Products for Conscious Consumers

Over the last century, marketing has evolved from a simple sales support role to a complete strategic business department focused on satisfying the consumer to ensure better company results. With this end objective, marketers incessantly look for consumer data to better understand the consumer. Identifying the customer needs is vital to offer the right product, with the right price, at the right place and with the best promotion. However, consumer-centric companies have to deal with powerful clients in an environment more competitive than ever. In parallel, significant concern about sustainability has grown. The impact of humankind on the planet and how companies redefine their business models to satisfy consumers are trending topics, especially in countries where consumers are informed and concerned by the impact of humankind on the planet. Thus, customers request sustainable companies to offer sustainable products and services. However, transforming the business models, reviewing the supply chains or developing green products is not easy. Companies fail to respect consumer demand. Thus, professionals can ‘greenwash’ procedures generating, in the long run, a solid negative feeling of scepticism towards companies and, more specifically, towards marketers. Developing sustainable products, educating the market and supporting clients with accurate information should be the end goal of all marketers who truly believe in customer-centric organisations and want to build a sustainable customer relationship.

Ethical marketing has gained popularity in recent years due to the increasing participation in ethical consumerism. Today, consumers are more concerned with the impact of their purchases on society and the environment. Furthermore, the responsibility of implementing and pursuing ethical marketing falls on marketing firms and professionals.

This chapter's main case study focuses on the food industry, and mini case studies have been used to bring out the ethical misdeeds. The selection of the food industry as the choice case study is based on the fact that it is a global multi-billion industry with long-term health implications for consumers. However, some of the huge profits being reaped by the firms have been associated with unethical marketing practices which have had negative effects on the consumer. The firms that have utilised these unethical marketing practices have provided lessons that their counterparts can take a cue from as they engage in various marketing activities. This chapter has reviewed the scope of ethics in marketing, together with the various concepts and theories that are important in ethical marketing. This chapter further elaborates on the indistinctiness between ethical marketing guidelines and government regulations. Guidelines for achieving ethical marketing have been provided by the setting of ethical marketing standards and subscribing to ethical codes of conduct. Although government regulation is a good tool to ensure that marketing is conducted ethically, what may be defined as legal might not be outright ethical or moral from an individual's point of view. In summary, marketers have to strike a balance between using ethical marketing practices and making profit.

The innovation process of a new product or service can be complex. It is a long journey. So, lots of decisions must be made from the generation and validation of a first idea until the good or service reaches the consumer. All that happens because so many people from both the same company and external agents intervene. However, the person in charge of the innovation project faces the difficulties of the creative process and, on many occasions, he or she has to deal with general obstacles of the company itself. That is because the organisation does not align with specific values. Even if they have included those purposes and values within their strategy, they are not entirely consistent. This chapter assumes that the company is sensitive to sustainability and supports a rational, creative process.

The potential consumer or recipient of that innovation has to be at the centre of every decision. He/she has to be the central axis of any creative process. Consumers are increasingly sensitive and interested in how the products they acquire are manufactured and what type of raw materials are being used (Brochado, Teiga, & Oliveira-Brochado, 2017). We observe a more conscious consumer who, at the same time, is not always willing to pay for it, unfortunately. In this case, it is critical to work very well on the value proposition we are proposing and permanently contrast it with the target audience.

Changing economic and social landscape due to globalisation, increased communication, general environmental challenges and marketing scandals are factors which have significantly impacted marketing in the twenty-first century. To this effect, this research examines how marketers can increase confidence in their consumers through active engagement in consumer awareness and corporate social responsibility (CSR). It focuses on the roles of consumer awareness and CSR in marketing and aims to show the degree of influence the synthesis of both variables can have in marketing. The research, which is exploratory, depends on secondary sources of data and concludes that knowledge of products, services, consumer rights and CSR activities of a company is potent in shaping consumer behaviour. In addition, it shows that the synthesis of both variables has a great influence on moderating the effectiveness of each other and in improving marketing.

