Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers: Studies in Marketing 9811944563, 9789811944567

Table of contents :
Acknowledgments
Editorial Advisors
List of Reviewers
Contents
Editor and Contributors
About the Editor
Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
An Overview of Different Approaches to Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers
Introduction: Marketing Organizations Teaming up with Socially Responsible Consumers for a Better World
1 Introduction: The Mission
2 Development: The Way
3 Closing: The Message
Recommended Readings
Socially Responsible Marketing in Emerging Economies
1 Introduction
2 Emerging Economies
2.1 Market Heterogeneity
2.2 Sociopolitical Governance
2.3 Unbranded Competition
2.4 Chronic Shortage of Resources
2.5 Inadequate Infrastructure
3 Turkey’s “Best” Practices
4 Opinion Leaders’ View on CSR and SRMA in Turkey
4.1 Approaching CSR Without a Hierarchy
4.2 Approaching CSR as a Tribe
4.3 Approaching CSR Sincerely
4.4 Approaching CSR Radically
5 Conclusion
References
Nature-Based Social Welfare and Socially Responsible Consumption: Is Circular Economy a Viable Solution?
1 Introduction
2 Social Welfare and Consumption
3 Circular Economy: Between N-BSW and Consumption
4 Does the Circular Economy Fit in with Socially Responsible Consumption?
5 Conclusion
References
Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases
1 Introduction
2 Enablers of Collaborative Consumption
3 Prominent Themes and Theories
4 Conclusions and Agenda for Future Research
References
Collaborative Consumption: The Future of Sharing Economy
1 Introduction
2 CC: Technological Amalgamation of Ownership and Sharing Economy
3 The Triadic Framework of Consumer Collaboration (CC)
3.1 Customer
3.2 Peer Service Provider
3.3 Platform Provider
4 The Future of Collaborative Consumption
5 Vignettes on Collaborative Consumption
References
The Profile of Potential Youth Volunteers in the Face of Bullying: An Attempt at Segmentation from the Perspective of Willingness to Collaborate as a Volunteer
1 Introduction
2 Social Marketing and Behaviour: Main Motivations and Barriers to Volunteering
2.1 Social Marketing and Behaviour
2.2 Motivations and Barriers to Collaboration as a Volunteer
3 Methodology
4 Results
5 Marketing Proposals
6 Conclusions, Limitations and Future Research Directions
References
An Unexpected Journey: Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being
1 Introduction
2 Social Media for Consumer Well-Being
3 Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being
3.1 Identification of Models
3.1.1 Model A—Customer Satisfaction
3.1.2 Model B—Positive Emotions and Perceived Value of Life
3.2 Model-Specific Strategic Actions
3.2.1 Model B—Positive Emotions and Perceived Value of Life
3.3 Outcomes
4 Summary
5 Directions for Future Work
References
Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice
1 Introduction
2 The Rise of Social Media
3 Social Media and Social Activism
4 Social Media for Social Change
4.1 Case Study: #PayUp
4.1.1 #PayUp Campaign Partners and Supporters
4.1.2 Campaign Accomplishments
4.1.3 Learnings/Implications
4.2 Case Study: #HashtagRevolt
4.2.1 #HashtagRevolt Campaign Partners and Supporters
4.2.2 Campaign Accomplishments
4.2.3 Learnings and Implications
5 Issues, Limitations, and Next Steps
References
Eco Marketing: Cultivating Green Consumers and Communities—Marketing Strategies to Facilitate Green Purchase Behavior
1 Introduction
2 Segments
2.1 Environmental Consciousness
2.1.1 “Green Need not Be Expensive”—The IKEA Way
2.1.2 Green = Less Effective?
2.1.3 Tesla—“Green & Powerful”
2.1.4 The Green Consumption Effect
2.2 Gender
2.3 Moral Character
2.4 Individual Self or Personality
2.4.1 Self-Accountability
2.4.2 Self-Concept Clarity
2.5 Cultural Identity
2.5.1 Good Country Index
2.5.2 Lifestyle
2.5.3 Consumption Orientation
2.5.4 Connectedness
2.5.5 Grassroot
2.6 Political Ideology
2.6.1 Conservatives and Eco-Friendly Labels
3 Discussion
3.1 Learn from Disney
4 Limitations and Future Research Directions
References
Promoting Mindfulness Behavior at Buffet Restaurant
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Method
3.1 Setting
3.2 Data Sources
3.3 Data Analysis
4 Findings
4.1 Reasons for Food Waste
4.2 Mindful Behavior
5 Discussion and Recommendations
6 Limitation and Future
7 Conclusion
References
How Farmers Present a Sustainable Product to Socially Responsible Consumers—An Approach to Local Organic Agriculture
1 Introduction
2 Conceptual Background
2.1 Sustainability
2.1.1 The Green Market
3 The Case
3.1 The Farm Products
3.2 Fair Trade Prices
3.3 Personal Communication
3.4 Distribution in Local Markets
4 Lessons Learned—Discussion and Challenges
5 Conclusions
References
It’s Time to Rethink the Consumption of Genetically Modified Foods
1 The Rise of Ethical Consumption
2 GMO Dilemma
3 Scientific Research on GMO
4 Relabeling GMO
5 Future of GMO Consumption
References
Millet and Money Promoting Sustainable Consumption in Southern Orissa
1 Introduction
2 Millets: What and Why?
2.1 Is Millet Cultivation Promoting Sustainable Growth?
3 Millets in India: Production and Consumption
3.1 Declining Consumption of Millet Led to National Millet Mission
4 Odisha: The Leader in the Millet Mission
4.1 Salient Features of Odisha Millet Mission
5 Methodology
6 Harsha Trust: A Commitment to Eradicate Poverty
7 The Road Ahead
8 Additional Content
8.1 Abbreviations
Annexure
Interview with Project Coordinator of Harsha Trust
Responses of Farmers Involve Millet Production
References
An Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility Ads from a Critical Perspective: A Critical Discourse Analysis of The Finish Water of Tomorrow Advertising Campaign
1 Introduction
2 The Dual Meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility
3 Corporate Social Responsibility Activities and Advertising
4 Method and Scope of the Study
5 Review of Finish Tomorrow’s Water Campaign Advertisements
5.1 Information on the Content of the Commercials
5.2 Defining the Problem in Commercials
5.2.1 Positioning of the Company Outside the Problem
5.2.2 Presenting the Consumer as the Source of the Problem
5.3 Solution Suggestions for the Problem in Advertisements
5.3.1 Consumer’s Duties for Solving the Problem
5.3.2 Natural Solution Tool: Finish
5.4 Identification of Actors: Problem Solver Company, Limited Consumer
5.4.1 Sex-Oriented Approach in Limiting Consumers
5.4.2 Urban Mother as a Consumer
5.4.3 Finish as Part of the Solution, not the Problem
6 Conclusion and Discussion
References
Extending CSR Accreditation Brands It May Not Always Work
1 Introduction
2 Corporate Social Responsibility Accreditation and Claims
3 Study Context
3.1 Study Overview
3.2 Study 1
3.3 Study 2
3.4 Study 3
4 Lessons Learned
4.1 Implications for Accreditation Brands
4.2 Implications for Marketers
5 Conclusion
References
The Effects of Different Dimensions of CSR Orientation on Success and Willingness to Pay for New Products: Evidence from Kickstarter!
1 Introduction
2 Crowdfunding and CSR
3 Dimensions of CSR
4 Research Question
5 Methodology
6 Data and Sample
7 Scales and Measures
7.1 Dependent Variables
7.2 Explanatory Variables
8 Analysis and Results
8.1 Results for Percentage of Goal Achieved
8.2 Logistic Regression Results for Campaign Success
8.3 Willingness to Pay
9 Discussions and Implications
10 Limitations and Future Research Directions
References
Teaching Case Studies
Sustainable Branding in Global Fast-Fashion: Consumers’ and Distant Supply Chain Stakeholders’ Solidarity via Social Media
1 Introduction
2 Sustainable Branding
3 Sustainable Fast-Fashion Branding
4 The Challenge Between a Global Fast-Fashion Brand and a Failing Supplier
4.1 Inditex
4.2 Bravo Tekstil
5 Bravo Tekstil Workers’ Call for Social Media Solidarity
5.1 Change.Org
5.2 YouTube
5.3 Twitter
6 A Typical Sample Consumer Journey That the Campaign Reached
7 The Emerging Global Support and the Result
8 Conclusion—Lessons Learned
9 Discussion Questions
10 Project/Activity-Based Assignment/Exercise
Appendix
References
How an Environmental Attitude That Generates an Engagement Strategy: The Case of Dobra
1 Introduction
2 Collecting Data to Understand the Disposal of a Slow Fashion Item
3 Sustainable Disposal of a Slow Fashion Item: How I Did It, and Why
3.1 First Contact with the Recycling Program
3.2 Product Detachment
3.3 Sustainable Disposal Behavior
3.4 Sustainable and Engaged Disposal
4 The Lessons Learned
Reference
Second-Hand Market Participation as Part of a Firm’s Responsible Marketing Strategy
1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction to Sustainable Consumption
1.2 Introduction to Second-Hand Consumption
1.3 The Second-Hand Market: Forms and Channels of Second-Hand Consumption
2 Second-Hand Consumption as Part of a Firm’s Sustainable Marketing Strategy
3 Discussion and Practical Implications
4 Conclusion
References
Chocolate Made in Ghana: Socially Responsible Production and Consumption Through Adding Value Locally
1 Introduction
2 Supply Chain and Branding Rents
3 Sustainable Chocolate Production in Ghana
3.1 Step 1: Collaboration with Cocoa Farmers
3.2 Step 2: Collaboration with Traders and Cocoa Processors
3.3 Step 3: Commitment to Chocolate Production in Africa
3.4 Step 4: Communication and Distribution
3.5 Step 5: Further Innovations
4 Discussion & Lessons Learned
Appendix: Teaching Note
References
Socially Responsible Sports Consumption Through Good Governance: A Case Study of Sports Federations in Sri Lanka
1 Introduction
1.1 The New Trends of Responsible Sport Consumption and Good Sport Governance of Sport Organizations
2 Literature Review and Conceptual Background
3 Case Study
3.1 Objectives of the Case Study
4 Case Study Discussion
4.1 Analysis of Semi-Structured Interview Data—Current Priorities of Good Governance Principles
4.1.1 Implementation of Good Governance Principals in Sri Lanka Athletic Association
4.1.2 Implementation of Good Governance Principles in Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association
4.1.3 Implementation of Good Governance Principles in Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union
4.1.4 Implementation of Good Governance Principles in National Shooting Sport Federation
4.2 Analysis of In-Depth Interview Data: Identify the Current Priorities and Future Interventions of Good Governance Principles
4.2.1 Transparency—Making Public Information Available to Everyone
4.2.2 Integrity—Incorporate with International Statutes and Codes
4.2.3 Democracy—Elections and Appointments
4.2.4 Sports Development and Solidarity
4.2.5 Control Mechanism
5 Lesson Learned and Conclusion
6 Recommendations
6.1 Develop a Good Policy Framework
6.2 Good Governance and Sustainable Consumption Programmes
6.3 Strategies for Establishing Sustainable Development
References
Commitment to the Future: The Tour de France Rides for a More Sustainable World
1 Introduction
1.1 Cycling for a Better Future
2 The Tour de France
2.1 Race Background
2.2 Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO)
3 Corporate Social Responsibility of the Tour de France
3.1 Spreading Sustainable Transportation
3.2 Commitment with 15 Guiding Principles
3.3 Specific In-Route Measures
4 Summary of the Major Problem
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions
7 Lessons Learned
8 Declaration of Conflicting Interests
9 Credit Author Statement
10 Discussion Questions
11 Activity-Based Assignment
12 Additional Content
References
Marketing Yen Tu: A Cultural Heritage of Vietnam as a Well-Being Destination for Tourists
1 Introduction
2 It Starts with the King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong
3 Competing Destinations
4 Context
4.1 A Multitude of Stakeholders
4.2 More Context
4.2.1 Vietnam National Move to a Better Quality of Life
4.2.2 Well-Being Tourism on the Rise
4.2.3 Wellness, Tourism, and Sustainability as an Embraced Trend
4.2.4 Resources for Wellness Tourism in Yen Tu, Quang Ninh
4.2.5 The Chosen Positioning Strategy and a Big Question in Implementation
5 Lessons Learned
Teaching Notes: Case Study
Case Synopsis
Discussion Questions
References
Can Nestlé Transform from a Corporation That ‘Talks About Doing Good’ to ‘Doing Good’ for the Environment?
1 Introduction
2 Nestlé Corporate Performance and Reputation
3 How Marketing Worked to Create Bottled Water Markets
3.1 Portable Water
3.2 Packaging and Promotion
3.3 Consumers
4 Environmental Sustainability Is Complicated
4.1 Plastic Packaging
4.2 Existing Alternative Packaging Materials
4.3 New Packaging Materials
4.4 Refillable Containers
4.5 Water Harvesting
5 Lessons Learned
6 Discussion Questions
7 Activity-Based Assignment
References
“Clean Hunza Project”: Responsible Consumption for a Sustainable Tourism
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Responsible Consumption
2.2 Sustainable Tourism
2.3 The Problem of Plastic Waste
3 Case Development
3.1 Plastic Waste in Pakistan
3.2 Tourism in Pakistan: Hunza Valley
3.3 Plastic Problem in Hunza Valley
3.4 Nestle Pakistan
3.5 Clean Hunza Project
3.6 Interventions
4 Conclusions
5 Lessons Learned
References
Practicing Sustainable Socially Responsible Business Model in Developing Countries: A Case Study on HONEST
1 Introduction
2 HONEST—A Sustainable Business Model
2.1 Why a Sustainable Business Model?
2.2 HONEST: Why Socially Responsible Enterprise
2.3 Using Corporate Social Responsibility as an Advantage
2.4 Pay It Forward Initiative (Real Wallet)
3 SWOT Analysis
3.1 Strengths
3.2 Weaknesses
3.3 Opportunities
3.4 Threats
4 Methodology
4.1 Exploring the Sustainable Socially Responsible Approach
4.2 Questions
5 Findings
6 Discussion
7 Competitive Advantage of HONEST Bangla
7.1 Low Prices
7.2 Inexpensive Inventory
7.3 Word-of-Mouth Marketing
8 Challenges
9 Recommendations
10 Future Avenue
11 Conclusion
Teaching Note: HONEST Case Study
Case Summary
Teaching Objectives
Target Audience
Discussion Question
Suggested Teaching Strategy
Recommended Approach to Teaching the Case
Suggested Answers
References
Socially Responsible Consumption of Information Technology Equipment: Case Studies from the Australian Banking Sector
1 Introduction
2 Conceptual Background
2.1 Green IT—Conceptualization
2.2 Importance of Green IT
2.3 Green IT and Socially Responsible Consumption
2.3.1 Virtualization
2.3.2 Green Data Centers
2.3.3 Thin-Client Computers
2.3.4 Energy Conservation
2.4 Business Applications
2.4.1 An Overarching Green IT Application and Socially Responsible Consumption
3 Green IT and Socially Responsible Initiatives of the Australian Banking Sector
4 Case Studies on Green IT Application in the Australian Banks
4.1 Case Study 1: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Green IT Initiatives
4.2 Case Study 2: National Australian Bank Green IT Initiatives
4.3 Case Study 3: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Green IT Initiatives
5 Conclusions
6 Implications, Limitations, and Future Research Directions
References
Methodology Article
Are They Actually Sustainable? The Social Desirability Bias in Sustainable Consumption Surveys
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Sustainable Consumption and Measurement
2.2 Social Desirability in Self-Report Surveys
2.3 Vulnerability of Sustainable Consumption Measurements to Anonymity and Social Desirability Bias
3 Research Design
3.1 Sampling
3.2 Instruments
3.3 Procedure
4 Analyses
4.1 Validity and Reliability
4.2 Manipulation Check
4.3 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
6.1 Limitations and Future Research Directions
References
Index

Citation preview

Edited by Jishnu Bhattacharyya

Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers Studies in Marketing

Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers

Jishnu Bhattacharyya Editor

Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers Studies in Marketing

Editor Jishnu Bhattacharyya Nottingham University Business School China University of Nottingham Ningbo China Ningbo, China

ISBN 978-981-19-4456-7 ISBN 978-981-19-4457-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

I dedicate this book to my family: Somenath Bhattacharyya, Anuradha Bhattacharyya, and Dr. Kamalika Bhattacharyya, who have been supportive and encouraging throughout my journey. —Jishnu Bhattacharyya

Acknowledgments

We want to express our gratitude to the editorial advisors, Dr. Peren Ozturan and Dr. Manoj Kumar Dash, who provided domain expertise, timely advice, and constructive feedback to keep us on track. Their contribution to the manuscript review process is greatly appreciated.

