Marketing for Sustainable Development E-Book
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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Many people see a weak association between marketing and sustainable development and even consider them as two incompatible fields. However, marketing benefits from an extremely powerful position to encourage transformations at the production level and to guide consumers towards responsible behaviors. From its inception, marketing has been positioned as a support for the relationship between the company and its customers, with the quest for well-being set in the very foundations of the discipline. In a context that is marked by crises and much skepticism, marketing today should, more than ever, prove that it acts in good faith. This book offers practitioners, public authorities, professors and students illustrations that demonstrate that the dissemination of sustainable practices is indeed a marketing issue. It argues that it is particularly important not only to overcome the divide between the concepts of marketing and sustainability, but also to use marketing tools and frameworks to support sustainable development and strengthen the green market.
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Seitenzahl: 554
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Opposing the Market Through Responsible Consumption to Transform It
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Corporate adjustment strategies in response to the contestation of market logic
1.3. Ideological and institutional categories of expressions of contestation
1.4. Pragmatic and operational categories of market contestation
1.5. Conclusion and implications
1.6. References
2 Luxury and Sustainable Development: Companies and the Challenge of Overcoming Consumer Reluctance
2.1. Introduction
2.2. The commitment of the luxury sector to sustainability: an unavoidable but risky strategic choice!
2.3. The perceived contradiction between luxury and sustainable development: origins and solutions
2.4. Conclusion
2.5. References
3 The Fight Against Food Waste: Approaches and Limits to Consumer-based Actions
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Food chains under tension, food losing value
3.3. Consumer responsibility
3.4. Reducing food waste in mass catering
3.5. Conclusion
3.6. References
4 Food Waste in Family Settings: What are the Challenges, Practices and Potential Solutions?
4.1. Introduction
4.2. The actors in family food waste: everyone is involved!
4.3. Multifaceted wastage during family consumption at home
4.4. Conclusion: What about the future?
4.5. References
5 The Packaging-free Product Market: A Renewal of Practices
5.1. Introduction
5.2. The characteristics of packaging-free consumption
5.3. Offerings on the packaging-free product market
5.4. Conclusion
5.5. References
6 The Conditions for Effective Social Communication
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Social communication: a shifting reality
6.3. How can the credibility of communication be ensured?
6.4. How can CSR provide added value to customers?
6.5. Conclusion
6.6. References
7 The Effectiveness of “Provocation” in Environmental Advertising: Beware of “Greenbashing”
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Greenbashing: clarification of a new concept
7.3. The effects of provocation on the effectiveness of environmental advertising
7.4. Conclusion
7.5. References
8 How Can We Communicate Effectively About Climate Change?
8.1. Introduction
8.2. A gap between awareness and behavior
8.3. How can we communicate about climate change?
8.4. Mental representations of climate change among children
8.5. Conclusion
8.6. References
9 Environmental Regulations and Awareness-raising Campaigns: Promoting Behavioral Change through Government Interventions
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Overview of the environmental intervention tools of public authorities
9.3. Improving the effectiveness of pro-environmental public policies: the contribution of marketing
9.4. Conclusion
9.5. References
10 The Repairability of Household Appliances: A Selling Point for Utilitarian Products
10.1. Introduction
10.2. Repairability: a complex concept
10.3. The effects of a “repairability” label on purchasing behaviors: mixed results
10.4. Conclusion
10.5. References
11 The Role of the Fairtrade Label in the Spread of Sustainable Production and Responsible Consumption in West Africa: The Case of Côte d’Ivoire
11.1. Introduction
11.2. The Fairtrade label: towards sustainable production and responsible consumption
11.3. The application of the Fairtrade label by producer organizations in Côte d’Ivoire: challenges and implications
11.4. Conclusion
11.5. References
12 Mobile Apps and Environmentally Friendly Consumption: Typology, Mechanisms and Limitations
12.1. Introduction
12.2. A typology of environmentally friendly mobile apps
12.3. The influence of mobile apps on behavior
12.4. What are the implications for the different actors in environmentally friendly consumption?
12.5. Conclusion
12.6. References
13 Digitalization in the Service of Socially Responsible Consumption? Focus on Food Consumption
13.1. Introduction
13.2. The paradoxes of digitalization and sustainable food
13.3. Digital technology: a powerful tool
13.4. Conclusion
13.5. References
14 Augmented Products: The Contribution of Industry 4.0 to Sustainable Consumption
14.1. Introduction
14.2. Infrastructures and processes
14.3. Analytical capabilities
14.4. Conclusion
14.5. References
Conclusion
List of Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Begin Reading
Conclusion
List of Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 1
Table 1.1. Main features of the three communities studied
Table 1.2. Views of the development of marketing practices through the lens of r...
Chapter 2
Table 2.1. Examples of responsible initiatives in luxury industry
Table 2.2. Sources of dissonance between luxury and sustainable development
Chapter 4
Table 4.1. Impact of family characteristics on the generation of food waste
Chapter 6
Table 6.1. List of the main benefits of a responsible offer
Chapter 7
Table 7.1. The experimental conditions considered in the study
Table 7.2. Mean values of dependent variables in the test groups and the control...
Chapter 8
Table 8.1. Emotional profiles in relation to combating climate change
Chapter 9
Table 9.1. Overview of advantages and limitations of pro-environmental regulator...
Chapter 10
Table 10.1. Elements supporting and limiting the repairability of products
Chapter 11
Table 11.1. Overview of fairtrade labels
Table 11.2. Integration of the objectives and social and environmental impacts i...
Chapter 12
Table 12.1. Types of environmentally friendly consumption practices
Table 12.2. Stages of the decision-making process and implications for environme...
Table 12.3. Environmentally friendly mobile apps and purchasing decisions
Table 12.4. Main challenges for the different actors in environmentally friendly...