How would you explain why you bought your car, enrolled in your university of choice or purchased that monthly coffee subscription? It is only through marketing that consumers become aware of a brand's existence, sourcing methods, production process, end-product materials and its effects on the environment. This study analyses the factors marketers consider while conducting their activities and the ethical duties they have with the aim to ascertain the claim that marketing aims to influence consumers in a certain direction. Proving the truth of this claim will help marketers adjust their practices and ethical conduct to help achieve sustainability as a Global Sustainable Development Goal, in addition to helping their target market make well-informed purchasing decisions.

Beginning from the 1990s, the concept of sustainable development has been purposefully implemented by the most advanced economic actors including separate regions, countries, companies, and individuals. Consumer behaviour is also changing: the most advanced consumers who care about their own health and are aware of the environmental issues, change their behaviour to the conscious consumption patterns. However, most do so under the influence of companies promoting sustainable value propositions, or under the influence of government policy that encourages sustainable behaviour. Within the chapter ‘Dimensions of conscious consumption’, the authors consider consumption patterns evolution from traditional (patriarchal) consumption pattern through hedonic consumption to sustainable and conscious consumption patterns. The authors analyse transformation mechanisms of consumption patterns and how they affect changing consumer behaviour from traditional to conscious behaviour. As a result, a typology of sustainable value propositions for conscious consumers was formed, with the comparative analysis of four sustainable value proposition models: Driven by humanistic philosophy, Unique market position, Driven by government policy, and Leadership in sustainable innovations. Cases of Bouchee (Russian coffee shop and bakery chain) and Enjoy the Run (sport club for recreational running lovers) were analysed as the examples of companies implementing the considered models.

Reducing food-related greenhouse gas emissions is one of the major tasks in the future, as food causes one-third of global emissions. Influencing customers' purchasing decisions towards low-carbon food is thus decisive. Nudging has been proven to be an adequate mechanism to influence people towards sustainable food choices. Another relatively new approach is boosting, which promotes people's education, inducing autonomous decision-making. In the context of sustainable food, research on nudging and boosting is still at the beginning. Therefore, this chapter conducts a systematic literature review to identify, classify and assess the potential of cognitively oriented nudges and boosts towards sustainable food choices. The sample consists of 217 English-speaking papers published between 2011 and 2021. After three filtering steps, 21 scientific journal publications remained in the data extraction form. All articles are field experiments, comprising descriptive labelling, evaluative labelling, and visibility enhancements. The analysis shows that menu restructurings (e.g. placing a vegetarian option on the top of the menu) in restaurants are the most effective intervention to reshape customers' demands. Evaluative labels (e.g. traffic-light labels on the menu or product packaging) are the second most effective measure. They help people understand eco-related information and thus make better decisions. The effect of descriptive labels seemed small, as they provide no meaningful frame assisting people in processing the data. In conclusion, the research recommends applying cognitively oriented nudges and boosts to promote sustainable food choices and deduces practical implications for appropriate implementation and marketing.

Stakeholders require organisations to meet all ethical standards in every aspect of their operations including marketing. This has led to consumers becoming sensitive to the violation of expected ethical standards by organisations. Hence, consumers give precedence to brands that are environmentally friendly in the production and deployment of the brand. The increased customer sensitivity to environmental issues is the realisation of the negative effects of mismanaged environment. For example, the activities of eco-unfriendly businesses affected the human and economic survival of some communities (see Gomis & Sodji, 2021; Naz, Chowdhury, Mishra, & Gupta, 2016). In realisation of the importance of being eco-friendly in the entire value chain of a product, this chapter considers the importance of adhering to ethical standards required from the conceptualisation, consumption and disposal of materials in organisation's production system. The chapter began by laying out the consequences of eco-unfriendly behaviours and the human and business activities that create the problems. It documented the short-term and long-term consequences of unethical behaviour of businesses, and ways to mitigate or reduce such consequences. Corporate social responsibility was presented as a mindset that is aimed at maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem while deriving economic benefit from it. The chapter concluded with the case study of a disguised company that believes that ‘money can grow on trees’ and thus invested in the recovery of the damage caused by deforestation.