Editorial Advisors

Peren Ozturan Özye˘gin University, Istanbul, Turkey vii

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Peren Özturan is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Özye˘gin University Turkey. Formerly, she worked at VU University Amsterdam. She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing (2013) from Koç University, Turkey. In her second year of the Ph.D. program, she studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a scholarship from Koç University. She received her Executive M.B.A. degree from Koç University in 2006 and her B.Sc. in Management from Middle East Technical University in 1998. Before joining academia, she worked in the financial sector for eight years with several roles in the economic research, capital markets, and marketing departments. She has written for leading journals like Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and International Journal of Research in Marketing.

Manoj Kumar Dash ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India Manoj Kumar Dash has been researching active with regular journal and book publications. A few of his recent publications are in journals like the International Journal of Production Research, Online Information Review, Benchmarking: An International Journal, Telemetric and Informatics, and Neural Computing and Application, etc. He has to his credit several best paper awards like the Best Research paper Award in Marketing in International Conference of Arts and Science organized by Harvard University (USA) Boston. Besides being a regular faculty at the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Gwalior, he is also

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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a visiting faculty in IIM Indore. He has also served as Adjunct faculty at Lancaster University UK and visiting professor at SIOM Nashik. He had conducted several Faculty Development Programs on Multivariate Analysis, Econometrics, Research Methodology, Multi-Criteria Optimization, Multivariate analysis in Marketing, etc. He delivered lectures as a resource person and keynote speaker in multiple programs organized by reputed institutes in India. He is specialized in Marketing Analytics. He was involved as Chair Member in International Conference at Harvard University, USA. He has supervised several Ph.Ds. who are serving in academic positions across the globe.

List of Reviewers We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the external peer reviewers. They helped us manage the vast volume of submissions by providing timely review and constructive feedback. It is greatly appreciated that they contributed to the manuscript review process. Al Rosenbloom, Dominican University, River Forest, IL, USA Bijit Ghosh, University of Alberta, Canada Bikramjit Rishi, Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, India Chandana R. Hewege, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Deepak Srivastav, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, India Elisa Arrigo, Milano-Bicocca University, Milan, Italy Jaylan Azer, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland Madhavi Venkatesan, Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts Myriam Ertz LaboNFC, University of Quebec in Chicoutimi, Canada Neha Gupta, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India Priyanka Sharma, Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, India Sandeep Yadav, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, India Vimala Kunchamboo, Monash University, Malaysia

Contents

An Overview of Different Approaches to Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers Introduction: Marketing Organizations Teaming up with Socially Responsible Consumers for a Better World Peren Ozturan Socially Responsible Marketing in Emerging Economies Peren Ozturan Nature-Based Social Welfare and Socially Responsible Consumption: Is Circular Economy a Viable Solution? Mariusz Baranowski Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases Priyanka Sharma Collaborative Consumption: The Future of Sharing Economy G. P. Ranjitha and Krishnan Jeesha

3 7

33 51

69

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CONTENTS

The Profile of Potential Youth Volunteers in the Face of Bullying: An Attempt at Segmentation from the Perspective of Willingness to Collaborate as a Volunteer Araceli Galiano-Coronil, Juan José Mier-Terán Franco, and Rafael Ravina Ripoll An Unexpected Journey: Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being Bikramjit Rishi and Sarthak Agarwal Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice Madhavi Venkatesan, Martina Yorde Rincon, Kathleen Grevers, Shannon M. Welch, and Elizabeth L. Cline Eco Marketing: Cultivating Green Consumers and Communities—Marketing Strategies to Facilitate Green Purchase Behavior Sakshi Aggarwal and Shweta Jha Promoting Mindfulness Behavior at Buffet Restaurant Jiayu Wang and Meixuan Zhang How Farmers Present a Sustainable Product to Socially Responsible Consumers—An Approach to Local Organic Agriculture Marisa R. Ferreira, Beatriz Casais, and João F. Proença

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149 169

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It’s Time to Rethink the Consumption of Genetically Modified Foods Do The Khoa and Priyanko Guchait

197

Millet and Money Promoting Sustainable Consumption in Southern Orissa Namrata Ghosh and D. V. Ramana

207

An Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility Ads from a Critical Perspective: A Critical Discourse Analysis of The Finish Water of Tomorrow Advertising Campaign Kenan Demirci

231

CONTENTS

Extending CSR Accreditation Brands It May Not Always Work Michael Jay Polonsky, Jonathan Robertson, Adam Karg, and Joshua Newton The Effects of Different Dimensions of CSR Orientation on Success and Willingness to Pay for New Products: Evidence from Kickstarter! Mohammad Hossein Tajvarpour

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261

279

Teaching Case Studies Sustainable Branding in Global Fast-Fashion: Consumers’ and Distant Supply Chain Stakeholders’ Solidarity via Social Media Selcen Ozturkcan How an Environmental Attitude That Generates an Engagement Strategy: The Case of Dobra Manoela Lawall Radtke, Stefânia Ordovás Almeida, and Lélis Balestrin Espartel

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315

Second-Hand Market Participation as Part of a Firm’s Responsible Marketing Strategy Adrienne Steffen

325

Chocolate Made in Ghana: Socially Responsible Production and Consumption Through Adding Value Locally Tobias Bidlingmaier and Britta Niklas

339

Socially Responsible Sports Consumption Through Good Governance: A Case Study of Sports Federations in Sri Lanka A. A. L. Madhushani and B. L. H. Perara

357

Commitment to the Future: The Tour de France Rides for a More Sustainable World Jairo León-Quismondo

389

Marketing Yen Tu: A Cultural Heritage of Vietnam as a Well-Being Destination for Tourists Phuong Thanh Phung and Tra Thi Dan Vu

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CONTENTS

Can Nestlé Transform from a Corporation That ‘Talks About Doing Good’ to ‘Doing Good’ for the Environment? Joanne Ellemae McNeish and Jillian Neufeldt “Clean Hunza Project”: Responsible Consumption for a Sustainable Tourism Hina Y. Bhatti, M. Mercedes Galan-Ladero, and Clementina Galera-Casquet Practicing Sustainable Socially Responsible Business Model in Developing Countries: A Case Study on HONEST Mohammad Osman Gani, Anisur R. Faroque, and G. M. Rakibul Hasan Socially Responsible Consumption of Information Technology Equipment: Case Studies from the Australian Banking Sector Imran Ali, Ngoc Dang Khoa Nguyen, and Ahmad Arslan

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457

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Methodology Article Are They Actually Sustainable? The Social Desirability Bias in Sustainable Consumption Surveys ˙ Ahmet Durmaz, Inci Dursun, and Ebru Tümer Kabadayı

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Index

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Editor and Contributors

About the Editor Jishnu Bhattacharyya is a Ph.D. candidate in Marketing at the University of Nottingham. Jishnu completed his postgraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Gwalior and received an MBA. He earned a B.Tech. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology. Alongside these taught programs, he was engaged in short-term researches at IIT Delhi and IIT Indore. Prior to joining the University of Nottingham, Jishnu participated in research coursework at IIM Kozhikode, where he was a research scholar in the marketing area. Within academia, he has worked as a Project Scientist for IIT Delhi, where he contributed to the market research of the technical textile industry. He enjoys asking questions that

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EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTORS

are both practically motivated and theoretically inspired along several interconnected research streams, including but not limited to sustainability marketing, sustainability communication, socially responsible consumption, consumer interactions with technology, and services marketing (e.g., service robots). He is passionate about the importance of incorporating research into teaching and bringing about positive social change through the art and science of marketing. He has won awards for his academic and research excellence. His work has appeared in journals (e.g., Journal of Business Research), and he has also co-edited books, co-authored a book, and written case studies. He can be reached at [email protected].

Contributors Agarwal Sarthak recently graduated from Shiv Nadar University with a Bachelor’s in Management Studies (BMS), specializing in Marketing. As part of this specialization, he has studied consumer behavior, marketing research, social media marketing, services marketing, and luxury brand management. Aggarwal Sakshi is Marketing scholar at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore, India. Interested in consumer psychology, she investigates and interprets numerical markers in judgments, decisions, and choices; green purchase behavior; dark tourism, and visual processing of goal pursuit. She received her post-graduate diploma in Global Business Operations from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi and her Masters in Business Administration Research with a specialization in Marketing from ESSEC Business School, France. She has presented her research at various National and International conferences like NASMEI Marketing Conference, EMAC, and Atlantic Marketing Association Conference.

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Dr. Ali Imran is currently a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Operations and Innovation Management at School of Business and Law in the Central Queensland University, Melbourne Campus, Australia. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Management from the University of South Australia. His current research focuses on Industry 4.0, internet of things, blockchain, risk and resilience, climate change, sustainable supply chain performance. Imran’s research has been featured in several good-quality journals and conference proceedings such as IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Production Planning and Control, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, and Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, among others. In collaboration with UNDP and FAO of the UN, Imran has availed the opportunity to work on several promising projects around operations and supply chain management. Dr. Arslan Ahmad is currently an Associate Professor at Department of Marketing, Management and International Business, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Finland. He also holds the position of Honorary Chair in Business Management at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Previously, he has worked in academia in different universities in the UK and Finland. His earlier research has been published in prestigious academic journals like British Journal of Management, International Business Review, International Marketing Review, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Journal of Business Research, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Knowledge Management, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Production Planning and Control, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change among others. Moreover, he has also contributed book chapters to several edited handbooks addressing different managementrelated topics. He holds several editorial board memberships including British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Knowledge management, among others. Ahmad is a Senior Editor of International Journal of Emerging Markets (Emerald). Baranowski Mariusz is assistant professor of sociology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. He graduated in three fields of study: Sociology, Philosophy and Human Resources Management. He is the author of many books and articles and the editor-in-chief of the journal Society Register. He specialises in economic sociology with a

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particular focus on social welfare, stratification and the political dimension of social phenomena. He is also interested in the area of the natural environment and modern technologies. Dr. Bidlingmaier Tobias is a senior investment manager at DEG— Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, a German development finance institution. He is the head of the Up-Scaling team, which finances start-up companies with impactful business models in developing and emerging markets. He has been working at DEG since 2009. He was previously a doctoral teaching and research assistant at the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy at the University of Bochum (RUB), Germany. He taught courses in the MA Development Management Program at RUB and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town. He completed his Ph.D. in International Economics from the RUB in 2009. Bhatti Hina Y. is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Riphah School of Business and Management, at the Riphah International University Lahore Campus, Pakistan, where she teaches Marketing courses. She is currently doing a Ph.D. at the University of Extremadura, Spain. She is currently engaged in research in the areas of Cause-Related Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as Social Marketing. She has a commitment to Case Study research, which has resulted in research publications in international conferences. Casais Beatriz is an Assistant Professor at University of Minho and a researcher at CICS.NOVA.UMinho. She holds a Ph.D. in Business and Management Studies from University of Porto. Her research interests include social marketing, digital marketing, sustainability and entrepreneurship. She is the Vice-Dean of the School of Economics and Management of the University of Minho and Executive Dean of UMinhoExec, the executive business education unit of the University of Minho. Cline Elizabeth L. is the director of Advocacy and Policy at Remake and author of The Conscious Closet and Overdressed. Galiano-Coronil Araceli (Ph.D.) is Doctor and Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Cadiz and belongs to the research group Social Innovation in Marketing. Also she has completed a research stay at the University of Seville as well as a visiting professor at various universities

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as follows: the University of Venice, the Business and Law Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt, Germany), Degli Studi di Verona, EDHEC Business School (Lille, France), Fachhochschule (Trier, Germany), Faculty of Business Augsburg University of Applied Sciences (Augsburg, Germany), ISM International School of Management Campus Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany), where she has given lectures on social marketing in NGDOs. She is the reviewer of journals such as Sustainability. In addition, she is the author and co-author of articles and papers in international congresses on social marketing in non-profit entities, and has published in several international journals. Almeida Stefânia Ordovás holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with emphasis on marketing management from University of São Paulo, Brazil (FEA-USP). She has B.A. and M.A. degrees in Business Administration from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (UFRGS). She is a Full Professor at graduate program in Business Administration in Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (PUCRS). Her research interests are related to the study of consumer experience, especially in services, retail and virtual environments. Studies on cultures, subcultures, and other sources of consumer communities, as brand communities, are also an important focus of research. Demirci Kenan completed his undergraduate education at Ankara University, Faculty of Communication in 2006. He received his Ph.D. from Ankara University in 2014. He worked as a research assistant in Ankara University Faculty of Communication between 2007 and 2014. During his doctorate education, he attended summer school training organized by ECREA in Slovenia and Milan. He is currently working as an associate professor at Fırat University Faculty of Communication. His main field of study is the role of communication in democratic societies. In this context, although he has studied in various fields of communication, he focuses on the functions of advertising in modern society in the post-doctoral period. He has two books published in Turkey and these books focus on the role of advertising and communication in the modern world. Durmaz Ahmet was graduated from Turkish Naval Academy as an electrical/electronics engineer in 2006. He has Master’s Degrees from Maritime Logistics Management (National Defense University/Turkey— 2018) and Business Administration (Gebze Technical University—2019)

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programs. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in Gebze Technical University Faculty of Business of Administration. His research areas are supply chain management, logistics management, consumer behaviors, and marketing management. ˙ Dursun Inci was graduated from Ni˘gde University in 2003. She received Master of Business Administration Degree from Gebze Technical University in 2006 and Ph.D. degree from Gebze Technical University in 2012. She is now Assoc.Prof. in Gebze Technical University Faculty of Business Administration. Her research areas are social marketing, consumer behaviour, attitudes, attitude change, consumption-environment-society relations, and responsible consumption. Espartel Lélis Balestrin holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with emphasis on marketing management from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (PPGA/UFRGS). He is a Full Professor at graduate program in Business Administration at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (PUCRS). His research interests are dysfunctional customer behaviors in services and retail environment, and the impact of new technologies on consumer behavior. Faroque Anisur R., Ph.D. (International Business & Entrepreneurship), is a researcher and teacher at the School of Business and Management at LUT University, Finland. His research interests are in the marketing, international business, and entrepreneurship domains, and include opportunity recognition, market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, internationalization, marketing, international marketing, business and institutional networks, and cognitive heuristics and biases in decision making. His research has been published in several reputed journals such as International Business Review (IBR), Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, and Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, among others. Ferreira Marisa R. is an Associate Professor at the School of Technology and Management at the Porto Polytechnic and a researcher at CIICESI. She holds a Ph.D. from Porto University on Business Sciences. Her research interests include nonprofit management, sustainability and entrepreneurship. She is the Director of the M.Sc. in Nonprofit Management.