Chapter 13
Table 13.1. Technical reasons for adopting an app
Table 13.2. Dimensions of intrusiveness
Table 13.3. The four stages of training a subject to be responsible
Table 13.4. Means of empowering actors
Chapter 14
Table 14.1. Features of the contribution of additive manufacturing to extending ...
Table 14.2. Features of the Internet of Things and its contribution to extending...
Table 14.3. Features of Big Data and their contribution to extending the life sp...
Table 14.4. Features of artificial intelligence and its contribution to extendin...
List of Illustrations
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1. Three ways of addressing food waste at home with children
Figure 4.2. Three ways of explaining food waste by teenagers
Figure 4.3. The food products most wasted by households
Figure 4.4. Stages of consumption, sources of and solutions to the issue of food...
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1. Motivations for packaging-free consumption (n=146). For a color vers...
Figure 5.2. Obstacles to packaging-free consumption (n=168). For a color version...
Figure 5.3. Word cloud relating to packaging-free products. For a color version ...
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1. Overview of potential social communication strategies. For a color v...
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1. Example of an advertising poster issued by a company mocking ecologi...
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1. Proposal for a regulatory mix combining the different types of envir...
Figure 9.2. Example of segmentation by household size as part of establishing a ...
Figure 9.3. Example of communication by ADEME (the French Environment and Energy...
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1. Repairability label
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1. Use of mobile apps in consumption
Figure 12.2. The influence of mobile apps on environmentally friendly consumptio...
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1. The five models for influencing the consumer to create more respons...
Figure 13.2. Overview of the role of digital devices in assisting responsible fo...
Chapter 14
Figure 14.1. The use of Industry 4.0 for extending the life spans of products
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SCIENCES
Agronomy and Food Science, Field Directors – Jack Legrand and Gilles Trystram
Food Chain Management, Subject Head – Jean-Marc Ferrandi
Marketing for Sustainable Development
Rethinking Consumption Models
Coordinated by
Sihem Dekhili
First published 2021 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:
ISTE Ltd27-37 St George’s RoadLondon SW19 4EUUK
www.iste.co.uk
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030USA
www.wiley.com
© ISTE Ltd 2021
The rights of Sihem Dekhili to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021940271
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78945-036-1
ERC code:
LS9 Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering
LS9_5 Food sciences (including food technology, food safety, nutrition)
SH2 Institutions, Values, Environment and Space
SH2_6 Sustainability sciences, environment and resources
SH1 Individuals, Markets and Organisations
SH1_10 Management; marketing; organisational behaviour; operations management
Foreword
John THØGERSEN
Department of Management, Aarhus University, Denmark
Since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has been extremely successful in combating diseases, producing a sufficient supply of food and other necessities and adapting its environments to its needs. However, this success has a downside. The boom in human production and consumption has led to planetary boundaries for safe operating spaces being crossed in a range of areas, including climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows and land-system change. Humanity is now so plentiful and powerful that our activities impact basic planetary functions. This development is so radical that scientists speak about a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. Therefore, humans, for their own sake, must become stewards of the planet and get us back into a safe operating space, while maintaining acceptable ways of life, as expressed, for example, in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This is a major task and it is the government’s responsibility to organize and regulate it. However, governments will not be able to prevail without the support and active engagement of companies and the civil society as both consumers and citizens.
Engaged citizens are a valuable source of knowledge and ideas for new norms and regulations that are adapted to the national and local context. An informed citizenry is also a prerequisite for achieving the necessary acceptance and support for new regulations. In addition, changes in consumer behavior are a prerequisite for many transformations, including the move from fossil to renewable energy, from a linear to a circular economy, and to a more plant-based diet in industrialized countries.
The scientific understanding of global challenges and technical solutions has increased tremendously in recent decades, but knowledge and understanding of “the demand side” is lagging behind. We need more knowledge and understanding of citizen-consumers’ concerns, limitations, goals and wants with regards to new and sustainable products, services and wider solutions, as part of a wide range of sustainability transformations. We also need more knowledge of how to gain the acceptance, support and engagement of the public, as citizens and consumers with diverse values, needs, wants, resources and contexts.
For example, in developed countries, private households are responsible for about a third of wasted food and about two thirds of plastic waste. Packaging waste, most of which is discarded by households, creates significant problems in nature. Therefore, consumers need to be actively engaged in closing the loops for materials that pass through private households in huge volumes for the radical and urgently-needed transformation from a linear to a circular economic model to succeed. Marketing, as a discipline and practice, has accumulated experiences and insights and developed effective tools to strengthen consumer acceptance of recycled products or products made using recycled materials, and to increase the amount and quality of waste materials that are reused or recycled from households.
This book coordinated by Sihem Dekhili is a welcome contribution to advancing our knowledge and understanding of the role of the demand side for sustainable development and especially about how to mobilize the tools, techniques and insights of marketing for sustainable development. It offers a range of fresh perspectives on sustainability transformations in the modern digital era, drawing on the creativity and skills of a broad group of researchers. Like marketing in general, its main focus is on individuals as consumers and on creating value for all parties in an exchange as a means to achieve organizational and societal goals. This customer-centric perspective of marketing may be the most important contribution to speeding up sustainability transformations. However, marketing is not limited to commercial exchanges and viewing people as individual consumers. Marketing has proven to be an effective means for attaining massive changes in behaviors and lifestyles, including making citizens aware of the need for sustainability transformations in order to accept the required regulations. It is important to ensure consumers are well-informed and understand and trust sustainable products, services and solutions, both to convince them that it is worth their effort and help them to adopt more sustainable goods and practices. Especially, marketing has refined effective tools to help consumers make sustainable choices in supermarkets, including credible sustainability labeling.