In our present economy, producers by definition seek to maximise profit through minimising cost. If there is no explicit societal or regulatorily mandated value in ensuring that environmental and social welfare costs are evaluated and included in business-as-usual functioning, these attributes may be omitted and are typically referenced as ‘externalities’ or market failures. At the consumer level with an increased understanding of the impact of externalities on human and environmental welfare, there is an interest in both operational transparency in the production of goods and services and in evaluating the resource and justice footprint of consumption choices. As a result, companies that are publicly pursuing operationalised sustainability across all their functions have an opportunity to establish a brand premium; however, the marketing of sustainability may differ from the implementation of sustainability highlighting that a degree of transparency is required to provide credibility. This chapter analyses an emerging marketing channel, ‘social marketing’. Social marketing is a strategy that promotes the perception of an alignment between individual values and business objectives by encouraging positive behaviours, like caring for the environment. This chapter provides a case study of Levi Strauss and reviews portions of the company's sustainability marketing program to address how marketing is being used to engage, educate and empower customers, while simultaneously establishing a sustainability brand identity for the company.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research and practice have grown in preeminence over the past two decades. In corporations, global institutional frameworks (e.g. the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) have guided and spurred the adoption and operationalisation of CSR strategies across industries and sectors. In academia, the business case for CSR seems to have been one of the main research foci towards the transition to more ethical and more responsible management. However, recent ecological and social disturbances (i.e. COVID-19 pandemic, global warming, etc.) have challenged our understanding of the role that CSR can play in this transition. In this chapter, we explore how the use and instrumentalisation of CSR practices in both academia and business have led not only to eroding the concept from its conceptual essence, but also to giving increased power and legitimacy to the very ailments that CSR was created to heal.

Kenya basks of a vibrant digital financial sector from her mobile and digital financial services that have led to financial inclusions. On the flip side of it, the Kenyan digital loans sector is facing ethical scrutiny from all and sundry. Issues that are arising include a customer base being trapped in the debt trap, inflated pricing model, high interest rates, and short-term loan tenures. The sector is shrouded in poor transparency and many consumer rights infringement. Undeniably, providers inadvertently breach consumers' right to privacy and tend to promote ‘push loans’ with unsolicited messages to the vulnerable. Additionally, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in determining the suitability of loan applicants via algorithms is seen to be intrusive. With consumer data being mined from the mobile phone, data utilisation, mobile payment usage, airtime usage without users' express consent, it renders the sector an unethical jungle for hunting consumers. Furthermore, consumers who by default end up receiving aggressive uncouth and unprofessional treatment in a bid to recover the unpaid loans. New Product Development (NPD) should, therefore, listen to the consumer's voice for ethical concerns to be reflected in the final product. Thus, marketers should endeavour to give ethical dimensions in NPD a measurable attribute by constantly reviewing it. This chapter examines the ethical implications of developing digital loans in Kenya.

Today, creative, customer-centric and competitively dominant marketing strategies are vital to business success. Developing goods and services that serve the consumer is paramount. Organisations should adopt an effective marketing strategy that can profitably create and sustain customer value. Marketing should evaluate marketplace potential and risk from the perspective of their firm's unique ability to develop and deliver products and services of meaningful customer value. Marketing as the art and science of creating customer value and marketplace exchanges should leverage the principles that guide the process of interacting with colleagues, customers, competitors, collaborators and the environment to satisfy customers' needs.

Organisations bear a graver responsibility than they regularly realise. This chapter expands the foregoing sentence through a reflection on what the other chapters have said – that marketers' responsibility should go beyond the sale of a product and should include the consciousness of the social and environmental consequences of the product and that responsibility should start with strategy and accompany the product or service from ideation to commercialisation. The messages going out from the company about its sustainability initiatives must also be ethical. The chapter also presents the book chapters' practical value for teaching, research and consultancy as well as for business application and policy making or policy advocacy. Finally, the chapter calls for generally acceptable standards to measure product greenness and for more self-regulation especially in less regulated regions. The overall message is that, through the marketing function, managers can and must orient the firm's internal dynamics towards embracing both business goals and the common good by taking all stakeholders into consideration and creating value to be shared by all.