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Galan-Ladero M. Mercedes is an Associate Professor (Prof. Contratado Doctor) in the Department of Business Management and Sociology, at the University of Extremadura (Spain), where she teaches Marketing courses. She is currently engaged in innovative research in the areas of Social Marketing, Cause-Related Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as Non-Profit Marketing and Responsible Consumption. She also collaborates in research related to Ethnocentrism, Local Food Products, and their Internationalization. Galera-Casquet Clementina is an Associate Professor (Prof. Titular de Universidad) in the Department of Business Management & Sociology, at the University of Extremadura (Spain), where she teaches Marketing courses (Graduate, Master and Doctoral levels). She is currently engaged in innovative research in the areas of Cause-Related Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as Non-Profit Marketing, and Business and Non-Profit Organizations Alliances. Gani Mohammad Osman works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). He has completed his MSc in Development Science from the Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University. He holds a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from the Department of Marketing, University of Dhaka. His research interests are consumer behavior, anthropology, entrepreneurship, and international business. He has published a couple of articles in different peer-reviewed journals. Ghosh Namrata is currently affiliated with the Public System Group at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. She has been formerly engaged in research with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. Her research focuses on optimizing organizational performance, urban management, and sustainable strategies with an interdisciplinary background. Marrying research with teaching, she enjoys engaging in Planning Theory and Practice, Methods in Planning, Public Participation and Dispute Resolution, and career development. She is a founding member and operates a sustainability start-up company registered in India. Grevers Kathleen is the director of Education at Fashion Revolution USA and is an affiliated instructor at Northeastern University.

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Guchait Priyanko is an Associate Professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, University of Houston, USA. His main research areas are leadership, organizational behavior, and service management. He has published in various academic journals, including Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Services Marketing, the Service Industries Journal, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, and others. Hasan G. M. Rakibul is a business graduate from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is fascinated by organizational behavior toward customer mindset and its impact on society. Dr. Jeesha Krishnan is Assistant Professor in the marketing area, at Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, India, Jha Shweta is FPM Scholar (Marketing) at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore, India. She works in consumer psychology, specifically in consumer biases, numeral cognition, and behavioral pricing. Her work has got published in the Journal of Product & Brand Management. She has also presented her research at various national and international conferences. Dr. Kabadayı Ebru Tümer was graduated from Istanbul University faculty of economics in 1994. She received Master of Business Administration Degree from Gebze Technical University in 1998 and Ph.D. degree from Gebze Technical University in 2002. She is now Prof. in Gebze Technical University Faculty of Business Administration. Her research areas are consumer behaviour, brand management, digital marketing, and relationship marketing. Dr. Karg Adam is an Associate Professor at Swinburne University of Technology and a Director of the Swinburne Sport Innovation Research Group. His main research areas are concerned with sport consumer behavior, sport fan engagement the development of fan-organization relationships. Additionally, he undertakes research in organization design, sponsorship and branding, analytics and innovation applied to sport. Adam has published research articles in leading ranked peer-reviewed journals and is a co-author of leading regional textbooks on Sport Marketing and Sport Organizations. He has been a visiting scholar at

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overseas universities, presented at academic and industry conferences and had led workshops for national and overseas audiences on a range of areas spanning sport management, marketing, innovation, and analytics. Khoa Do The is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in Marketing at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, and currently a research scholar at the University of Houston, USA. His research areas lie in prosocial behaviors and services marketing. In prosocial behaviors, he is interested in anthropomorphism, green marketing, and healthy eating. In services marketing, he is particularly focused on service robotics, AI algorithms, and management of frontline employees. His work has been published in Journal of Service Management, The Service Industries Journal, Psychology & Marketing, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Dr. León-Quismondo Jairo is Ph.D. in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. He is Professor of Sport Management at Universidad Europea de Madrid, Spain, and collaborates with other universities in their sport management courses. He works together with the Spanish National Sports Council (Minister of Culture and Sport), the Spanish government agency responsible for the sport. His research experience includes research stay at Southern Connecticut State University, CT, USA. His main research interest is based on organizational management and quality service, specifically in fitness centers, sporting events, and other sport organizations. His research has been presented in national and international conferences such as the European Association of Sport Management (EASM) Conference and Ibero-American Conference on Sport Economics, where he received the 1st Researcher Award. Madhushani A. A. L. is Senior Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sport Sciences & Physical Education in the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. She has nearly nine years of academic experience as an academic in the field of Sports Management and Olympic Studies. She was a former National Volleyball player in Sri Lanka. Besides, she is working as a key coordinator of the NOC of Sri Lanka. She graduated from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, in 2011 in the field of Sports and Recreation Management. She completed her Master’s Degree in Olympic Studies, Germany, and read her Doctorate of Exercise Sciences in the field of Sports Development at German Sports University, Cologne. She has

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published several research publications in different national and international journals in addition to participating in international conferences for many research activities. Recently, she was awarded Asia’s Outstanding Young Sport Academic Award—2020/2021, powered by RULA and World Research Congress. She also won the Gender equality Champion Award 2021 awarded by the International University Sport Federation. Dr. McNeish Joanne Ellemae focused her previous research on the endurance of paper in the face of its digital counterpart. Her research demonstrates that those who use both digital and paper documents have made a conscious decision that each ‘technology’ has important benefits that one or the other does not have. That research provides an explanation for why in the face of positive and negative incentives, over 80% of those who bank online, continue to want paper bills and bank statements. In working to understand why consumers still want to use paper documents, she began to learn how the pulp and paper industry embraced the circular economy in order to improve their public image, to reduce costs and to reduce their environmental impact. She is currently exploring whether the lessons learned in the pulp and paper industry could be applied to other industries. Franco Juan José Mier-Terán, (Ph.D.) is Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication at University of Cadiz in Jerez (Spain) and Director of the Marketing and Communication Department. He is also Coordinator in the Master in Digital and Social Marketing Management, Member of the University Institute of Research for Social Sustainable Development and Vice President of the International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing (AIMPN/IAPNM). Neufeldt Jillian graduated with a B.Com. from Ryerson University in 2020. She has an interest in climate change and environmental sustainability, with particular emphasis on the role corporations play in the fight against climate change. She hopes to pursue graduate studies in a discipline related to climate change, urban and/or corporate sustainability and environmental policy. Dr. Newton Joshua is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Research) in the Deakin Business School at Deakin University. Josh’s work sits at the intersection of consumer behavior and social marketing, where he uses consumer insights to identify and overcome individualand structural-level barriers to healthy, sustainable consumption practices.

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Josh has conducted research across a range of domains, including energy, physical activity, nutrition, sports injury prevention, sexual health, illegal dumping of rubbish, and organ donation. Niklas Britta is a senior researcher (Diploma in Economics) working at the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy, RuhrUniversity Bochum (RUB), Germany, as an economist since 1997 and as a representative of the “resource use and distribution” research cluster. Since 2011, she has coordinated the South African-German Centre for Development Research at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, and lectures in the MA Development Management at RUB and UWC and at the faculties of economics and geography of RUB. She coordinated the Erasmus Mundus Project “EUSA-ID” from 2013 to 2018, coordinates the Afghan Economic Society since 2020 and since 2022, the Ph.D. Program in International Development Studies at RUB. Nguyen Ngoc Dang Khoa is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Business and Law, Central Queensland University (CQUniversity), Australia. He has achieved Master of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) (coursework) from Victoria University, Australia. As an IT consultant, Khoa holds nearly 8 years’ experience of working with retail and healthcare industries in both Vietnam and Australia. Khoa’s interest lies in green IT, cloud-based ERP, and digital transformation. Driven by the recent challenges of information systems, particularly cloud-based ERP implementation, Khoa’s current research aims to accomplish on how Vietnamese manufacturing companies utilize their strategies for a successful cloud-based ERP adoption. Ozturan Peren is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Ozyegin University, Turkey since January 2020. Prior, she was a member of the faculty at the VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing (2013) from Koc University, Turkey. In her second year of the Ph.D. program, she studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a scholarship from Koc University. She received her Executive MBA degree from Koc University in 2006 and her B.Sc. in Management from Middle East Technical University in 1998. Before joining academia, she worked in the financial sector with several roles in the economic research, capital markets, and marketing departments. Her research interests include marketing strategy, specifically marketing excellence and socially responsible marketing.

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Dr. Ozturkcan Selcen continues her academic career as a Professor of Marketing (since 09/2021) at the Emlyon Business School (France) and as a Network Professor (since 03/2020) at the Sabancı Business School of Sabancı University (Turkey). Her research on digital experiences, which appeared as journal articles, books, book chapters, and case studies, is accessible at http://www.selcenozturkcan.com. Perara B. L. H. is the most experienced Senior Academic and former Sport and Physical Education Administrator in Sri Lanka in the field of Sports Management. As an academic, he has served as Senior Lecturer and Visiting Professor to the University of Kelaniya and also acts as a lecturer to many leading Universities in Sri Lanka. In addition, he was involved in leading National Sport Federations in Sri Lanka and developed governing policies for effective organizational procedures. Further, he was invited by the Ministry of Sport to serve as the Director of the National Institute of Sports Sciences, the Ministry of Sports. At present, he serves as the Director Academic Programmes of NOC SL. He has more than 40 years of experience working in the Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka as an Academic activities and currently, he is the Academic Director of NOC and Mentor, Olympic Solidarity Advanced Sport Management Courses in Sri Lanka. Several occasions the Olympic Solidarity of the IOC has invited share experience during ASMC Director Training, conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. Besides, he is working as an Academic Advisor of the Department of Sports Sciences and Physical Education, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. He has been awarded ‘Lifetime Award’ for the services rendered to Sri Lanka University sports awarded by the Minister of Sports, 2014 and ‘150 Years, Pierre de Coubertin, Sport as a School of Life’ award by the International Olympic Committee for his outstanding contribution in the field of sports Education in 2015. Thanh Phung Phuong has been teaching at RMIT Vietnam since 2007. She works in the Department of Business Innovation, RMIT Vietnam, 702 Nguyen Van Linh, Tan Phong, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She graduated with an MBA degree from University of Southern California, U.S.A in 2006. Prior to that, she worked at Vistar Ltd. (Hanoi, Vietnam), Hanoi Foreign Trade University (Vietnam), and Mattel in El Segundo, California (U.S.A). Phuong has published a few articles and contributed to one book chapter. She is pursuing the DBA program with Heriot-Watt University (U.K). Her research interests include social marketing, sustainable consumption and tourism,

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and management. She leads as a course coordinator in industry client projects and live case studies for students, including those for the specialist course Marketing Intelligence and the capstone course Digital Marketing Strategy and Planning in the Digital Marketing Program at RMIT Vietnam. Dr. Polonsky Michael Jay is an Alfred Deakin Professor and the Head of the Department of Marketing, in the Deakin Business School at Deakin University. His main area of research explores environmental and social issues within the broader business domain, as well as explored how marketing practice and theory can be applied in other contexts. He has published over 170 journal works in wide range of journals. He has worked at a range of universities in Australia and New Zealand over the past 33 years, and previously also worked in Universities in South Africa and the US. Proença João F. is a full Professor at Porto University and a researcher at ADVANCE/CSG, ISEG. He holds a Ph.D. from Porto University on Business Sciences. His research interests includes nonprofit marketing, services and B2B marketing, sustainability and industrial networks. He has been the Rector of the Universidade Europeia, Portugal, and the Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto. Radtke Manoela Lawall holds Master’s degree in Business Administration with emphasis on marketing management from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (PUCRS), and is a Ph.D. candidate in the same institution. Her research interests are related to consumer behavior, sustainable consumption behavior, customer experience, consumer journey, and customer journey. Ramana D. V. is a Professor of Accounting at XIM University. Besides teaching at XIM, he has been associated with S P Jain College of Global Management (Sydney, Singapore, and Dubai) as visiting faculty. He did his Masters (Commerce), M.Phil. (Commerce), and Ph.D. in Commerce from Utkal University. He has worked as a senior consultant (Finance and Accounting Team) with the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) ltd on deputation from XIMB. His teaching interests are in the areas of Financial Accounting, Strategic Management Accounting, and Regulatory Accounting and Finance. He was the Director of several state-level public enterprises and, at present, a member of the State Advisory Committee of the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC).

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Dr. Ranjitha G. P. is Assistant Professor in the marketing area, at Indian Institute of Management Nagpur, India. A Ph.D. from IIM Kozhikode, she has previously taught at Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Bangalore and Central University of Karnataka. Prof. Ranjitha also has a number of research publications and conference presentations to her credit. Yorde Rincon Martina is a candidate for Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration at Northeastern University. Ripoll Rafael Ravina (Ph.D.) is a Business Organization professor at Cádiz University, and Member of the “Esteban Boutelou Historical Studies” Research Group. He has been a visiting professor at both the Business and Law Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and Verona University, where he has given lectures on “Happiness Management”. He is the author and co-author of articles, works in international congresses and books related to the economy of happiness and creativity, and since 2018, member of the Publishing Committee of the “Retos” Magazine of the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana de Ecuador. Prof. (Dr.) Rishi Bikramjit is a Professor (Marketing) at the School of Management & Entrepreneurship (SME), Shiv Nadar University, Delhi (NCR), Ghaziabad, India. He has published many refereed research papers, book chapters, cases, conference papers, and books, including one edited book on Social Media Marketing (Routledge) and one textbook on Social Media Marketing (Sage). His research work has been published in Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), Journal of Brand Management (JBM), International Journal of Business Innovation and Research (IJBIR), International Journal of Technology Marketing (IJTM), Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies (EEMCS), International Journal of Sustainable Design (IJSD), ASEAN Journal on Hospitality & Tourism to name a few. He has directed many learning and development programs for executives. The programs have been designed for Hindustan CocaCola Beverages Private Limited (HCCBPL), Apollo Tyres Limited, APL Apollo Tubes Limited, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), RITES Limited, Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and Jubilant Food Works Limited. Dr. Robertson Jonathan is a Lecturer in Deakin Business School’s sport management program at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, where he is the director of the Master of Business (Sport Management). His

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research and teaching interests revolve around the impact of sport on society and primarily focus on ethics and integrity, new technology, innovation and change. He has consulted on a range of public, private, and non-profit sport projects, and has published in leading journals such as Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, and European Sport Management Quarterly. Sharma Priyanka is Assistant Professor in the Marketing area at IIM Lucknow, India. She did Ph.D. in Marketing from IIT Kanpur, India, and holds a B-Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT (BHU) Varanasi and PGDM(GM) from XLRI, Jamshedpur. She has rich industry experience in varied sales and marketing roles in prestigious organizations such as Infosys, Oracle, and UST Global. Her research interests are Sharing Economy, Sustainable Marketing, B2B Marketing, Branding, and Emerging Markets. She has published her works in journals of repute and presented in various national/international conferences. Steffen Adrienne is a Professor of Business Administration at the IU International University of Applied Sciences. She received her B.B.A. in International Management at the International University in Germany, studied at the University of Michigan in the USA and the ESC Rennes in France. She completed her Ph.D. and Post Graduate Diploma in Research in Business Management at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Dr. Steffen’s research deals with value changes and the resulting changes in consumption in our society. Adrienne has recently published in the area of consumer behaviour where she focuses on consumption experiences, sustainable consumption, consumer well-being, food marketing and event marketing. Tajvarpour Mohammad Hossein is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the State University of New York at Oswego. His research is focused on crowdfunding and corporate social responsibility. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, Canada. Venkatesan Madhavi is a faculty member in the Department of Economics at Northeastern University. She is the founder and executive director of Sustainable Practices and serves as the editor-in-chief of Sustainability and Climate Change.

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Dr. Dan Vu Tra Thi is a lecturer at Foreign Trade University (FTU), Ho Chi Minh City campus (Vietnam). She is a member of the research program “Environmental, social and governance activities: empirical studies on enterprises” funded by FTU. She holds Ph.D. in Management (International Business) from the Swinburne University of Technology (Australia). She teaches, conducts research, and consults in the areas of international trade, human resource management, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability. She has published several articles and one book chapter. She has also supervised both undergraduate and master students doing research on sustainable consumption, human resource management, and international trade. Dr. Wang Jiayu is an associate professor in Tourism Economics at Hainan University. She gained a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Queensland. Jiayu also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural and Forestry Economics and Management from Beijing Forestry University. Jiayu has diverse teaching experience, including lecturing in economics and statistics to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her research expertise focuses on environmental economics, environmental management and sustainable tourism. In addition, she is particularly interested in the application and evaluation of new technologies to improve ecosystems as well as developing policy frameworks and regulatory regimes necessary to achieve sustainability. Dr. Jiayu Wang is an associate professor in Tourism Economics at Hainan University. She gained a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Queensland. Jiayu also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural and Forestry Economics and Management from Beijing Forestry University. Jiayu has diverse teaching experience, including lecturing in economics and statistics to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her research expertise focuses on environmental economics, environmental management and sustainable tourism. In addition, she is particularly interested in the application and evaluation of new technologies to improve ecosystems as well as developing policy frameworks and regulatory regimes necessary to achieve sustainability. Welch Shannon M. is the director of Strategic Initiatives & Creative Partnerships at Fashion Revolution USA. Miss Zhang Meixuan is a master student at Department of Urban and Rural Planning, School of Architecture, Hunan University. She received a bachelor’s degree from Hainan University Arizona State University Joint

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International Tourism College. Her major is human geography and urban and rural planning. She also studies leisure and recreation management at Arizona State University. Meixuan is an active environmentalist and she has participated in many volunteer activities on environmental protection and education for children in poor mountainous areas. Sustainable tourism, virtual tourism and environmental behavior of tourists are her research fields. In addition, Meixuan likes to study statistics very much. She is skillful at using qualitative and quantitative methods to study problems.