Mobilizing consumers and engaging them in sustainability transformations requires a deep understanding of their diversity, and the ambiguity and conflicts related to their goals. Some consumers resist the conventional market system and experiment with various forms of simpler, sufficiency-oriented lifestyles. Others make an effort to choose environmentally-friendly products and services. Still others are environmentally concerned, but feel unable to do anything because they feel that they lack credible environmental information or believe that the tradeoffs are insurmountable. It is therefore important to differentiate between people with different needs, wants, and abilities and to adapt regulation, education, communication and solutions accordingly. More than any other discipline, marketing has developed insights and effective tools for the segmentation and targeting of consumers with different needs, wants, and abilities.
This book is a much-needed contribution to the understanding of the demand side in sustainability transformations and especially of marketing as a force for change towards sustainable development goals. It combines a solid foundation in the accumulated insights of marketing with an appreciation of the specific challenges and opportunities of the current age, including digitalization, mobile applications, machine-to-machine communication and the Internet of Things. These new technologies are rapidly changing our lives and when they are used well, they offer new opportunities for supporting responsible consumer behavior and sustainability transformations. This makes this book a useful resource for marketing scholars and practitioners alike; indeed for everyone who is engaged in the sustainable transformation of society, in companies, politics, NGOs and the civil society.
Acknowledgments
Sihem DEKHILI
CNRS – BETA, University of Strasbourg, France
The journey from an idea born several years ago to the production of this book has been an extremely exciting adventure!
First of all, my warmest thanks go to the 41 authors of this book who have shared my enthusiasm for the topic of responsible marketing and its role in strengthening the sustainable development movement. The exchange of ideas and discussions has been a source of great richness.
All of the authors have brought their expertise to the reflections within the framework of a collective work that has been undertaken in a spirit of attentive listening and conviviality. This kind of project makes the job of an academic even more stimulating.
Huge thanks go to John Thøgersen for the Foreword, as well as for his availability and great kindness. He is a renowned researcher, whose activities and publications in the field of sustainable consumption are numerous.
I would also like to extend particular thanks to Jean-Marc Ferrandi and Patrick Gabriel for their thoughtful advice.
Lastly, the aim of proposing a work anchored in action would have been impossible without the numerous practitioners who offered their viewpoints and enriched the analyses of the researchers. If only they could all be thanked here for their precious contribution!
I hope the readers take as much pleasure from the reading of this book as its authors did from creating it!
Introduction
Sihem DEKHILI
CNRS – BETA, University of Strasbourg, France
For a number of years, sustainable development has been an omnipresent issue in both media discussions and in political, economic and academic debates. It is pushing a real challenge into the spotlight: the balance between the economic, environmental and social components, with the aim of satisfying the needs of the current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland 1987). Sustainable development, looking to the long-term, promotes altruistic values that are beneficial not only to the protection of the planet, but also to social justice and the well-being of others. Indeed, as stated by Gabriel (2003), the wealth created by companies can have an environmental and social cost, and those that benefit from this wealth are not necessarily those that bear the cost. Sustainable development also refers to the idea of controlled production and mindful consumption, with personal pleasure pushed to the background.
Various efforts have been made to take these considerations into account. Most countries have implemented regulations supporting sustainability. Companies have become involved and some have even put sustainability at the heart of their business models. We have thereby seen the development of a new offer on the market, with products using fewer resources and polluting components, and generating less waste (Auger and Devinney 2007; Yannou-Le Bris et al. 2019).
At the same time, there has been an increase in environmental and social awareness among consumers. A large number of surveys support the idea that individuals, especially in Western societies, are concerned about ecological crises. This is the case in a survey conducted by Ifop in late 2019, which estimated that 86% of French people were aware of this issue. Groups of “consum’actors”, looking for meaning in life, have emerged and reveal a significant expectation of societal change. As a result, they are turning to an alternative mode of consumption and practices, such as donation and sharing that aim, in particular, to extend the lifespan of products.
The efforts made and the prevailing discussions around sustainable development tend to suggest that we are experiencing a “green era” (Davies et al. 2012). However, the reality is quite different! The sustainable criterion is far from being a decisive factor in consumer purchasing decisions, even for the individuals with the greatest level of ecological awareness. Sustainable consumption, primarily the reserve of those with the highest levels of income and education, is for many merely a “surface engagement”, as the new consumption pattern that they embrace is being superimposed over entrenched consumerist habits (rather than replacing them) (Daumas 2020). Within this context, the gap between values and declarations, on the one hand, and behaviors, on the other, has been widely documented in the literature, often by using the term “green gap”. Despite the efforts made, sustainable development remains the preserve of a niche market. The strategies of companies in this field sometimes turn out to be insufficient. Indeed, their desire to make their image greener can result in opportunist behaviors and greenwashing. Consumers perceive environmental communications as ambiguous and overblown and express little trust in the brands that spread them. Some think that the ecolabeling procedure is based on an incomplete approach that only takes into account a limited number of criteria, and that the communication on ecolabels remains insufficient (Thøgersen et al. 2010; Dekhili and Achabou 2015). At the distribution level, super/hypermarkets suffer from a lack of legitimacy in selling ecological products and the price policies are not always considered fair for consumers (Dekhili et al. 2017). A cultural barrier can be added to this; responsible practices such as the example of the doggy bag can be slowed down by the social norms that dominate a country (Achabou et al. 2018).
These obstacles to the spread of responsible behaviors and goods put the importance of the sustainable development movement into perspective. At the same time, they offer immense avenues for exploring solutions to reconsider consumption patterns and develop the green market. This leads us to the key question guiding this book: how can marketing contribute to strengthening sustainable consumption?
