innovation management, with a
institutional drivers and internal strategy on environmental performance. Int. J. particular focus on product innovation, as well as strategic technology management
Oper. Prod. Manag. 32 (6), 721e745. and knowledge management.