List of Figures

Nature-Based Social Welfare and Socially Responsible Consumption: Is Circular Economy a Viable Solution? Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Sustainable development and its risks (Source own elaboration based on Roy [2021, p. 6]) Social welfare—welfare scarcity and well-/ill-being (Source Baranowski 2019a, p. 10) Circular approaches within the production chain Source adapted from Potting et al. 2017, p. 5 and Okorie et al. 2018, p. 12

37 38

41

Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Characteristics of sharing economy (Source Eckhardt et al., 2019) Enablers of Collaborative Consumption (Source Owyang et al., 2013)

53 55

Collaborative Consumption: The Future of Sharing Economy Fig.1

The triadic frameworkof collaborative consumption (Source Developed by the authors based on extant literature review)

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LIST OF FIGURES

An Unexpected Journey: Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being Fig. 1

Consumer well being models for social media (Source Created by authors)

112

Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Global active usage penetration of leading social networks as of February 2020 (Source Statista [2021a]) Leading social media platforms used by marketers worldwide as of January 2020 (Source © Statista [2021b])

131 132

Promoting Mindfulness Behavior at Buffet Restaurant Fig. 1

Align diagram

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How Farmers Present a Sustainable Product to Socially Responsible Consumers—An Approach to Local Organic Agriculture Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Market at the museum cloisters (Source The Authors) Marketing-mix (Source The Authors)

185 185

Millet and Money Promoting Sustainable Consumption in Southern Orissa Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Total area and yield of Sorghum from 1970–2019 (Source Bodh et al. [2019]) Total area and yield of Pearl Millet from 1970–2019 (Source Bodh et al. [2019]) Total consumption of Millet in Urban–Rural India (Source Bhat et al. [2018]) Number of farmers and area for millet production (2017–2020) (Source HarshaTrust [2021]) Harsha Trust organized a Food Festival to promote millets in collaborative efforts with women farmers from one of their Community-Based Organizations (CBO) in Koraput Block (Source HarshaTrust [2021])

214 215 215 220

225

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 6

Few women were trained to make millet-based soup with the help of outside trainers. To highlight the value-added products from millets, the Food Festival also held demonstrations for various millet recipes (Source HarshaTrust [2021])

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Sustainable Branding in Global Fast-Fashion: Consumers’ and Distant Supply Chain Stakeholders’ Solidarity via Social Media Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4

The three pillars to integrate for sustainable branding United Nation’s sustainable development goals (UN, 2020) Some of the Inditex owned global fast fashion brands (Neerman, 2018) Tag attached to a clothing item at the display (AbiMcQuater94 2017)

310 310 311 311

How an Environmental Attitude That Generates an Engagement Strategy: The Case of Dobra Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Card received by the consumer with her wallet (Source Send by Dobra to the authors [2020]) Dobra’s Sustainable Disposal Framework (Source Elaborated after data collection and analysis of Dobra’s Case [2021])

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Second-Hand Market Participation as Part of a Firm’s Responsible Marketing Strategy Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Extended product life cycle including resale (Own graph, adapted from Belk, 2009, p. 56) Second-hand sale in product life cycle (Own graph, adapted from Lewis 2014, p. 195)

333 334

Chocolate Made in Ghana: Socially Responsible Production and Consumption Through Adding Value Locally Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Value distribution in the cocoa supply chain Sustainable marketing strategies (Source Trivedi et al. [2018])

341 343

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LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 3 Photo Photo Photo Photo Photo

1 2 3 4 5

Traditional Cocoa value chain (Source Transparence Cacao [2021])

344

Cocoa beans and cocoa worker in Ghana (Source fairafric) fairafric production site (Source fairafric) fairafric chocolate production line (Source fairafric) fairafric chocolate bars (Source fairafric) fairafric chocolaterie (Source fairafric)

340 347 348 349 349

Socially Responsible Sports Consumption Through Good Governance: A Case Study of Sports Federations in Sri Lanka Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Variables of Good Governance in the study referred from ASOIF Good Governance guidelines (Source Association of Summer Olympic International Federations) Implementation of Good Governance principles of Sri Lanka Athletic Association (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview) Implementation of Good Governance principles of Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview) Implementation of Good Governance principles of Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview) Implementation of Good Governance principles of National Shooting Sport Federation (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview) Implementation of Good Governance principles of all selected National Sport Federations (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview)

366

367

368

369

370

370

Commitment to the Future: The Tour de France Rides for a More Sustainable World Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Bicycle production in the European Union. Year 2019 (Source Eurostat [2020]) Historic number of stages in the Tour de France (1903–2021) (Source Tour de France [2021a]) Historic number of entrant riders in the Tour de France (1903–2021) (Source Tour de France [2021a])

391 393 394

LIST OF FIGURES

xxxvii

Marketing Yen Tu: A Cultural Heritage of Vietnam as a Well-Being Destination for Tourists Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Hue Quang Tower, photo by Phuong Thanh Phung, the author, at Yen Tu on June 20, 2020. The tower hosts the cremated relics of King Tran Nhan Tong Workers growing medicinal herbs in the gardens of Truc Lam Zen Commons (Photo by Phuong Thanh Phung, the author, at Yen Tu on June 20, 2020) Medicinal herbal product from Yen Tu for joint health under the One Commune One Product program by Quang Ninh province (Photo by Phuong Thanh Phung, the author)

406

410

411

“Clean Hunza Project”: Responsible Consumption for a Sustainable Tourism Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Pakistan’s Tourism Revenue Chart (from 1995 to 2019) (Source Adapted from Knoema [2021]) “Clean Hunza Project” (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021]) “Clean Hunza Project”, by Nestle Pakistan (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021]) Reusable bags donated by Nestle Pakistan (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021]) Plastic waste process (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021])

467 471 472 472 473

Socially Responsible Consumption of Information Technology Equipment: Case Studies from the Australian Banking Sector Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

Sustainable and green operations for socially responsible use of IT equipment (Source The authors) Overarching Approach to Green IT and socially responsible consumption (Source The authors) Electricity generation from fossil fuels (Source Deloitte [2014])

514 517 518

List of Tables

Socially Responsible Marketing in Emerging Economies Table 1

Best CSR companies of Turkey

14

Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases Table 1

Some critical theories within sharing economy literature

62

The Profile of Potential Youth Volunteers in the Face of Bullying: An Attempt at Segmentation from the Perspective of Willingness to Collaborate as a Volunteer Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6 Table 7 Table 8

Stages of behaviour change and marketing tasks Distribution of respondents according to socio-demographic variables Distribution of respondents according to stage of behaviour change and knowledge about the organization Importance of the different barriers to collaborating as a volunteer Importance of the different motivations to collaborating as a volunteer Chi-Square tests Comparison of means between willingness to volunteer and barriers Comparison of means between willingness to volunteer and motivations

85 90 91 92 92 92 93 93 xxxix

xl

LIST OF TABLES

An Unexpected Journey: Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being Table Table Table Table Table Table

1 2 3 4 5 6

A review of consumer well-being models Maslow hierarchy of needs and role of social media Strategic actions of customer satisfaction model Setting goal, themes, and strategies for Model B Outcomes of customer satisfaction model Outcomes of positive emotions and perceived value of life

107 114 115 116 119 120

Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice Table 1 Table 2

#PayUp targets and outcomes Fast fashion brand hashtags targeted

137 140

Eco Marketing: Cultivating Green Consumers and Communities—Marketing Strategies to Facilitate Green Purchase Behavior Table 1 Table 2 Table 3

Typography of consumers to promote green purchase behavior Examples of masculine branding of stereotypically feminine products Effective green messaging/communication for conservatives and liberals

151 155 160

Millet and Money Promoting Sustainable Consumption in Southern Orissa Table 1 Table 2

Benefits of Millet (Source Millets: Superfood, The Indian Express 2021) Main millet crops in India

212 213

An Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility Ads from a Critical Perspective: A Critical Discourse Analysis of The Finish Water of Tomorrow Advertising Campaign Table 1

General information on Finish Tomorrow’s Water campaign commercials

242

LIST OF TABLES

xli

The Effects of Different Dimensions of CSR Orientation on Success and Willingness to Pay for New Products: Evidence from Kickstarter! Table 1 Table 2 Table 3

Model 1, percentage of goal achievement Model 2, Logit model of success Model 3, WTP for crowdfunded products

287 289 290

Sustainable Branding in Global Fast-Fashion: Consumers’ and Distant Supply Chain Stakeholders’ Solidarity via Social Media Table 1

Some tweets shared on twitter with the #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet

306

Commitment to the Future: The Tour de France Rides for a More Sustainable World Table 1 Table 2 Table 3

Reported benefits of cycling Reported benefits of cycling List of 15 eco-friendly commitments and indicators

392 394 397

“Clean Hunza Project”: Responsible Consumption for a Sustainable Tourism Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5

Dimensions in Sustainable Tourism Main aims in Sustainable Tourism, established by the Cape Town Declaration (2002) Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (by the United Nations)—Commitments by 2025 Nestle’s “Creating Shared Value” philosophy Nestle’s Sustainability Goals

463 464 464 469 470

Socially Responsible Consumption of Information Technology Equipment: Case Studies from the Australian Banking Sector Table 1

Carbon footprint summary of ANZ from 2016 to 2020

520

xlii

LIST OF TABLES

Are They Actually Sustainable? The Social Desirability Bias in Sustainable Consumption Surveys Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6

Brief Demonstration of SC related concepts that are empirically found to be vulnerable to SDB Factor Loadings and Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients Paired Sample T-test Comparison for Pro-environmental Intention Correlation analysis Hierarchical regression analysis with pro-environmental intention as dependent variable in anonymous condition Hierarchical regression analysis with pro-environmental intention as dependent variable in non-anonymous condition

542 546 547 548 549

550

An Overview of Different Approaches to Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers

Introduction: Marketing Organizations Teaming up with Socially Responsible Consumers for a Better World Peren Ozturan

1

Introduction: The Mission

This book is a follow-up of earlier work edited by Jishnu Bhattacharyya and his colleagues on socially responsible marketing and consumers. The movie industry would call it a sequel, e.g., The Matrix Reloaded. The compilation of studies therein aims to provide a comprehensive framework that sophisticatedly promotes United Nations values and achieves the related Sustainable Development Goals. We see some passionate researchers working in the domain hinting us how we can jointly realize the dream of a better world, specifically with the tools of marketeers. We are in a profession that represents and manages all the beautiful colors of a rainbow. This is formally called customer heterogeneity in marketing. If customers did not have varying utilities, i.e., tastes, wishes, we would lose our raison d’être. This is also how we, with the help of socially responsible consumers, overcome some existing, long-held barriers to change

P. Ozturan (B) ˙ Turkey Sabanci Business School, Sabanci University, Istanbul, e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_1

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and trigger a growth spurt toward some desired beliefs and behaviors for the world’s grand challenges.

2

Development: The Way

Like we suggest for the problems, the solutions proposed in this book are not a universe of black and white. At times we are still exploring and investigating, e.g., should we be promoting the organic or the genetically modified food? How do we set the balance between the increasing costs of organic or the rising levels of population, hence hunger? Even with these mixed perspectives, and cherishing the little one inside us who adores rainbows, we like to set an example: We embrace and respect each other to set a ground for discussion and further investigation. This stance is important since we are surrounded by a third party who we are essentially willing to work with, i.e., the socially responsible consumers. The way we treat each other is going to make or break the bridge that has for long disconnected the consumers’ conscious (and concerned) attitudes and buying (or not buying thereof) behavior in both the goods and services sectors. If we compare our mission as marketers now to that we held half a century ago, we might continue to not care about the expanding socially responsible consumption trend. However, we are equally aware that these consumers are also some company’s employees, representing the community, etc., hence actually represent the voice of our stakeholders when examined holistically. We therefore treat them as our partners. In this book, you will be introduced to a new alphabet that represents our common language. It comes alive as we build a smarter, sharing and volunteering-based circular economy with a mission to embody well-being, i.e., healthy state of the body, the mind, and the spirit. This new language is not at times in tune with the generally accepted principles of the PR-and-marketing machine that values traditional ownership and has a mission to enhance personal satisfaction. This is one side of our struggle: jointly building muscles in the wrestle with old reality. The other side of our struggle is accepting the old reality as is. There are some consumers who will remain aloof and difficult, those who may not be willing to cooperate with our mission. We will continue in our efforts to raise awareness, nonetheless. The book covers very specific advice for this segment of consumers too, i.e., those who need our help in a different way. They will be speaking to us with the language we are used

INTRODUCTION: MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS …

5

to speaking yet like to change. The authors hereby advise acting mindfully, i.e., integrating compassion and wits to trust over time everyone will have a shared vision of a better future.

3

Closing: The Message

Overall, the book covers a spectrum of approaches, methodologies, and examples that concretizes solutions to the globally held problems such as overconsumption, climate change, and human rights. That said, this is not only an academic book where we present a professional story but also one with a very personal tone signaling that we opened our hearts and asked our spirits to help. Like one of my interviewees in the chapter I authored says and to which I would think all the contributors of this book seconds: “If I am not the one to save the world, who will?” This is our compass for impact and we hope it spills over to your world. With that, I like to end this commentary with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: “Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”

Recommended Readings Balaji, M. S, Jiang, Y., Bhattacharyya, J., Hewege, C., & Azer, J. (2021). An Introduction to Socially Responsible Sustainable Consumption: Issues and Challenges. In J. Bhattacharyya, M. Balaji, Y. Jiang, J. Azer, & C. Hewege (eds.), Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice: Collection of Case Studies (1st ed., pp. 1–20). Singapore: Springer. Bhattacharyya, J. (2022). The Structure of Sustainability Marketing Research: A Bibliometric Review and Directions for Future Research. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-06-2021-0239 Bhattacharyya, J., Balaji, M. S., & Jiang, Y. (2023). Causal complexity of sustainable consumption: Unveiling the equifinal causes of purchase intentions of plant-based meat alternatives. Journal of Business Research 156, 113511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113511

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Bhattacharyya, J., Balaji, M. S, Jiang, Y., Azer, J., & Hewege, C. (2021). Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice: Collection of Case Studies (1st ed.). Singapore: Springer. In-Press. Bhattacharyya, J., Dash, M., Hewege, C., Balaji, M. S., & Lim, W. M. (2021). Social and Sustainability Marketing: A Casebook for Reaching Your Socially Responsible Consumers through Marketing Science (1st ed.). New York: Routledge. Bhattacharyya, J., Dash, M., Kundu, S., Sakshi, S., Bhattacharyya, K., & Kakkar, K. B (Accepted). No Virus on Me: The Indian Ways of Managing the COVID-19 Pandemic, Marine to Mountain. Asian Journal of Management Cases 20(2). Bhattacharyya, J., Krishna M. U, B., & Premi, P. (2020). Amul Dairy (GCMMF): Expanding in the US, Leveraging the E-commerce Advantage. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development 19(2), pp: 149–163. Ozturan, P., & Grinstein, A. (2017). The Socially Responsible CMO. Marketing Science Institute Report, (17–110).

