What to say and what to do: the disparity of the communication and investment in sustainability targets, given customer expectations

Companies have many opportunities to engage in sustainable development. However, since transformations toward sustainability represent strategic shifts, such transformations should be undertaken with care. Companies might begin by translating particular sustainability targets into economically relevant advantages. Yet, appropriate decision support regarding how much to invest and which goals to communicate to customers is missing. Against this backdrop, we develop a formal mathematical decision model that helps companies simultaneously determine optimal levels of sustainability investment and public communication. Optimal sustainability solutions will balance customer expectations with a company’s financial investments. The feasibility and added value of our model are evaluated via prototypical instantiations at a German beverage company. Applicability and extensions of the model are discussed.