Marketing is undoubtedly the area most suited to market development. However, its objectives can be perceived as opposite to those of sustainable development (Kotler 2011). In any case, the compatibility between the two fields has been widely questioned. Marketing aims to sell in a profitable manner. It is seen as a field based on the short term and on the response to selfish motivations. Marketing is also accused of having encouraged overconsumption and waste in shifting the focus from the satisfaction of real consumer needs to a response to short-lived individual desires (Brownlie 2006).
In this respect, the “power” of marketing and its key role in the evolution of modes of consumption should be recalled. Marketing choices can have an influence on individual health through the products promoted and the social groups targeted (as with advertisements for food products high in saturated fats during programs aimed at children). Moreover, marketing affects the representation of individuals and their lifestyles (for example, the demeaning image of women in advertising).
Because marketing enjoys a certain “power” and in view of the significant effects it can have on individuals, particularly the most vulnerable, a number of business practices have been condemned following denunciations from NGOs, scientists and consumer groups. As a result, advertisements that are considered problematic have been withdrawn (as in case of exaggerated claims made by Nivea about its beauty creams) and brands have been boycotted because of sales practices that are considered irresponsible (such as Nestlé in view of its marketing practices for powdered milk for infants in Africa), giving rise to a stricter legislative regulation of marketing practices. In this regard, we can note the example of the obligation, in France since 2007, for the advertisers of some food products to introduce health information into their communications, such as “For your own health, avoid eating too much fat, too much sugar or too much salt.”
If there have been some opportunist practices on the ground, this should not, in any case, call into question the marketing field as a scientific discipline. From the beginning, marketing has been positioned as a medium for the relationship between a company and its consumers, and the search for well-being remains at the very foundations of the discipline (Andreasen 1994). Today, more than ever, marketing should implement credible and visible actions that will help to increase the legitimacy of companies in relation to the concept of sustainable development (Gabriel 2003). Our society, as a whole, seems to demand marketing that is accountable and demonstrates “its good faith”. This book aims to respond to that demand: it is essential not only to go beyond the marketing-sustainable development split, but also to demonstrate the interest of relying on the tools and analytical frameworks of marketing to serve the cause of sustainability. Marketing and sustainable development can be intertwined in order to achieve a common goal, of strengthening ecological behaviors.
Fourteen chapters, rooted in action and offering rich and detailed views of different topics related to the question posed, are included in this book. The analysis suggested by scholars specializing in the field of responsible consumption is completed by the views of professionals in the field (managing directors, sustainable development heads, managers, consultants, public officials, etc.). These chapters cover five complementary themes.
The first theme explores, in the first two chapters, the role of the consumer in the green movement. In Chapter 1, Abdelmajid Amine and Mouna Benhallam consider individuals with a high level of environmental and social concern, who opt for radical changes regarding the traditional consumer pattern. By studying the case of engaged online communities, the authors show that, through their resistance to the market, these consumers are contributing to transforming it by promoting responsible consumption.
In Chapter 2, Mohamed Akli Achabou and Sihem Dekhili, on the other hand, consider the case of consumers less sensitive to ecology. The significant attention paid to the intrinsic characteristics of the offer (such as quality in the case of luxury products) can lead to a rejection of eco-products; some consumers believe that the integration of sustainable attributes decreases the offer’s value. More broadly, by highlighting a perceived contradiction between luxury and sustainable development, the authors deduce that the green issue cannot be explored in the same way for different product categories.
The second theme, addressed over three chapters, concerns waste, in particular, that produced in the food sector. This is a subject that has played an important role in media and political debates in recent years.
In Chapter 3, Guillaume Le Borgne, Margot Dyen, Géraldine Chaboud and Maxime Sebbane question the role of the consumer in the above-mentioned waste. By analyzing the different structural, contextual and chain organization constraints, the authors call for the responsibility of consumers in waste to be put into perspective, compared to the other actors in the food system. By exploring the case of mass catering companies, they highlight the sources of the ineffectiveness of measures to combat food waste.
In Chapter 4, Amélie Clauzel, Nathalie Guichard and Caroline Riché address this issue in a smaller sphere, that of the family. They outline the role of each family member in the food waste phenomenon and mention the differences in perceptions of food waste within the same household. Moreover, the authors analyze the causes of waste resulting from family purchase and consumption processes.
In Chapter 5, Maud Daniel-Chever, Élisa Monnot, Fanny Reniou and Lucie Sirieix look at a new mode of buying products that is aimed at combating waste: packaging-free products. The authors provide, on the one hand, an understanding of the profiles of consumers buying such products, their motivations and barriers, and on the other hand, an analysis of the offer in this field and the complexity of managing it.
The third theme in this book concerns communication. Three chapters are focused on a thorny question in responsible marketing: should companies communicate about sustainability? And if so, how? To what extent can this communication be responsible and effective in relation to the target’s expectations? The topic is a particularly important one as the reactions to societal communications are often negative and the phenomenon of greenwashing continues to be prevalent.
To respond to these questions, in Chapter 6 Agnès François-Lecompte and Sylvie Foutrel, by considering societal communication as a triptych (“what message”, “what channel” and “to whom”), discuss the conditions of its effectiveness. The authors study the question of the credibility of the message and the potential of the societal communication to create value for customers.
This reflection is expanded in Chapter 7 through the contribution of Sihem Dekhili and Samer Elhajjar, which is focused on a particular element of communication: the tone used. More specifically, the authors examine the effectiveness of “provocation” in environmental advertising. Given the consumer skepticism towards the green claims of companies, some brands have opted for greenbashing, a form of communication characterized by sarcasm. The advertisers, in such cases, do not hesitate to deliberately mock green activists and/or trends. The authors detail the motivations that lead brands to favor this communication tone and test its effect on the effectiveness of environmental advertising.
