Whether actions (e.g. CEOs calling out injustices , implementing soda taxes  or bottle bills ) will lead to desirable effects is hard to determine in advance. Even well-meant interventions can trigger unexpected and unintended feedback, making their impact on the wider system hard to predict. For instance:

• Activists are needed to challenge the status quo, but their actions may provoke polarisation  and might slow down change;
• Companies that consider reducing sugar content in their product lines may wonder about potentially losing market share to competitors;
• Governments want to understand whether banning fossil fuel ads may lead to backlash.

Marketing strategies, messages, and channels are often central to these dilemmas. As a powerful interface between companies, consumers, and society, marketing not only influences behavior and preferences but also frames how problems and solutions are perceived. From promoting sustainable consumption to destigmatizing social issues or encouraging healthier choices, marketing can act as both a driver of change and, at times, a reinforcer of harmful norms.

In sum, we lack knowledge on how different efforts -many of which are mediated or magnified by marketing-  shape societal transitions. This is where our center - Marketing Insights for Societal Transitions (MIST) - comes in.