Socially Responsible Marketing in Emerging Economies Peren Ozturan

1

Introduction

A central trend that has been impacting the global economy in recent years is business’ growth in emerging markets (OECD 2020). Given the aging populations in advanced economies, companies shift their focus to markets in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, thereby accelerating the rise of emerging economies as the next growth engines. Emerging economies have made a disruptive effect on marketing, providing us a motivation to evaluate the opportunities and threats offered therein for socially responsible conduct (Sheth 2011). At the time of writing of this chapter, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is still severely impacting the economy worldwide. Hence, the interest in emerging markets has somewhat weakened due to the restrictions on the movement of people, goods and services, and factory and border closures with containment measures (OECD 2020). Nonetheless, with the expanding online access and increasing benefits of the digital economy, emerging markets are ready to take up an unprecedented role and further “evolve from the

P. Ozturan (B) Sabanci Business School, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_2

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periphery to the core of marketing practice” [Sheth 2011, p. 166]. We, therefore, in this chapter, first intend to investigate the general characteristics of the emerging markets that shape the corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts therein. We specifically focus on the case of Turkey, i.e., one of the largest emerging economies in the world, hence a relevant context. Furthermore, Turkey’s growth experience reflects patterns similar to other emerging countries (Altug et al. 2008). Equally important in this chapter is our focus on the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and marketing. For some brands, e.g., Unilever, “doing good” is integrated into the core business via the daily marketing activities (Weed 2016). In such companies, the marketing executives and functions are at the core of the responsibility and sustainability efforts. Despite such cases, most academic work on CSR is conducted at the corporate level with a gap on the role of the marketing function in the socially responsible space (see for a review Sanclemente-Téllez [2017]). Marketing is in general a context-driven discipline (Zinkhan and Hirschheim 1992). In line with the principles of contingency theory (Ven et al. 2013), marketing performance is enhanced with an external fit between an organization’s environment and its internal structure, as well as an internal fit among its key components of strategy, e.g., structure, systems, and culture. The way CSR trend outside and CSR strategy inside overlaps is evident. Yet, the way CSR strategy and socially responsible marketing (SRM) interact is less obvious. Our second intention in this chapter is therefore to explore the evolving role of marketing as the servant of stakeholders. By making use of real-life cases specifically in the context of emerging economies, we aim to shed light on how SRM can guarantee “success,” i.e., impact for the companies’ responsibility and sustainability efforts. The first part of our work provides an overview of the emerging market characteristics that shape any marketing decision and aims to set a big picture framework over Turkey’s CSR record and outlook. The second part of our work is on how CSR is implemented by Turkish companies using a qualitative study. We identify the “best” Turkish companies with regard to their CSR efforts, using a series of research conducted by GfK for a leading local business magazine, Capital. This magazine is in circulation for three decades in Turkey and every year publishes a report on CSR. That said, making use of these reports and company lists is a limiting endeavor that does not shed light to the overall reality or the actual “impactful” stories. This we understood with the third part of our work,

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MARKETING IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

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i.e., expert interviews, where we contacted opinion leaders in the domain. With the guidance of these experts, in the last part of our research, we deepened our understanding on SRM practices, where “success” was not necessarily defined as the “best” from the eyes of the general public and business world but more so with the “impact” they have for their major stakeholders. These insights finally help us develop a practical guideline for the marketing managers in the emerging markets who are struggling to implement SRM, a tool to integrate CSR into heart of their business. Overall, the cases dealt within this study originating from Turkey, reflect socially responsible marketing perspective, shed light on its different forms, and hopefully provide managers in need of an inspiration for making steps toward creating a purposeful marketing organization.

2

Emerging Economies

Both CSR, i.e., the engagement of businesses in societal issues (Ailawadi et al. 2014; Choi et al. 2016; Moorman 2020) and socially responsible marketing activities (SRMA), i.e., the engagement of their marketing departments to implement CSR (Ozturan and Grinstein 2022) are shaped by contextual characteristics, e.g., the country the firms are operating in. CSR and socio-political activism trends have originated in the U.S. and gradually globalized (Becker-Olsen et al. 2011; Eteokleous et al. 2016). One implication is that for organizations operating in emerging markets, i.e., the focus of this chapter, such practices are relatively new, hence more of a differentiation point (Matten and Moon 2008) compared to their more advanced U.S.-based or European counterparts. As the CSR and SRMA become more institutionalized, willingness to learn from prior adopters increases (Nikolaeva and Bicho 2011). In some key societal topics—e.g., sustainability, advanced economies, e.g., the U.S. may seem to be lagging behind the rest of the world due to its shareholder primacy and skepticism toward regulation (Harper Ho 2020), besides the highly industrialized economy and prominent consumption culture. We, overall, expect businesses in emerging economies to face different realities than their counterparts in the advanced world that would at times enable and the other times prevent their CSR conduct in general, and SRMA more specifically. Employing Sheth’s (2011) emerging market characteristics framework as our guide, we, in this section, like to shed some light on how these emerging market characteristics play a role in business’ CSR and SRMA decisions in Turkey.

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2.1

Market Heterogeneity

Emerging markets usually consist of local, fragmented, small-scale, and mostly privately owned enterprises. In Turkish manufacturing sector, SMEs constitute 99% of all enterprises and hold 76% of total employment (Ayaydin and Kaygin 2021). The importance of SMEs in terms of the value they generate culturally and socio-economically suggests their criticality to set examples and create a wave in the CSR domain. However, large firms are usually the locus of attention in CSR research (CSR Association of Turkey 2020), although they constitute 1% of the real economy. Not only the economy but also the third (i.e., civil) sector is fragmented with 122,000 active associations (Ministry of Interior Affairs 2021), 150 international NGOs, and 5,300 new trust foundations as of 2020 (General Directorate of Foundations and Associations 2021). These figures exclude political parties and labor unions. Within organizations, as well, we see a fragmented view of CSR. That is, such business engagements, albeit their substantive resource requirements, are steered on an individual basis, i.e., by a manager’s initiative or stay at the functional level, hence tactical, rather than strategic (CSR Association of Turkey 2020). Most firms claim they practice a socially responsible business strategy that integrates CSR into their business, i.e., shared value concept; yet the reality shows that they engage in “a multifaceted version of CSR that runs the gamut from pure philanthropy to environmental sustainability to the active pursuit of shared value” (CSR Association of Turkey 2020, p. 17). 2.2

Sociopolitical Governance

Emerging markets tend to be governed more by institutions such as religion, government, business groups, and less by competition. In Turkey, specifically, the state undertakes an active, entrepreneurial role and adopts interventions such as import substitution policies (Onis 2019) to develop a liberal economy. Business groups have historically dominated the Turkish economy with their diversification strategies and size (Colpan and Hikino 2008). Examples include the Koc, Sabanci, and Eczacibasi. Furthermore, these highly diversified business groups have access to, and influence on, government’s planning and policy changes both directly (Sheth 2011) and indirectly via their CSR efforts (Capital 2021). Moreover, CSR related activities in emerging economies with a

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MARKETING IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

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more structured way of the decision process differ in their governance style from those in more economically advanced countries. Specifically, the executive committee or the board of directors is in charge of the CSR process only partially, i.e., around 70% in private sector and 40% in the civil society (CSR Association of Turkey 2020). To exemplify the importance of religion, Turkish philanthropy market is shaped by fitra and zakat. These are the two requirements of the majority’s religion, i.e., Islam that recommends donations to one’s own close communities, neighborhoods, thereby incentivizing local unbranded philanthropy over large-scale institutional projects (Terzi and Bilen 2020). 2.3

Unbranded Competition

In terms of production, Turkish gray economy constitutes around 30% of the GDP and is a detrimental factor around social welfare since it lays the ground for legitimizing illegal activities varying from tax invasions and rights violations (e.g., pension and health insurance for employees) to drug trade and arms smuggling (Polat 2020). Within the formal economy, producing unsafe products, tax fraud, and deceptive advertising are commonplace (Doyduk 2018) and unbranded and counterfeit brands consumption is high, forming unfair playground for competition (Ensari 2018). In a similar line of logic, most SME CSR efforts go to no-name activities. This is possibly due to two reasons: (i) many branded foundations and associations are still not available in rural markets and (ii) SMEs are organized by family-like, clan relationships (Pellegrini and Scandura 2006). That is, SMEs are embedded in social networks (Karakas and Sarigollu 2019). Hence, they act as a production unit centered around not only profit but also welfare in its own community (Aycan 2006). For example, Ankara Development Agency mediates sponsorship agreements for social responsibility projects in Ankara, by using donations and implementations by SMEs located in Ankara (CSR Association of Turkey 2020). 2.4

Chronic Shortage of Resources

While sourcing the world’s major raw material supplies, emerging markets are simultaneously in a desperate need of resources critical for production, exchange, and consumption (Sheth 2011). For example, power (electricity), water, and skilled labor would be considered as default for

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a business operating in an advanced economy, while in Turkey, power and water shortages are a matter of fact in its metropolitan cities such as Istanbul (Sabah 2021). The literacy figures of 96% are promising, yet the quality of human resource remains questionable: As many as around half of adults in Turkey have very basic abilities to (i) understand and respond appropriately to written texts and (ii) use numerical and mathematical concepts, while around 40% lack and 35% have very basic levels of capacity to access, interpret and analyze information found, transformed and communicated in digital environments (OECD 2016). These realities, when combined, result in diseconomies of scale and high transaction costs that spill over some negative impact onto the third sector. That is, NGOs have serious shortage of resources. The capital accumulation necessary to incentivize both individual and firm donations seems nascent: While donations make up around 1% of the country’s GDP, i.e., comparable to international levels, only around 20% is given through non-profit organizations (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey 2021). This consequently harms CSR efforts and SRMA since both rely on the strength of ˇ and synergy with the third sector (Carnogurský et al. 2015). Even considering volunteerism activities that do not require monetary resources, the common perception is that economic insufficiencies and lack of interest or acquaintances who also participate in such activities get in people’s way, hence are the reasons for the lack of participation in civil society activities (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey 2021). On that note, this suggests a need for alternative economic models, e.g., one where CSR can build a bridge to the future by convincing such hesitant participants to engage in societal initiatives. 2.5

Inadequate Infrastructure

Emerging economies are not only lacking adequate resources, but also in need of better infrastructure. The infrastructure includes all the physical and intangible relationship enablers that enhance communication and information flow, and thereby ease formation and fruition of CSR related activities among market actors. For example, institutional frameworks such as climate-related reporting and ESG (environmental, social, governance) impact measurement requirements of investors, creditors, and buyers from Europe, the main export market of Turkey, and make companies become aware of and adopt CSR related activities (CSR Association of Turkey 2020). This is a very concrete enabler, if not an enforcer.

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Yet, there are some mental and emotional blocks that also detriment maturation of company’s societal efforts. For example, individuals persistently mistrust organizations including those for- and non-profit and have negative perceptions of civil society in Turkey (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey 2021). This seems to hold also among organizations: when asked, only 70% of civil society actors select private sector as their main stakeholder whereas companies almost always (nearly 100%) indicate they are working with NGOs to conduct CSR activities (CSR Association of Turkey 2020). This is a sign of a private sector misperception. On the other hand, lack of transparency and accountability of NGOs are some pain points for company owners and managers to engage in CSR activities and SRMA with NGO involvement. This is a source of distrust in the third sector side of the picture.

3

Turkey’s “Best” Practices

Against this emerging economy background, the third section aims to identify the “best” Turkish companies with regard to their CSR efforts. For this, we use a series of reports published in a leading Turkish business journal, Capital. The reports are based on surveys conducted by GfK, the fourth largest market research organization in the world. For the sake of simplicity, although the reports go back to earlier years, we covered the three latest published between 2019 and 2021 (Capital 2020; 2021). Table 1 outlines the top ten companies across the three years. These companies were selected based on evaluations of a representative sample of the general public. By analyzing these reports in light of the previous section’s findings on emerging economy characteristics, three general themes seem to come out. First, the companies communicated as the “best” in these reports represent the largest companies of Turkey. Without even knowing the actual size and industry landscape they are in, the names (of the companies in Table 1) would suggest that these business groups and holdings are the backbone of Turkish economy. These firms hold such a diverse and rich bundle of resources and inimitable capabilities that these move them beyond the limitations of the emerging economy context. They are the players at the global arena and are referred to as “emerging giants” (Chattopadhyay et al. 2012). This makes us think that they actually are similar to their counterparts around the world with respect to their CSR

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Table 1

Best CSR companies of Turkey

Rank

2021

2020

2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Koc Holding Eczacibasi Group Sabanci Holding Turk Telekom Arcelik Dogan Holding Turkcell Anadolu Hayat Emeklilik Dogus Holding Abdi Ibrahim

Koc Holding Sabanci Holding Turkcell Eczacibasi Holding Eti Arcelik Enka Yildiz Holding Dogus Holding Boyner

Koc Holding Sabanci Holding Turkcell Arcelik Enka Yildiz Holding Coca Cola Eczacibasi Holding Eti Turk Telekom

Note CSR as perceived by the general public (Capital 2020; 2021)

conduct and SRMA. Consequently, a mere study of such cases would not be representative of, hence limiting the Turkish reality. Moreover, these behemoths seem to approach CSR on a fragmented basis. The CSR reports mention the best CSR projects of that year, besides the top performing CSR firms. The top two CSR projects that have owned this place both in 2020 and 2021 are (i) the “Clean Toilet” project of OPET, a Turkish petroleum company known as a gas station chain and (ii) the “HeForShe” campaign of Koc Holding, a business conglomerate of 25billion USD assets and 90.000 employees, even also owning 50% of OPET. The first project is built on a community-related idea and serves public health and well-being. The campaign started in 2001 with an aim “to create an awareness on the importance of toilet sanitation in human life and to popularize the consciousness about hygiene.” With such importance and heritage, this exemplifies one of the longest and most impactful cases of CSR and SRMA in Turkey (Opet 2021). The second runner up, i.e., the “HeForShe” project, aims to achieve gender equality and promote women’s empowerment. Within this campaign, Koc Holding has launched dedicated sub-projects to close the gender gap in its group companies’ respective industries and thereby takes part in the U.N. Women’s global movement (Koc Group 2021). These two initiatives are perceived as highly successful not only because they create local impact but probably also because they are well in line with the expectations regarding their design, execution, and reporting of the internationally accepted standards, e.g., the U.N. Global Compact principles.

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That said, since they approach CSR at a project level rather than a socially responsible and sustainable strategy perspective that is integrated into the core of a firm’s daily conduct and long-term strategies via SRMA, we overall question whether these cases are indeed best practices. Finally, Table 1 indicates that the best performer lists remain similar across the years. That is, some companies change ranks yet overall a set of companies and their successes have persisted throughout the indicated three years. This is both a positive and as well a negative sign because it represents the idea of individual learning. What one hopefully would imagine as the core of any CSR related business strategy (and any SRMA for that matter) is that the learning would eventually spill over to the whole value chain, the suppliers, competitors, etc., across the country so that the focal firm becomes a change agent that starts a chain reaction and accelerates a wide territory of impact. If these companies were so successful, one could expect a holistic impact, i.e., a responsible and sustainable ecosystem around them that could give birth to new and hopefully better CSR/SRMA performers. Since we cannot observe that inclusivity in the definition and realization of success, once again the question pops up deep in our hearts and minds whether there is another way to study the “best” practices of Turkey: a novel, unorthodox way, rather than replicating what we have done with a similar mission a decade ago (Gezguc 2021). To help us in this quest, we approached three opinion leaders. Next, we outline their stance and perspective for what defines and what exemplifies the best practices of CSR in Turkey.