The topic of communication is brought to a close in Chapter 8 by Philippe Odou, Marie Schill and Manu Navarro, who investigate how to communicate effectively on one particular complex topic: climate change. The authors analyze the types of communication and the emotions to stress when targeting adult profiles showing different emotional reactions and intentions to act. At a time of unprecedented mobilization among the younger generation, the authors are interested in the specific case of children, providing a deep understanding of the mental representations of climate change among this target group.
The fourth theme, addressed over three chapters, looks into the issue of regulation. Firstly, in Chapter 9, Leila Elgaaied-Gambier and Laurent Bertrandias suggest an interesting analysis of the following question: how can the integration of a marketing approach into public policies for sustainability contribute to making them more acceptable in the eyes of the target audience? The authors discuss different approaches adopted by the public authorities in environmental regulations and discuss their advantages and limitations, before further consideration of the contribution of marketing in terms of strengthening the efficiency of pro-environment public policies.
Then, in Chapter 10, Mickaël Dupré, Patrick Gabriel and Gaëlle Boulbry address the issue of information on the reparability of products. They propose to determine whether this constitutes a selling point, especially among people particularly concerned by sustainability. The authors offer an understanding of the repairability concept and consider the effects of a “reparability label” on consumer perceptions and behaviors in the case of household appliances.
Lastly, in Chapter 11 Mantiaba Coulibaly-Ballet focuses on the fair trade label. Through a study conducted in Côte d’Ivoire, the author questions the role of this cue in both the spread of sustainable production and the encouragement of responsible consumption, in a context where sustainable development is still emerging.
The book concludes with a very current fifth theme, the digital domain. Three chapters emphasize the role that technological and digital tools can play in the expansion of the green movement. These tools have the advantage of directly affecting the decisions and behaviors of consumers more than their values, which can lead to improved effectiveness in the adoption of responsible behaviors.
In Chapter 12, Adeline Ochs and Julien Schmitt establish the general framework of the topic by showing the main mobile applications linked to responsible consumption and explaining their mechanisms for influencing consumer behaviors.
Among the different categories of products and services affected by these new digital applications, food products present specificities, as highlighted by Christine Gonzalez, Béatrice Siadou-Martin and Jean-Marc Ferrandi in Chapter 13. The authors look at the issue of the compatibility of digitization and food sustainability. They then establish a range of models that facilitate understanding of how to influence consumer behaviors in favor of responsibility. In addition, the types of digital devices that support the adoption of food sustainability are detailed.
In Chapter 14, Myriam Ertz, Shouheng Sun, Émilie Boily, Gautier Georges Yao Quenum, Kubiat Patrick, Yassine Laghrib, Damien Hallegatte, Julien Bousquet and Imen Latrous go further in examining the benefits of technology 4.0, in terms of extending the lifespan of products and combating planned obsolescence. Through a close analysis of the main features and functions of technologies linked to “Industry 4.0”, including additive manufacturing, the Internet of Things, Big Data and artificial intelligence, the authors show how the characteristics of these technologies can help to create augmented sustainable products. This is a major challenge of our century!
If they indicate difficulties in the dissemination of sustainable development (consumer skepticism, limitations of environmental communications, waste, ineffectiveness of environmental measures, etc.), the contributions gathered in this book have the great interest of not stopping at limitations and suggesting concrete recommendations and solutions to improve the effectiveness of organizations. Our work offers evidence of the great potential of the use of marketing tools and approaches to encourage sustainable development. This book should therefore be considered a reformer and a cause for hope!
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1Opposing the Market Through Responsible Consumption to Transform It
Abdelmajid AMINE and Mouna BENHALLAM
IRG, University Paris-Est Créteil, France
1.1. Introduction
The increase of ecological and social concerns in recent decades, calling for radical changes to modes of production and consumption, shows the signs of a societal model that is flagging. This model, long propped up by sales techniques that encouraged over-consumption and the unbridled pursuit of possessions and material comforts, is, now more than ever, being called upon to reorient itself around a fairer sustainable balance between people, the environment and the economy.
There has been criticism of marketing since the early 1970s (Kassarjian 1971), highlighting its shortcomings and side effects, namely, the harmful incitement to buy, the creation of superficial needs and the devastating exploitation of natural resources. This then developed with time around major concepts, such as “sustainable development” (Nader et al. 1971), the “social responsibility of companies” (Manrai et al. 1997), consumer opposition (Penãloza and Price 1993) and even theoretical frameworks, such as Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) (Mick et al. 2012). The latter supports results-based marketing research on major social issues (health, poverty, the environment, etc.), the results of which are intended to improve individual and collective well-being. All of these changes reflect the gradual dissemination of contestation behavior and discourse to a wider section of the population.
This phenomenon is evidence of the normalization of these opposition practices (Amine and Gicquel 2011) and translates into an inclination among consumers to make their behaviors more disciplined, so as to bring about societal changes. In that regard, it is clear that socio-environmental concerns are preeminent, as expressed through the protest-based reactions1 of consumers (Dubuisson-Quellier 2009). These dissenting movements have given rise to a specific form of opposition of a socially responsible nature (Benhallam 2016) 2, and spark recovery attempts from companies who perceive them as a threat.
With this in mind, and in view of the digitalization of social interactions and the increased speed of virtual exchanges (Kozinets 2012), we propose to explore practices of resistance, particularly those organized by consumer groups online, especially on social networks, given their significant impact.
As an example, following price increases, a boycott campaign against Danone, launched online, took place in North Africa in 2018 and cost the brand 178 million euros3. The main lessons that we want to highlight are intended to underline the ability of pressure from consumer movements to force companies to reevaluate their marketing practices and to push the public authorities and associations to rethink the regulatory mechanisms of the markets.
