The relationship between legitimacy, reputation, sustainability and branding for companies and their supply chains

This paper aims at filling a gap thatwe perceive to exist in the scientific literature as to legitimacy, reputation andsustainability and their interrelationship to corporate and supply chain branding. A series of innovative theoreticalframeworks are provided interrelating companies and their value (supply) chains with legitimacy, reputation,and branding which are essential conditions to achieve sustainability and competitive advantage basedon dyadic and social context consonance to the benefit of society and all stakeholders involved. An urgently requiredbetter understanding of the concepts and their interrelations is enhanced by a synthesized explanatorybasis entailing an eclectic mosaic of interdisciplinary theories (institutionalist, neo-institutionalist theories, theviable systemapproach, isomorphism and identity) to improve corporate and supply chain performance. To betterinformmanagerial practice the theoretical considerations are spicedwith case studies among which especiallythe currently debated supply chain case of the European horse meat scandal is illuminated suggesting concretemanagerial cross-functional implications in the food industry. The paper culminates in the call for a newly to-beestablishedmarketing stream we call ‘Sustainable and Curative Marketing’.