4 Opinion Leaders’ View on CSR and SRMA in Turkey This section aims to shed light on the overall reality and the actual “impactful” stories of CSR and SRMA in Turkey by conducting in-depth interviews with three opinion leaders. The interviews were conducted (in the midst of pandemic restrictions) online in June 2021 and took around half-an-hour to 45 minutes. We had been in contact with (1) Itir Erhart, co-founder of the Step-By-Step (“Adim Adim”) Initiative, which is an umbrella organization that supports a number of different Turkish NGOs primarily by organizing charity runs. She has also co-founded a transparency platform (“Acik Acik”) which unites donors with NGOs by sharing information on their main work fields and financial statements, etc., thereby forming respect over the rights of donors. Ms. Itir not only

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works at the civil sector but also wears an academic hat, i.e., a Professor of Communication, in one of the well-known private universities of Turkey; (2) Burcu Gunduz, (at the time of the interview) the General Manager of Mother Child Education Foundation, a local NGO that develops and implements evidence-based educational programs across the country, for children, parents, and young women in need. She has worn both corporate and NGO hats, including a critical international experience at U.N.D.P; and (3) Aylin Gezguc, founder of Arbor Impact, a consultancy company which designs innovative social enterprise processes for sustainability. She recently published a book in the domain titled: “Who am I to save the world: A Compass for Impact” (Gezguc 2021). Ms. Aylin has diverse experience in impact creation and CSR from both the public and corporate sector perspectives via several years of work at Koc Holding and the Undersecretariat of Treasury of the Republic of Turkey. The background story with regard to the selection of these opinion leaders is that they were all part of our professional network. The author has been invested in this topic since her doctoral years with an end product (Ozturan 2011) that was part of Civil Society Index (CSI) Project by the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey in collaboration with CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey 2011). Right before agreeing to author this book chapter, two Turkish students from Boston University approached us for interview on their master project and therein referred in their talk to Ms. Itir and her long-standing involvement in civil society both personally, professionally, and academically. She incidentally became our first interviewee. Due to close ties with Zeynep Meydanoglu who was the Project Coordinator at TUSEV during the time of the CSI Project, we got in touch with her for an interview. Yet being on a sabbatical leave, she referred us to Ms. Burcu who had authored a relevant master thesis on the topic (Gunduz 2009). Besides, she has played a prominent role in NGOs and CSR projects. She was our second interviewee. Finally, one of the interviewees during the 2011 CSR project was Aylin Gezguc, who had changed roles from being a corporate professional then to founding her own consultancy company with a mission to support social and sustainability related projects and entrepreneurs. Much were discussed during these interviews and what we outlline next are some takeaways that seemed to be the main themes according to the author’s view. All company related information about the cases discussed are from their LinkedIn profiles (LinkedIn 2021).

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Approaching CSR Without a Hierarchy

The first observation on CSR efforts in Turkey is about the prominence of hierarchies. Turkish society enjoys corporate involvement in CSR since it aligns with some cultural tendencies such as collectivism and belongingness. These in turn bring up team identity. Whenever employees are included into the design, implementation, and evaluation of a CSR effort, it turns out to be more well-received than where the decision process happens top-to-bottom without embedding it all into the company spirit. This does not undermine top management support necessary for any strategic decision. Yet for such non-ego, other-centered involvements, e.g., CSR and SRMA, human connection becomes more critical. According to Ms. Itir, the motivation and ability to fund raise was much higher when, for example, Ipragaz, a local liquefied petroleum gas producer, targeted both the white and blue collars into its runs or when Mercedes-Benz Turkey, a partnership between Daimler-Benz AG and Otomarsan, mainly producing coaches and trucks, asked employees to select the NGO to run for, design the runners’ t-shirts, etc. This makes us propose that a good way to manage CSR in emerging economies is not to impose a hierarchical approach while developing it within the firm. The idea follows earlier research findings on the limiting impact of organizational cultures that impose stability and control, internal maintenance, and maintaining order through regulations on CSR performance (Lee and Kim 2017). There are two sides of hierarchy from the perspective of Ms. Burcu. Late Mustafa Koc was a brave advocate of CSR efforts during his management at Koc Holding. Likewise, Guler Sabanci, still charing Sabanci Holding, is personally concerned with some homeland issues. As mentioned earlier, these families and their matriarchs or patriarchs are very important in Turkey’s capital structure, and thereby CSR landscape. These groups dominating Turkish economy on the one hand have strong leaders and exemplify very hierarchical cultures. On the other hand, when some highly qualified employees with some international perspective and public or civil sector experience in CSR are employed, the dominant leaders should support these individuals with an internal climate that enables CSR and SRMA, albeit the general hierarchical structure. According to Ms. Burcu, during her years at Koc Holding, her team was able to stand against the well-established, somewhat inflexible structure because she had U.N.D.P experience, Oya Kizil, the group’s corporate

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communications director was originally from the World Bank, and Aylin Gezguc, who captained CSR efforts before her, came from the Undersecretariat of Treasury. These backgrounds provided the CSR efforts some continuity and overcame obstacles related to the hierarchical culture. Moreover, since the rules and regulations are still not fully set in the country, we can see a hierarchical structure in which (local) suppliers are asked to abide with the compliance standards of the (international) buyer companies. This, what we cannot even call CSR, started taking place in the 1970s, according to Ms. Burcu’s findings from her master thesis on the Turkish textile industry (Gunduz 2009) and continues decades later today in some regions of Turkey. More specifically, some companies act like a regulatory body to put in place, enforce, and monitor some rules. When the contract producers over time become brands of their own, e.g., Yesim Textile, Mavi Jeans, they can then embark on some social and sustainable standards themselves. That said, compared to their international, more experienced counterparts, e.g., Nike, Adidas, the local brands have a long way to fill up the space of what they promise. Nike, for example, employs about 300 personnel, most of whom are supervisors overseeing whether its suppliers are getting involved in any violation of rights, thus conducting a social audit. In sum, some companies operating in Turkey have apparently adopted some kind of a state structure which is very much in line with the hierarchical culture. Thus, hierarchy may not be preferred from within yet at times imposed from an outside party. 4.2

Approaching CSR as a Tribe

The second observation on CSR efforts in Turkey is about the prominence of clan like cultures. In this sense, Ms. Itir recognizes the Eker experience. The Eker company produces dairy products and is located in Bursa, one of the major cities of Turkey. Despite its relatively small scale, the brand is proud to be listed as one of the top by Superbrands Turkey. When Eker was working with the Step-By-Step Initiative, it aimed to become a supporter of the overall initiative, rather than a mere sponsor of an NGO, working within the initiative’s umbrella. The two organizations acted as value partners to address an issue i.e., the 17th Developmental Goal and are still learning from each other. First, they started running together (a basic, standard model offered to any company by the Step-by-Step Initiative). Then a dairy product with high protein

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content (suitable for runners) was developed in collaboration with Stepby-Step. The product ingredients, taste, and logo were decided together. The income from the final co-branded product (which also had the Stepby-Step logo on its package) went as donations to NGOs. Following, with the excitement of this collaboration, the company started to organize their own races. Now every year, Eker holds a big run in Bursa. They later learnt about autistic children and now is building a new initiative for them, again in collaboration with Step-by-Step. Ms. Itir admires Eker since they have not approached Step-By-Step as a project partner but one that adds value by constantly developing and expanding. She adds: “it is our stakeholder where we stand next to each other for the longest time.” This case is critical since it exemplifies an ideal CSR effort, one that employs SRMA. There are some basic, standard collaborations that can happen employing NGO’s existing business models. Equally important are those collaborations where new business models emerge in joint action. This long-standing partnership idea and impact created through synergy is an idea Ms. Aylin touches upon in her book as well (Gezguc 2021). Hence, we formally propose that another good way to manage CSR in emerging economies is to hold a tribe-like approach that emphasizes consensus and commonality of goals and values across different stakeholders, especially in partnerships with NGOs. This is in line with earlier work that values clan cultures within the firm to enhance CSR-performance effectiveness (Lee and Kim 2017). That said, at times when a company embarks on a complex issue, its major stakeholder could be the government and since a tribe-like approach is very hard (if at all possible) to employ then, the lack of support could make the initiative hit a dead end. According to Ms. Burcu, in the background of the Koc Holding’s “Vocational Education: A Crucial Matter for the Nation” project, lots of work was carried out to enhance the quality of vocational schools and their alumni’s recruitment potential. The project was launched by providing scholarships to students. Not to mean that scholarships are minute CSR efforts yet this was not serving the initial big vision the company had with this CSR effort. Since the problem was a multi-dimensional one which required a lot of collaborations and engagement of the government, it eventually transformed into a project (that still exists) yet now under the leadership of some NGOs, e.g., Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) and Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries (MESS) and with private sector volunteers under the umbrella of Private Sector Volunteers’

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Association (OSGD) helping the vocational high school students, among others. Since Turkey’s national education system is not predictable and is in constant state of change, the project was able to cure some major gaps in vocational training yet the main problem of collaborating with the stakeholders for enhanced quality and effectiveness remained. Besides the complexity of issue, power structure within a company’s network may limit the tribal culture idea. What was happening in the past (as outlined in the previous sub-section) with some partners in the network to act as rule setters continues today. The trend for any emerging economy is to decrease government involvement in the markets as much as possible. In the advanced economies, although the free market idea holds, the stakeholders sit in the CSR round table early on and hence become owners of the idea themselves, e.g., “Clean Clothes Campaign” in Europe. Whereas in countries like Turkey, they come into the picture at the very end, e.g., when a problem arises with the CSR initiative or when it is communicated to the public. Even then, according to Ms. Burcu, the naming and shaming that takes place in the more rights-based contexts does not hold in Turkey. The biggest anti-corporate movements in this country are the denim grinding workers’ and shipyard workers’ movements where one hardly hears a company or a brand name being pronounced. Not one stakeholder goes to the firm and tells them to take responsibility, rather the government father, as it is called in Turkish, gets involved and steps up for a rescue. To exemplify, while authoring this chapter in June 2021, Marmara Sea lived one of the biggest environmental disasters in the history of Turkey with sea snot covering all the sea surface, caused by overfishing, global climate change, and most importantly heavy metals and suspended solids due to environmental pollution (New York Post 2021; Birpinar 2021). According to Ms. Aylin, 45% of Turkish economy is situated in the Marmara region and hence both the municipalities and the companies need to step in to repair the damage and create a sustainable hinterland. Yet most companies lag behind the environmental standards, not to mention become sustainable or even circular. Considering these points, how was the situation handled and who took action? Within a week’s time, Marmara Federation of Municipalities and the government with its related ministry took ownership of a project to manage the situation and get rid of the sea snot in the Marmara Sea (Anadolu Agency 2021). There still is an elephant in the room to meet the needs of climate change and adopt green policies such as the E.U.’s Green Deal.

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Given all this, Ms. Burcu describes CSR in the context of Turkey as a hollow, unreliable concept. Since the institutional environment set by the public sector is low in (if not lacking) accountability, the private sector copy pastes the same logic and mirrors a similar reality. Melda Cele is the Deputy Secretary General, responsible for Sustainable Development, Investment Environment, Entrepreneurship, and Youth Affairs at TUSIAD, an NGO that represents the Turkish business world since 1971 and aims to promote welfare through private enterprise. She in a personal chat also seconds the power structure idea to force societal efforts. For example, recently companies are pushing media channels to support gender-equal advertisements by not airing their ads during TV shows that have sexually violent or discriminating content (TUSIAD 2020). This case seems to suggest private sector within itself can create some mechanisms for sustainability and responsibility, for topics, e.g., education and health where emerging economies need a social-equalizer mechanism. However, companies can handle only some part of the whole equation and hence feel limited themselves, which makes us argue: in such situations, the government should take a stance and own responsibility within the tribe. 4.3

Approaching CSR Sincerely

Being a jury of many CSR awards, Ms. Itir can give tips for best practices, as well pinpoint some wrong doings such as: pretending to act responsibly and sustainably. CSR for sure is a noticeable trend, therefore all companies like to take part in it. Yet, the ones who conduct CSR and SRMA to get awards, gain some visibility, who calculate ad equivalents and share these in their award applications, actually do not seem to understand the core idea of how this all works. For the ones who do not get, for example, the special Prof. Dr. Alaeddin Asna Award of Turkish Public Relations Association, the jury writes a report explaining why they did not get the award so they become aware of how CSR should actually be and learn how to gain credibility and trust in their future CSR efforts. Regarding gender equality, for example, a CEO playing with pink balls in social tournaments or a program making female employees do handicrafts reproduce gender stereotyping and contribute to gender biases, rather than changing these patterns. The firm can state they support equal opportunity to all genders yet without partnering with an expert NGO or engaging in a specific problem in its own territory or implementing fair wages, they cannot

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actually claim to genuinely address the issue. Thus, the whole initiative collapses. In this respect, Zorlu Holding, albeit being one of the largest Turkish business groups, has a good volunteer program worth discussing. They positioned their “Sparks” volunteer program to enhance the entrepreneurship idea within the company and transform its corporate culture. First, all the manufacturing facilities and sales points in Turkey were toured and presented—in participation with an expert NGO—the value of volunteering. For example, in a textile factory, all employees came together and engaged in a role play to solve a societal problem. Then, the volunteer program was designed with Step-by-Step’s NGO partners and everyone started a volunteer activity according to their interests with a well-planned schedule and clear expectations on both sides. Then the company switched to version 2 of the initiative and NGO experts such as Ms. Itir mentored the employees in their social entrepreneurship journey. After that, Zorlu Group gave money to the best social entrepreneurship idea among the many, and the winner employees had a chance to leave their job and found their own company. Besides, the spillover effect was to create a whole new ecosystem, an “ability pool,” i.e., a hugely beneficial database was established for the company. NGOs became the company’s major stakeholders, which in combination with corporate volunteering app, sustains this initiative over the long-run. The group eventually created a large department for this Sparks program; meanwhile almost never making a publicity out of it. Another good yet not that famous example is Alternatif Bank and their Accessible Banking initiative. Building on the idea that millions of disabled individuals in Turkey are ignored and cannot reach common possibilities of work and daily life, the bank since 2019 has focused on the issue to first improve the awareness and competencies of its employees, and later the accessibility of its service channels, both physically and digitally (Alternatif Bank 2021). A personal chat with Pinar Altinok, from the public relations team of the bank, suggests that they clearly waited for the major participants’, i.e., employees’ buy in and for the bank to implement some foundational steps before making others know about the whole strategy. The company first set up an advisory board, to represent the primary stakeholders of the issue at hand, i.e., civil society activists and employees representing disability groups. It implemented various activities for changing the current company perspective and employee mindset,

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e.g., right-based trainings for the disabled where all employees participated from the top management levels to the security guards working at the branches’ gates. The company then worked on its offerings, i.e., SRMA, e.g., built ramps in their branches, designed a mobile application for all disability groups, etc. Furthermore, the bank developed an Ideathon, where university students have developed products for barrierfree banking. This case was unique since an external stakeholder, i.e., the bank’s marketing agency spearheaded the idea, agreed to participate in the initiative only in condition of the bank worked dedicatedly and acted sincerely, asked the bank to postpone the communication to the public until the idea has gotten into the DNA of the bank. This suggests not only when a company itself but also when its immediate partners have the right perspective, a CSR vision, the whole ecosystem then gets structured, and the civic space and social benefits become effective. Overall, these cases suggest that CSR is a double-edged sword to be used with care. When a company announces a CSR conduct to the public, it puts further responsibility on a company’s shoulders. The company’s reputation is at stake and consumer skepticism can overrule any good intention if the CSR conduct is woke washing, “potentially misleading consumers with their claims, damaging both their brand equity and potential for social change” (Vredenburg et al. 2020, p. 444). Recent work on brand authenticity (Nunes et al. 2021) guides us to propose that (i) authenticity is essential to any CSR initiative since the related stakeholders value overall accuracy, connectedness, integrity, legitimacy, originality, and proficiency in such conduct, albeit at varying degrees for different companies and industries and (ii) SRMA is vital while developing this authenticity, sincerity. 4.4

Approaching CSR Radically

According to Ms. Aylin, “anything done with an old mindset is nothing,” meaning: rather than focusing on best CSR projects of companies, the companies should transform into CSR projects in and of themselves and that should be the point of discussion. Quoting from Star Trek, she adds “resistance is futile” to this CSR approach. It is a destiny all companies will eventually face. Moreover, it does not need any preceding signals since the evidence is gazing straight in our eyes. Catastrophes such as the Marmara Sea mucilage incident tell the companies that there is no time for lip service, conservative actions, or excuses and it is high time