More specifically, we will be working on answering the following two-part question: “How does the online resistance of individuals adhering to a responsible consumption approach express itself in the face of market ideology? And which possibilities for social development does it open up?” In order to do this, a two-year netnographic study was conducted in three virtual communities based around responsible social opposition, specifically, “Le changement par la consommation [Change through consumption]”, “Mr Mondialisation [Mr. Globalization]” and “Objecteurs de croissance [Growth Objectors]”.
1.2. Corporate adjustment strategies in response to the contestation of market logic
1.2.1. From an adaptive perspective of uprising recovery by the companies...
In a fast-moving anti-establishment environment that often generalizes (Dubuisson-Quellier 2009), companies have a tendency to respond to opposition movements through adaptive and short-term initiatives, such as the provision of products and services that are supposed to be “responsible” (biological, fair, green). These provisions are not necessarily backed up by a thorough review of procedures, means and methods (Koskenniemi 2019). However, companies would have to invest a lot in a transformative policy, having to change their habitual reactive attitude of creating incomplete offers and taking the risk of maintaining opposition, rather than appeasing it. In doing so, companies are only suggesting superficial adjustments based around a traditional sales logic, which hints more at greenwashing than true compliance with the values of social responsibility and sustainable development.
As a result, companies that subscribe to the traditional market-oriented system are considered responsible, by anti-consumption groups, for damaging the environment, encouraging over-consumption and spreading poor-quality food (Daniel et al. 2008). The one factor these activists have in common is the contestation of a market logic that encourages excessive consumption, without respect for individuals and groups developing practices supporting opposition and anti-consumption, or even deviance (Amine and Gicquel 2011). There appear to be several elements at play at the intersection of different types of socio-environmental contestation, at the micro level, companies and their enslaving mercantile practices, and at the macro level, the overall functioning of society, which is deliberately based on a consumerist logic emerging from the capitalist system.
In fact, even though the market has recovered from some of the criticism, and endogenized it through the development of products labeled “sustainable” or “ethical”, the fact of the matter is that significant numbers of citizens remain suspicious and continue their protest and defection from the market (voluntary reduction of consumption, prioritization of local distribution networks, boycotts, etc.). While some consumers approve of companies’ efforts to become greener, others continue to contest them or to be skeptical towards them, assuming their intentions to be much less respectable. The latter consider the “socially responsible” branding of products to be a commodification of ethics and an opportunism that only encourages their resistance to such companies. As a result, the socially responsible position demonstrated by companies in the traditional market and seen in the development provisions that are labeled socially responsible have struggled to reach the expected objectives, in particular, because they use the same sales techniques and persuasive registers that have been challenged (Koskenniemi 2019). On the other hand, the failure of these companies to take the socially responsible expectations and principles that consumers associate with sustainable development on board creates a supply of products and services that are considered to be insincere, as they do not seem to align with the values defended by these individuals. Indeed, the various contestation movements, characterized by strong socially responsible concerns, are the manifestation of a persistent criticism of the solely market-oriented offers of companies and of market ideology, despite the attempts made to endogenize them.
With this in mind, traditional marketing, which has, to date, adopted reactive and adaptive strategies towards consumer efforts, should now make a change to become part of a proactive strategy to transform its values, provisions and processes, in order to meet the expectations of socially responsible consumer-citizens.
1.2.2. ...to a transformative market logic under pressure from protest movements
Further to the socio-environmental criticisms, the market is no longer considered, from a consumer perspective, to be a place where beneficial exchanges can occur. It is instead perceived as a space of influence in which unbalanced exchanges take place, with poorly equipped and influenced consumers who make sub-optimal choices (Dobscha 1998).
The representation of the market from critical sociology (Baudrillard 1970) highlights behavior in opposition to the market, which is considered as combative in view of the market’s hegemonic and oppressive role. Moreover, the postmodern paradigm (Firat and Venkatesh 1995) emphasizes the “fragmentation of society” that makes it possible for consumers to free themselves through various alternatives to consumption that constitute as many degrees of freedom. From this point of view, this opposition concerns an “expression of self” more than a “fight”. This being the case, the opposition movements sometimes express themselves in relation to the deterioration of the environment, considering the capitalist system that governs the market to be a “structure of destruction” (François-Lecompte and Valette-Florence 2006), and sometimes in relation to the techniques of the market-oriented system, viewing the market as a “structure of domination” (Murray and Ozanne 2009). At the same time, the emphasis is on the “conscientization” of the consumer in regard to the tools and methods of the market-oriented system. Roux (2007) refers to this “awareness” as a precondition for learning about market relationships and then acquiring skills that make it possible to have, in fine, a clear idea of the context of trade and the unbalanced relationships of the powers involved.
In order to address the object of criticism of marketing and the market system and/or to articulate the resistance reactions of consumers to this criticism, it is therefore necessary to consider the nature of the market’s measures and their socio-environmental impact. As a result, to regenerate, marketing would need to have a genuine paradigmatic break, with the aim of inventing an innovative and deliberately different marketing model (Badot and Cova 2008). The latter should, in particular, identify the expectations and interests of citizen-consumers in advance by measuring, at the ethical level, the impact of their choices and actions on the different stakeholders and, more broadly, on society as a whole. For a company, this proactive attitude should consist of engaging in a thorough process of transformation of methods and practices that integrates more coproduction with the consumer, and researching the meaning of goods offered and ecological and societal concerns.
The communities we have investigated have, in this regard, shown criticisms and denunciations of the market system, as well as guidelines for an alternative marketing model. This position is in line with the values of these opposition communities, whose protest is focused on social and environmental concerns (Benhallam 2016). Indeed, in using the analysis of the data collected within these communities (see Box 1.1), several possibilities for change, or even for transformation, present themselves to the field of marketing.
