From profit to purpose: a systematic literature review and future research directions on B Corp certification

The B Corp certification is a prominent voluntary standard for evaluating ventures’ commitments to governance, social justice, and environmental sustainability, reflecting a growing shift toward transparent and accountable business practices. Despite increasing scholarly interest, existing research on B Corp certification remains fragmented across various theoretical and empirical perspectives. This dispersion limits a comprehensive understanding of the B Corp certifications’ strategic implications and contextual drivers within management research and practice. Therefore, we conduct a systematic literature review to synthesize existing B Corp research and propose a conceptual model that clusters existing studies along four dimensions: theoretical frameworks, antecedents, outcomes, and certification cycles. For example, we find that B Corp research is predominantly grounded in the theories of hybrid organization, stakeholder engagement, institutional dynamics, identity, and legitimacy. The findings also show that ventures seek B Corp certification to align with stakeholder expectations, achieve market differentiation, and fulfill prosocial motivations, even though evidence of both economic and socio-environmental trade-offs remains. Building on these insights, we propose a forward-looking research agenda that calls for deeper theoretical engagement while providing actionable guidance for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and researchers.