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to engage in societal issues radically. All manufacturing processes need water. At least for this reason, the companies should be concerned of what is happening recently close by their plants. Once blinds stop leading the blind, two levers are going to change the system, i.e., demand and supply. The companies will think about how they are exponentially replenishing earth’s resources when they are supporting an exponential growth of economic profit. And the consumers will think about how they can afford to drink from a paper cup every time they buy some coffee outside where the seventh continent is the one full of waste. Then both will start acting radically. Status effects of generating profits or affording to eat, drink outside at the cost of environmental pollution will change as the worldwide known examples, e.g., Tumi and Patagonia, transform the underlying paradigms of the existing market-based philosophy that encourages hyperconsumerism and extravagance. The new social enterprises will overrule what Alain de Botton calls “status anxiety” that is happening even in a traditionally tightwads society such as the case in Turkey, which after 1980s turned into a spendthrift one with wild capitalism. Now the trend is to find back our roots that have gotten distorted with excess materialism, in the midst of minimalist eco-centered approaches and among the knotted thread of maximalist ego-centered approaches, both of which are originating from advanced economies. Against this background, radicalism does not mean tackling all societal issues at the same time. That is, when a Turkish company engages in CSR, it may excel in one or several of the 17 U.N. Global Impact sustainable development goals (SDG) as indicated in our chat by Melda Cele from TUSIAD. For Ms. Burcu, these goals guide the private sector in their CSR initiatives yet overall (and more directly) fall under the responsibilities of the government, i.e., the public sector. Hence, albeit with a narrow scope, e.g., of one SDG, the company should approach the idea holistically, i.e., integrating the goal into its activities so much that it becomes part of the corporate identity and its offerings. Ms. Itir gives the following example: A company may approach an NGO with a mission to give up on plastic. If that company distributes water bottles to employees as a gift, gamifies the initiative to calculate this activity’s impact on carbon footprint, yet likes to keep this CSR project small and sweet, continues to use plastic in its own offerings’ packaging, does not select suppliers with a similar level of sustainability consciousness, have no smart, circular waste management system in place, or does not track the carbon footprint of its overall operations, it is not approaching CSR comprehensively. Or if the

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company adopts a CSR initiative opportunistically, for example, one year supporting the women, the following year the children, it is signaling that they have not internalized the CSR concept or the issue at hand; hence are merely sitting on the fence in their approach to CSR. The Sparks of Zorlu, for example, was developed with so much excitement for everyone that all the works, projects, meetings that went into it were both encouraged and appreciated by the managers throughout the organization and across different parties in Turkey. If the company and its managers, according to Ms. Itir, fully owns and internalizes the idea, they start to live with it. Hence, the initial, sincere excitement would over time turn into a wise passion that transforms the organization. If a company or a business group supports gender equality, for example, it should support an overall rights-based approach in its human resource principles. If there is a 20-to-1 or 30-to-1 difference between the entrylevel and the top management-level salaries, this would eventually work against for example a gender equality-centered CSR campaign. For Ms. Itir, social entrepreneurs would actually consider such conduct as a bad sign and not welcome it since this suggests the company is not actually walking the talk for a fair workplace; hence approaching CSR superficially. In sum, we propose that the companies’ approach to CSR at its start can be merely sincere yet if overtime this sincerity does not turn into taking on serious, comprehensive, radical action, it may backfire. That is, a responsibility and sustainability journey cannot continue if the company keeps staying away from fire when the fundamental goal is to extinguish it. A 360-degree perspective around the selected SDG(s) usually starts from within, i.e., including internal stakeholders, yet then spills over and develops spirally to commercial partners, e.g., customers, suppliers, retailors, agencies, and eventually to other distant stakeholders, e.g., society at large and the environment we live in (Gezguc 2021). Thereby, the business’ societal mission becomes institutionalized, not dependent on one individual, one project, targeting a specific party that lasts for a determined period of time. Accordingly, Ms. Burcu does not consider what started as a new CSR trend in Turkey during 2000s with projects such as “Daddy Send Me to School” by Milliyet newspaper or “Vocational Education: A Crucial Matter for the Nation” by Koc Holding as good CSR conduct since they are not matching with the field of activity of the related companies, hence not integral to their daily conduct. Meanwhile, OPET’s “Clean Toilet” campaign, to her, is a game changer since it produces a social benefit by improving company offerings (i.e., SRMA)

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and in turn generating some synergetic impact. Such radical approaches, for sure, need high investments, e.g., a lot of human resources and money. For example, Ms. Itir is a member of Alternative Bank’s advisory board, where she gets paid regularly. Besides such tangible costs, a lot is vested into the relationships, i.e., the cost of company embedding itself in an ecosystem around the cause, e.g., the persuasion and negotiation that take place both internally and externally. Yet, when the incentives are aligned around the cause, progress comes and the allocated budget brings returns (using the old school terminology) and impact (using the new school terminology). Relatedly, Ms. Burcu acknowledges a dominant trend where companies report not only the financial but also the environmental and social effects of their activities in their balance sheets. This goes back to the founding idea of U.N. Global Compact principles which essentially give companies “a license to operate” by addressing their stakeholders’ (not merely shareholders’) expectations (Gunduz 2009). Thereby CSR (or SRMA of that matter) will become mainstream and all principles will merge into a common theme where money made for a company will be a function of the impact it generates for the society. Until then, the knowing mind such as the author’s and our interviewees’ will remain furious since (i) some companies will continue to approach CSR conservatively, at times asking NGOs or other stakeholders with some raw CSR ideas that would make them feel they are outsourcing the whole mission onto the shoulders of others, without fully integrating them into their business-as-usual and (ii) the majority of Turkish population is still in desperate need for funds and wealth, therefore accepting such deals. During this transition period, we will—with patience—underline the importance of the aforementioned four themes to help companies become aware of “what is” differs from “what should be.”

5

Conclusion

With the guidance offered by the emerging economy characteristics, previous research on best practices, and the expert insights, this chapter offers a practical guideline as summarized in the previous section subtitles. That is, we recommend marketing practitioners and researchers who aspire to work on CSR and SRMA in an emerging economy to check first the extent to which a firm is abiding with the principles of hierarchy or a tribe within itself and its ecosystem and then use the sincerity and

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radicalism acid test to see how committed the firm is to the cause and its impact on major stakeholders, rather than the “success” that would come out of the idea, for the benefit of the company. In the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has been questioning her/his life and setting up expectations for a better world. According to Ms. Aylin, this period made us realize that “the fundamental machine we use, i.e., the world is on fire.” World Economic Forum now acts like World Forum. Social responsibility and sustainability has now become mainstream business strategy. Impact investment sphere such as Mark Florman’s Time Partners is now growing in attention and outreach, covering all economies without compartmentalizing those that are emerging. We therefore need to remember where it all started. Ms. Aylin adds: “Commerce comes from ‘co – merce’, meaning being mutually merciful: ‘I meet a need of yours, you meet a need of mine’. Do you think companies were founded for profit? When they were founded 200–300 years ago, companies emerged for a better future. Companies were purpose-driven.” Now again is the time to embody this notion, which for us, is the moral of our chapter. All of us working in or with corporate Turkey are trained with a “Western” mindset where we were told to minimize investments and maximize returns, yet now everyone is frightened of the unreliability of nature and unfair legal system. All assumed to hold true by default are now open to change since the most important rule of the existing system is predictability and fair play. Against this background, our intention was to investigate what “one” can do in this emerging economy despite its vulnerabilities, distortions, and loneliness and showcase some examples to enable an alternative path to the core purpose. Turkey is not in a desperate situation as some other economically developing countries are, e.g., by being subject to financial outflow to advanced countries stripping their critical resources (Mugova et al. 2017) and therefore we feel optimistic of the country’s CSR outlook. Like Ms. Burcu, we believe this is a contest, a life-long struggle that requires perseverance. An idea is a seed: It has the potential to transform a person, a company, and a society with its cathartic impact. Thus, it is essential to always work and think about the possibilities, especially during these tough times and in rugged contexts such as the emerging economies. We hope this whole endeavor is of help to the humankind. The usual disclaimer applies: This work has various limitations, especially due to its case-based nature. While conscientious effort is shown to improve it, all remaining errors are the author’s.

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38 Ozturan P. Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk Vaka Analizi Çalı¸sması: Türkiye’deki ˙ 5 Sirket ¸ ve 5 STK’nın Incelemesi (Corporate Social Responsibility Case Study Analysis: Examination of 5 Corporations and 5 NGOs in Turkey). Istanbul: Third Sector Foundation of Turkey. (2011). https://www.tusev.org.tr/usr files/files/TUSEV_e-bulten_sayi_48(1).pdf, last accessed 1 July 2021. 39 Ozturan, P, Grinstein, A. Can the Marketing Department Benefit from Socially Responsible Marketing Activities? The Role of Legitimacy and Customers’ Interest in Social Responsibility. European Journal of Marketing 56(2), 400–441 (2022). 40 Pellegrini, E.K., Scandura, T.A. Leader–member Exchange (LMX), Paternalism, and Delegation in the Turkish Business Culture: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of International Business Studies 37(2), 264–279 (2006). 41 Polat, Z. Dimensions of Informal Economy and Solutions in Turkey. Journal of Social, Humanities and Administrative Sciences 3(6), 444–462 (2020). 42 Sabah Daily Newspaper Webpage, https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/ist anbul/water-drama-continues-for-istanbul-as-dam-supplies-drop-to-criticallevels, last accessed 29 June 2021. 43 Sanclemente-Téllez, J.C. Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Moving Between Broadening the Concept of Marketing and Social Factors as a Marketing Strategy. Spanish Journal of Marketing – ESIC 21(S1), 4–25 (2017). 44 Sheth, J.N. Impact of Emerging Markets on MNarketing: Rethinking Existing Perspectives and Practices. Journal of Marketing 75(4), 166–182 (2011). 45 Terzi, G., Bilen, M. A Research on the Institutionalization of Zakat in Turkey and Religious Staff’s Perspective (Kocaeli example). Journal of Sakarya University Faculty of Theology 22(41), 81–114 (2020). 46 Third Sector Foundation of Turkey Webpage, Civil Society in Turkey: At a Turning Point. (2011). https://www.tusev.org.tr/en/research-publications/ online-publications/civicus-csi-country-report-civil-society-in-turkey-at-a-tur ning-point-is-launched, last accessed 7 July 2021. 47 Third Sector Foundation of Turkey Webpage, Individual Giving and Philanthropy in Turkey Executive Summary. https://www.tusev.org.tr/usrfiles/ima ges/belgeler/individual_giving_and_philanthropy_in_turkey_executive_sum mary.pdf, last accessed 29 June 2021. 48 TUSIAD Webpage, Sorumluluk Bildirimi Raporu (2020). https://tusiad. org/tr/yayinlar/raporlar/item/10717-tusi-ad-sorumluluk-bildirimi-raporu, last accessed 9 July 2021. 49 Van de Ven, A.H., Ganco, M., Hinings, C.R. Returning to the Frontier of Contingency Theory of Organizational and Institutional Designs. The Academy of Management Annals 7(1), 391–438 (2013).

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Nature-Based Social Welfare and Socially Responsible Consumption: Is Circular Economy a Viable Solution? Mariusz Baranowski

1

Introduction

From the beginning of this economic formation of society, capitalist ways of producing goods and services have been characterized by an incredible ability to adapt to changing internal (determined by consumer tastes and expectations) and external (conditioned by global competition and raw materials availability) conditions. Consumer choices are shaped by the PR-and-marketing machinery but are also a consequence of the (socio-cultural) influence of individuals/groups on each other. External conditions determine a complex tangle of factors of diverse provenance, of which environmental determinants play an increasingly important role (cf. Fücks 2013; Harris 2010). These two dimensions overlap and generate new areas of research focusing on—to use very general terms—sustainable and ethical consumption. While the former type refers to “consumption which minimises impacts on the environment to secure human needs for

M. Baranowski (B) Adam Mickiewicz University, 60-568 Poznan, Poland e-mail: [email protected] Centre for Critical Social Research, 60-568 Poznan, Poland

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_3

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present and future generations” (WCED 1987 following Gram-Hanssen 2021, p. 2), the second refers to “broader perspectives of what is right and wrong and a social science understanding of consumption, including cultural understandings of the ideas of right and wrong” (Gram-Hanssen 2021, p. 2). The proposed approach focuses on environmentally redefined social welfare, referred to as Nature-Based Social Welfare (N-BSW), and the opportunities for its realization through socially responsible consumption (SRC). The core research questions are whether (i) SRC contributes to real improvements in N-BSW and (ii) whether SRC fits within the tenets of circular economics (CE). As to the latter, the issue is not simply one of determining whether SRC is coherent with the general tenets of CE, which should not be particularly problematic. Instead, it is about trying to characterize the boundary areas of both approaches in the perspective of social welfare in the broadest sense. The circular economy, i.e. “a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible” (European Parliament 2015), sets an interesting benchmark for discussing both social welfare (from the environmental point of view) and technological issues from the perspective of political sociology and political economy. This chapter is divided into five sections. Following this Introduction, Section 2 describes the author’s concept of social welfare based on respect for nature and the phenomenon of consumption. Section 3 examines the circular economy from the perspective of a novel view of social welfare and the notion of socially responsible consumption typical in the literature. Section 4, on the other hand, provides answers to the question of whether CE fits with socially responsible consumption and whether Nature-Based Social Welfare can be provided through this type of consumption and economy. Finally, Section 5 concludes the main themes taken up in the chapter.

2

Social Welfare and Consumption

Thinking about the organization of society and its primary institutions (five are most often distinguished, cf. Windsor 2017) is reduced to the category of social needs and the ways of satisfying them. After all, organizing people as part of more extensive and structured wholes in the form of society precisely forces a better organization of the satisfaction of individual and collective needs than would take place alone. Equally

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important is the perception of the organization of social welfare institutions by the members of a given state community itself, for as Bent Greve argues, what matters is also “a number of myths about welfare states” because it forces us to “raise the question of whether different myths and narratives have or have had an impact on welfare states’ development” (2020, p. 2). The dominant contemporary perception of social needs and how to satisfy them is consumption, as the capitalist form of production has transformed products and services into commodities (Marx 1906). Thus, commodification, which is often overlooked in scholarly research focusing on problems of ownership or efficiency, is one of the dominant factors of an economy geared to production and consumption and perpetual economic growth. This logic of economic growth, openly criticized in the famous report The Limits to Growth (Meadows, Randers and Meadows 2006 [1972]), has significantly influenced discussions about the foundations of the dominant economic system. As Kenneth Boulding sarcastically noted, “Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist” (U.S. Congress 1973, p. 248). Nevertheless, economic growth and excessive production (often transferred to developing countries) and consumption (especially in wealthy countries) have not experienced a radical reduction since the 1970s. On the contrary, despite a series of economic and natural crises, pollution, global warming, the extinction of rare animal and plant species, and—as economists euphemistically put it—so-called external costs continue to rise. This situation calls not only for the development of scenarios of containment and the implementation of changes that take into account logics of development (Van den Berg 2017), post-growth (Cassiers et al. 2018) and/or degrowth (D’Alisa et al. 2015; Smith et al. 2021) that respect the physical limits of our planet but also for the redefinition of the concept of social welfare itself. Regarding the latter, based on the theoretical framework of a sociolog´ Baraical approach (Baranowski 2013, 2017, 2019a, 2021b; Lemanczyk, nowski 2021a, b), enriched by an environmental perspective (Ziółkowski et al. 2020), I propose to introduce the concept of Nature-Based Social Welfare (N-BSW). This concept refers to the degree to which a society’s material and non-material needs are satisfied at both the collective (supra-individual, objective) and individual (subjective) level, with particular reference to the natural environment’s role in (a) their realisation