Box 1.1.Netnographic study of three online communities involved in responsible consumption
In order to respond to our question, and to be able to understand how the communities in opposition to market ideology express themselves and which possibilities they can open up in terms of marketing practices, we have chosen a qualitative netnographic approach. We are interested in three distinct virtual communities who share their denunciation and rejection of market-oriented ideology (and its corollaries, the capitalist system and excessive consumption), while showing their stance in favor of sustainable and managed consumption.
Our approach relies primarily on the study of one main community, “Le changement par la consommation”, and two secondary communities, “Mr Mondialisation” and “Objecteurs de croissance”. The selection was based on the stated position of the community, the high number of members, regular posting by the central moderator(s) and significant member activity. The inclusion of the secondary communities aimed to allow the comparison of the results from the main community with those of other fields, in order to ensure their relevance and to gain external validation.
The netnographic study was carried out through a long (24 months) immersion in the three communities with non-participative observation, ensuring a non-intrusive environment with natural interactions that preserves authenticity on the ground and the reliability of the data (Hewer and Brownlie 2007). However, in order to respect the principles of ethics (Kozinets 2012), the central moderator(s) were asked questions relating to the use and publication of data through private messages, ensuring transparency in regard to our intentions and the use, for purely scientific purposes, of the information collected.
The significant body of information available was filtered through the use of key words (namely, resistance, opposition, rejection, (over)consumption, consumerism, commodification, consumer ideology/values, etc.) and through the calculation of a Buzz Indicator (BI) 4, developed on an ad hoc basis to select the most salient and relevant data. We thereby retained the subjects and concerns that are characterized by both strong engagement (BI score) and significant recurrence within each of these communities. The stable results obtained in this way have been put into a reference framework suited to the opposition phenomenon, the interpretation of which enables the proposition, in fine, of possible changes to marketing practices.
Table 1.1.Main features of the three communities studied
(source: (Benhallam 2016))
Communities
Aim of the community
Creation date
Number of central moderators
Le changement par la consommation
Challenge the capitalist system and the modes of consumption it creates and propose alternative solutions.
The different community posts are intended to make its members react, while allowing information to circulate within the social network to reach a larger audience.
May 2011
1 moderator
Mr Mondialisation
Provoke reflection through information, videos and pictures of issues related to the dominant system and its impact on the life of humankind and the environment. The aim is to lead its members to debate and create ideas and solutions. The community regularly organizes protest activities online and on the ground.
November 2008
Several moderators
Objecteurs de croissance
Defend and spread the school of thought that “degrowth does not mean living less, but better with more goods and more connections”. Involvement in debate and interactions between members are a requirement. Emphasis is also placed on reflection and raising awareness, rather than on proposing solutions.
June 2012
1 moderator
The three communities studied (see Table 1.1), both the central moderators and active members, aim to challenge the dominant modes of consumption through an ongoing effort to deconstruct the conventional market-oriented system, with the aim of proposing alternative adjustments, or even breakthrough solutions.
The analysis of thematic content through exchanges between the members of the three community sites has enabled, after the clean-up of discussions, the data to be structured into two meta-topics reflecting the main forms of expression of the opposition of these movements. These meta-topics are divided into four categories covering the challenging of the dominant ideology, the re-establishment of trust in trade relationships, the reconsideration of product offers and the reconfiguration of supply and distribution networks.
1.3. Ideological and institutional categories of expressions of contestation
1.3.1. Towards a redesign of the dominant ideology of the market system
The strong denunciations by the communities of the dominant way of thinking are intended to produce an ideological opposition, in order to rebuild or reshape the ideas and actions of their members and beyond. This ongoing work of re-ideologization is aimed at producing and then establishing new values in opposition to the market-oriented view: the primacy of solidarity, trade, being free of charge, preservation of health, respect for nature and freedom of choice. The opposition of the two value systems is explicitly highlighted in the posts made by members: the quest to preserve life in all its forms in order to pass it on to future generations is in contrast to the structural trend of exhausting resources for insatiable financial gain. The confrontation of these two world views champions an alternative social model, defended by the three communities and supporting a well-reasoned consumption that is conscious of its effects on the environment, health and well-being.
In addition, and unanimously in the three communities studied, the members place themselves in opposition to the dominant system by stigmatizing the relentless pursuit of profit and the race to accumulate material goods, on the one hand, and by praising slowness and sobriety (Rabhi 2010) through reasoned consumption for human and environmental well-being, on the other.
However, despite strong criticisms of marketing, it should be noted that the three communities are not opposed to the idea of using marketing’s weapons against it: developing logos, visual identities and slogans; and monitoring posts to recruit more members, respond to skeptics, and increase the fame of and loyalty to the community site. For example, the “Objecteurs de croissance” community, whose name is indicative, immediately suggests an anti-growth message. It has also developed a visual identity with a snail logo, in order to evoke the idea of slowness that the community lauds to promote a degrowth process. The visual identity of the community also has the slogan “Fewer goods, more links” (in the original French, the rhyming “Moins de biens, Plus de liens”), to establish the anti-growth idea and underline the importance of social connections.
1.3.2. Towards reestablishing a relationship of trust with the consumer
In underestimating the interest and concerns of consumers, and society more generally, in terms of preservation of health, respect for the environment and the struggle for equality, companies have long allowed themselves to adopt dominant positions towards consumers. This is why the relationship with business is perceived, by the three communities studied, as a relationship always defined by power, where the citizen-consumers are attempting to destroy the “totalitarianism” of the market system (Baudrillard 1970) and its powers of domination (Murray and Ozanne 2009), as well as methods that are viewed as “perverse” (Penaloza and Price 1993). The result of the hegemony of the company over consumers is that the company has long dealt with features characterized by their dissipation and their inertia, allowing it to exercise its influence over them. On the other hand, what has changed is that, through consumers grouping together in collectives, communities or associations, they have been able to recalibrate the power relationship, first initiating and then imposing alternative solutions to the traditional market to counter this hegemony. This being the case, the community members confirm that there should be freedom from this dependence by inventing other forms of consuming that fall outside the scope of the traditional market. This view translates into a trend towards consumer empowerment, by imparting a world view that is more conscious of health, more respectful of the environment and more engaged in combating waste. The following statement, issued by the “Le changement par la consommation” community, illustrates the anti-waste idea by promoting self-consumption in households: “Heyyy... I went over to homemade a while ago, so satisfying to create your own products (treatments, make up, household products, candy...) A great site for that: http://aroma-zone.com/aroma/accueil_fra.asp with everything, loads of instructions...” (www.facebook.com/le-changement-par-la-consommation-21826348482205/).
As a result, the domination approach, questioned at the individual and group levels by consumers, is challenged by a collaborative and socially responsible approach, where companies and citizens cooperate on a shared project, founded around basic values that must be respected. This project, balanced between human, environmental and economic components, would be the basis for the development of suitable provisions and measures to be implemented to the benefit of the different stakeholders. This possibility for cooperation between companies and consumers could be a credible alternative to a conventional marketing approach that is not considered socially responsible. As well as its inclination to create a new, fair and balanced relationship between the stakeholders, this approach would constitute a means for the potential reconciliation of companies with the protest movements that target them, e.g. the anti-consumers, protesting citizens, counter-cultural communities5 and communities of socially engaged individuals, with a view to encouraging business to take on a new idea of the world.
More broadly, for the online communities studied, this concerns the reconsideration of the field of action and the use of marketing, which should not be limited to sales but should take into account the impact of its choices on health, resources and the environment. This means a shift in the center of gravity of power, from the sole interest of the company to an integration of the collective interest. To that end, research highlights that brands will regain the trust of consumers when they show their ability to assume civic responsibilities (Dubuisson-Quellier 2009) alongside their role as an economic actor. Consumers and civil society will make their presence felt as stakeholders in considerations, positions and economic and social choices, as basic elements of an alternative and inclusive vision of the market.
1.4. Pragmatic and operational categories of market contestation
1.4.1. Towards a sustainable reconsideration of product offerings
Stemming from the values defended by the members of these communities involved in ecologically responsible consumption, the offering of products and services is supposed to respond to a three-fold demand: that they are useful, sustainable and recyclable. According to the members of these communities, this is not only about promoting a “really useful” product, but also one with sustainable and recyclable properties, with a view to limiting the depletion of natural resources. The “sustainable” nature stands out as one of the features that the members of the three communities expect most, as evidenced by, among other things, the tendency to avoid impulsive purchases of short-lived and useless “gadgets”.
Table 1.2.Views of the development of marketing practices through the lens of responsible consumption
Product offerings and practices concerned
Expectations in terms of the suppression of superfluous or unsustainable products
Expectations in terms of the development of responsible and sustainable products
Inherent or mobilized values
Cosmetic, hygiene and self-care products
Industrial and over-packaged products
Natural products based around natural components and with natural packaging
Protection of health and the environment
Food products
Products transformed by and produced by traditional agriculture
Products from bio-agriculture and/or small farmers and green cooperatives, with as little modification as possible
Protection of health and the environment, solidarity
Pharmaceutical products
Chemical products with sometimes serious side effects
Natural products with proven benefits for people and the environment and without notable side effects
Protection of health and the environment
Motor vehicles and technological products
Polluting products subject to planned obsolescence
Environmentally-friendly substitute products: bikes, electric cars, public transport with less of an impact on the environment
Protection of the environment
Distribution channels
Widespread distribution and traditional networks
Networks for swaps, trades and giveaways
Solidarity,
de
commodification of trade
Circular economy (second-hand shops and purchases, recycling)
Reduction of waste
Consumption-related events
Short “small producer” networks and/or specialized structures
Protection of health and the environment, reduction of waste
Sales periods, periods with promotions and special events (encouraging over-consumption)
Days/weeks without purchases Encouragement of minimalist and activist purchases “useful” to people and the environment
(Re)developing social connections, the primal importance of the usefulness of the object, reduction of waste
Communication
Aggressive and intrusive advertising, advocating the accumulation of goods, possessions and appearances
Social advertising promoting the values of responsibility, protection of the environment and respect for human health
Promoting individual and collective well-being, protection of health and the environment
In the same vein, these communities seem to be particularly attached to combating planned obsolescence, which is both a tool facilitating the continuation of the traditional market system (limiting the lifespan of products in order to encourage consumption) and a factor in the deterioration of the environment (promoting the waste of resources and the creation of refuse). Beyond the fight against the waste created by planned obsolescence, the community members also mobilize against the producer practices tainted by “irresponsibility”, “manipulation” and “cynicism”. In this regard, they propose strategies to circumvent planned obsolescence through mechanisms to repair used or malfunctioning objects (clothes, household items, cars, furniture, etc.), including by sharing sites advocating personal repair: “Here’s a link that you should like! The dream for combating the planned obsolescence of products: www.commentreparer.com. Don’t throw away, repair!” (Change through consumption).
Lastly, in contrast to the rejection of unsustainable products and services triggered by the traditional market, the members of the three communities opt for offerings that are compatible with the values of responsible consumption. This attitude paves the way for a large range of new behaviors suited to well-reasoned consumption. It is precisely at this level of analysis that researchers and decision-makers must add their will to act, adapt and even to reform, as advised in Table 1.2. This shows two views of the development of product offers at the dawn of sustainable consumption by considering, on the one hand, the expectations of consumers involved in suppressing non-compliant products (those harmful to people and their environment) and, on the other hand, the expectations in terms of developing new products characterized by usefulness, sustainability and responsibility.