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and (b) as a consequence of satisfying them. The collective and individual levels should be considered together since, in the sociological perspective (which places particular emphasis on the supra-individual), the subjective component is shaped by what is social, while what is social is formulated at the micro-level. This understanding of social welfare includes an explicit sustainability component, which was already present in the Brundtland definition (WCED 1987). The basic idea of this approach is straightforward and concerns social welfare in the proposed N-BSW approach, which is built based on categories of needs. That is why sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987, p. 43). This, in turn, brings to the fore the organization of commodity production and associated consumption, which is the direct means of satisfying needs in a capitalist society. Figure 1 summarises the three main areas within sustainable development, which we can use Mousumi Roy (2021, p. 215) to describe the “triple bottom line” approach. This figure also presents—admittedly intentionally simplified for the sake of clarity—a combination of crucial normative outcomes of society (social equity), economy (economic efficiency) and environment (environmental resilience). Although these dimensions overlap and are also in explicit or implicit conflict, this paper needs to capture the impact of the environment on the socioeconomic system and vice versa. Therefore, consumption is not “merely a decision-making process, but parts of dominant sociotechnical systems and habituation” (Roy 2021, p. 216). Second, and more importantly, “improvement in environmental quality is integrated to improvement of human quality of life to rethink well-being in a broader perspective to achieve collective well-being by more significant proenvironmental behavioral change and economic habit of resource use” (Roy 2021, p. 216). Leaving aside the misuse of the term “well-being” (especially in the context of the expression collective well-being), which is probably a consequence of an unreflective adaptation of this term from positive psychology (cf. Baranowski 2019a), it is reasonable to link social welfare with the environment closely. Therefore, it is worth introducing here the concept of sustainable consumption and SRC. Being aware that there is no generally accepted definition of sustainable consumption (and production), let us assume from the perspective of this paper and its objectives

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Fig. 1 Sustainable development and its risks (Source own elaboration based on Roy [2021, p. 6])

that it refers to “the use of goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the lifecycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations” (Ofstad 1994). This interpretation, moreover, corresponds to the Brundtland definition of sustainable development cited earlier and includes an implicit component of ecosystem services. At this point, it is only worth suggesting the theoretical idea of extending Talcott Parsons’ AGIL paradigm with two components: Dependency and Expansion. As a result of this procedure, we obtain an AGIL + DE scheme, better suited to the study of the dependence of the “classical” subsystems of society, since it is extended to include an environmental and a technological component. This understanding of sustainable consumption allows the introduction of the concept of socially responsible consumption, which is—in a sense adopted here—a more specific form of the former, and by some researchers is also combined with the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (cf. Baranowski 2021a; Sanclemente-Téllez 2017). Following James A. Roberts, let us define the socially responsible consumer as “one who purchases products and services perceived to have a positive (or less negative) influence on the environment or who patronizes businesses that attempt to effect related positive social change” (1993, p. 140). This definition, which is crucial for the purpose of this study, highlights two dimensions of the SRC phenomenon. One is related to the environmental field and the other to the social area (Webb et al. 2008, p. 92). However, both in combination with the economy (see Fig. 1) make it

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Fig. 2 Social welfare—welfare scarcity and well-/ill-being (Source Baranowski 2019a, p. 10)

possible to include the circular economy approach in reflecting N-BSW and SRC. I will not address what researchers refer to as the value-action gap or attitude-behaviour gap. However, I am aware of this phenomenon and its implications in explaining actual consumer behaviour. Therefore, as noted by Michael Schlaile, Katharina Klein and Wolfgang Böck (2018, p. 562), “many consumers claim (or believe themselves) to be responsible but often do not act according to their alleged values or attitudes” (e.g. d’Astous and Legendre 2009; White et al. 2012; Yeow et al. 2014). Such attitudes are nothing new in sociological research. Still, a wellconceptualized concept of social welfare should consider the possible conflict between the subjective aspect of well-being and the objective category of welfare, also within the framework of their oppositions (see Fig. 2).

3

Circular Economy: Between N-BSW and Consumption

As we can read from the Sustainable Development Goals, “sustainable consumption and production is about doing more and better with less. It is also about decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, increasing resource efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles”

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(United Nations 2021). The very idea of “decoupling” is a problematic point of discussion for both consumption and the entire growth-based economic model (Wälti 2012). Tim Jackson has proposed separating material resource consumption from economic consumption to resolve the problem of “what, precisely, is being or should be (or should not be) consumed in the consumer society” (Jackson 2014, p. 283). These two dimensions of consumption are complementary, although they draw attention to different conditions and consequences of satisfying needs in modern societies. Material resource consumption focuses on sustainability by drawing attention to the availability of “raw materials” and the environmental effects of their exploitation. It is this type of consumption that is the focus of circular economy solutions. Nevertheless, economic consumers “do not only buy and consume material resources. In fact, so-called ‘final consumers’ (households, for example) rarely buy materials per se at all. Rather they consume a variety of goods and services, which employ a variety of different kinds of material inputs and give rise to a range of different material and environmental impacts” (Jackson 2014, p. 283). The issue of natural resources and overexploitation in capitalist market economies focused on profit through continuous economic growth has long since exceeded the acceptable limit of rationality. As if that were not enough, the squandering of these precious raw materials has become an everyday practice in which a wide range of consumers, driven by the corporate pursuit of profit, participate. Even they perceive the scale of reckless wastefulness in the course of throwing away garbage or the impossibility of repairing appliances that could serve them for a long time. Such a lack of thrift, being a consequence of the corporate logic of generating profits and our consumption behaviours (Baranowski and Mroczkowska 2021), together with the development and spread of knowledge about the condition of our planet, leads to a state of internal tension, an actual discomfort (subjective ill-being). On the one hand, we want to live a good life and satisfy our needs and those of our loved ones as much as possible (social welfare and well-being). Still, on the other hand, the awareness of the negative consequences of our consumer decisions (welfare scarcity and ill-being) plays an increasingly important role—especially in affluent societies (Lucassen 2019; Schmidt 2022; Wahlberg 2019; Wilson 2019). This leads to the spread of SRCtype attitudes but also the search for technological solutions to current and pressing environmental problems. A circular economy (CE)—as I

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indicated in the Introduction—which is a model of production and consumption, is one of them (Charonis 2021). In essence, it is “an economic model aimed at the efficient use of resources through waste minimization, long-term value retention, reduction of primary resources, and closed loops of products, product parts, and materials within the boundaries of environmental protection and socioeconomic benefits” (Morseletto 2020, p. 1). It, therefore, fits perfectly with the N-BSW and SRC issues, providing a “potential” solution to the problems of (i) inefficient use of resources, (ii) waste reduction and (iii) job creation with the new management model. It is difficult to unequivocally pinpoint the origins of CE reflection, as circular material flow concepts have been developed for a very long time by many independent researchers. However, the popularization of the term CE is attributed to the work of Kenneth E. Boulding entitled The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth (2011), first published in 1966. In it, the author compared the earth to a travelling spaceship with a limited amount of resources. Such a situation requires judicious disposal of resources and reuse of waste. The basic principles of CE are presented in Fig. 3 using the example of ten Rs’. In this type of economy, materials are supposed to circulate in two separate cycles, i.e. the biological cycle and the technical one. The fundamental problem is to separate them from each other to reprocess them after their original consumption is over. In Fig. 3, it is clear that the opposite of CE is the lineral economy. The whole process of rebuilding the organization of production and consumption involves moving away from the latter. Thus, the most “traditional” strategy is (R9) recovery, consisting of incineration of materials accompanied by energy recovery. This is not a very practical solution because it involves the destruction of raw materials as well as the generation of pollutants into the atmosphere. The following strategy deals with the well-known recycling, which has been seen as an excellent example of environmental action over the past decades. The most classic example of this activity is downcycling, which transforms a given material into something of lesser value. More interesting is upcycling, which is part of R7, that is repurposed. As a result of upcycling, we may receive a final object of a higher value than the initial one (e.g. due to its functions, as in the case of houses built from plastic bottles or furniture from industrial Euro-pallets). Remanufacture (R6) refers to using parts of discarded products in new products with the same function.

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Fig. 3 Circular approaches within the production chain Source adapted from Potting et al. 2017, p. 5 and Okorie et al. 2018, p. 12

Refurbish (R5), on the other hand, is about restoring old products and upgrading them to brand new status. Naturally, CE is about developing large-scale technological solutions rather than the individualized practice of giving new life to old products. This requires sophisticated product design, including selecting specific materials and estimating their future fate. If such a farsighted logic of rationality is implemented (and I would add that the development of natural and technical sciences is very advanced in this regard), then the next strategy of repair (R4) is the natural order of things. The inability to repair a product that has used many valuable raw materials is particularly irritating from the perspective of consumers who observe the “intentional strategies” of large corporations to produce perishable goods and marketing inducement to buy new ones. It probably goes without saying to mention the aspects of wasting energy, generating vast amounts of garbage (e.g. electro-waste) and environmental pollution. Re-use (R3) requires, first of all, a change in consumers’ attitudes towards used items and the development of a strategy to defend against the massive and using the latest media communication tools (Baranowski 2019b) PR-and-marketing machine. If, on the other hand, we follow Roland Barthes (1968) and Jean Baudrillard (1998) in assuming that consumption is a function of signs (the signfunction), then the area of change in consumer opinions and attitudes

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depends on culturally dependent symptoms. They, in turn, are subject to change. The ecological awareness of consumers, combined with an increasingly higher standard of living and access to a wide range of information (also generated by grassroots social movements and third sector organizations), allows us to believe that the current monopoly of corporations focused solely on profit might be seriously weakened (Lewenstein 2020; Panico 2020; Plucinski ´ 2020). The quintessential CE strategies fall into the “smarter product use and manufacture” category, or R2-R1-R0. Let’s start with reduce, which can be understood in multiple ways. In the most general terms, reduce “concerns a more efficient manufacturing of products or making them more efficient to use” (Rood and Kishna 2019, p. 16). There are many examples, take water recycling showers, referred to as “circular showers”, which fit into the strategy of reducing, because “they reclaim the water they use, refresh it and subsequently reuse it during the same shower session— a practice that saves large amounts of water, compare to the traditional showers” (Rood and Kishna 2019, p. 24). In contrast, strategies R0 and R1 concern “forgoing certain products (Refuse) or using them more intensively by sharing them or through multifunctionality (Rethink)” (Rood and Kishna 2019, p 16). There are many arguments for treating these two strategies together since from the consumer’s perspective and his or her subject environment, a re-evaluation of previous consumption habits (R1) must occur to effect a rejection (R0). Referring to the sign-function introduced earlier (cf. Barthes and Baudrillard), as well as Thorstein Veblen’s The Theory of the Leisure Class (1992 [1899]), this approach seems complicated, but given the socio-cultural nature—not impossible. Let us look at the following example standing in opposition to the dream object of most people living in a capitalist economic system: Tiny houses are small, moveable homes that are fully equipped, permanent residences. Large amounts of construction materials are being avoided by choosing these smaller homes over their bigger, traditional counterparts. And platforms for sharing, for instance, cars or tools ensure that those products are used more intensively. One shared electric drill could be enough for 10 households (instead of them each buying their own drill). (Rood and Kishna 2019, p. 24)

Suppose a large house with a garden and its exclusive possessions are nowadays the objects of desire of the statistical consumer, then according

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to the concept of the sign-function, in that case, they are culturally imprinted in individuals’ conceptions of needs. And if so, it means that they can be altered so that the sign of social success and sophistication is the tiny house and the shared car. By contrast, a large mansion and two cars per household can be seen as socially irresponsible consumption and lifestyle, to the detriment of the community as a whole.

4 Does the Circular Economy Fit in with Socially Responsible Consumption? Considering the above line of argumentation, it should be clearly stated that SRC is coherent with the CE model and contributes to N-BSW’s improvement. However, the direction of the leading research questions can be reversed, and we can try to address the following issues, namely, whether N-BSW can be (fully) realized employing (i) SRC and/or (ii) CE. And the answer to the questions so posed would have to distribute the accents differently. The point is that the realization of N-BSW cannot be realized by means of SRC and/or CE for the simple reason that without changing the essential foundations of capitalist production and consumption, the exploitation and pollution of nature will not be fundamentally stopped. Nor do SRC and CE represent targeted solutions to planetary boundaries problems (Rockström et al. 2009a, 2009b), although, to be fair, they do represent a move in the right direction that is necessary but not sufficient to make sustainability a reality. So far, I have not addressed several N-BSW issues that directly affect SRC and CE and have already received several scholarly papers. I refer, for example, exclusively to the problem initiated earlier concerning the fact that “profit-oriented production and consequently economic growth can be decoupled from natural resource consumption” (Kopnina 2019, p. 613). Suffice it to add after Helen Kopnina (2019, p. 613) that “empirical evidence illustrates that absolute decoupling of economy from resource consumption is impossible (Ward et al. 2016) and that, in fact, unsustainable consumption increases with GDP growth (Rammelt and Crisp 2014). In addition, the SRC, by promoting “sustainable” and “green” consumption, which—as mentioned above—is based on economic growth as usual and the companies within it are profit-oriented, is exposed to a real “shortcut”. An example of such a “shortcut” is, for example, green-washing practices. Moreover, profit-oriented companies that are subject to the constant control of significant shareholders may be tempted

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to generate higher profits without observing the binding standards and the law. This applies both to food manufacturers (Parker-Pope 2010) and high-tech equipment such as cars (on the Dieselgate scandal cf. Baranowski 2021a, pp. 22–23). Considering the technological dimension of CE, it is worth remembering the “rebound effect” (cf. also Jevons’ Paradox, Dumont, Mayor, López-Gunn 2013), which in the context of energy consumption has been defined as “the additional energy consumption from overall changes in demand as a result of behavioural and other systemic responses to energy efficiency improvements” (Vivanco et al. 2016, p. 115). This effect has potentially a much wider field of application. To me, it serves as a warning against building a sustainable N-BSW society solely based on efficient and increasingly eco-friendly technologies, similar to the rethink strategy (R1) in Fig. 3, which contains many valuable solutions like “product sharing”, but in reality takes the form of Uber or Airbnb, which do not have much in common with “sharing”. Instead, they have a lot to do with generating profits for capitalists based on precarious forms of hiring drivers or spoiling rental prices for non-tourists (cf. Baranowski 2021a).

5

Conclusion

When considering socially responsible consumption and nature-based social welfare, it cannot be ignored that “the current and traditional linear extract-produce-use-dump material and energy flow model of the modern economic system is unsustainable” (Frosch and Gallopoulos 1989 as cited in Korhonen et al. 2018, p. 37). CE is a theoretical framework and a practical proposal to make N-BSW a reality, among other things, through socially responsible consumption. It is a very attractive proposal technologically and axio-normatively, as it offers a vision of a capitalist system based on economic growth that respects the environment. One of the CE strategies (R2) postulated a reduction in consumption, which is undoubtedly in line with modern environmental trends, especially in combination with rethink (R1) and refuse (R0). However, we must not lose sight of the “real” determinants of the specifics of CE development and implementation, which, as noted by Jouni Korhonen et al. (2018, p 36), “have almost exclusively been developed and led by practitioners, i.e. policy-makers, businesses, business consultants, business associations, business foundations etc”. A more radical proposal, especially

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in the face of business-as-usual reasoning, is degrowth economics. In the latter, in contrast to CE, “emphasis is not put on ‘less’, but on ‘different’” (Asara et al. 2015, p. 377). And this, in turn, means that “in a degrowth society, everything will be different: different activities, different forms and uses of energy, different relations, different gender roles, different allocations of time between paid and non-paid work and different relations with the non-human world” (Kallis et al. 2014, p. 4 also cited in Asara et al. 2015, p. 377). While trying to work out radical scenarios for change, let me remember that CE offers only “temporary” and “partial” solutions to the problems of our planet. It seems that a more demanding and holistic approach in line with N-BSW and the protection of our planet, in general, has been proposed by André Gorz, highlighting “the importance of reducing consumption and promoting values like frugality, autonomy and conviviality” (Asara et al. 2015, p. 376). Holding the illusion that with technological solutions, we will maintain a high level of consumption and a growing economy without further destruction of the natural environment is an expression of naive thinking. This thinking does not consider the complex nature of global politicaleconomic interdependencies (cf. Lekkai 2020; Wallerstein 1979), the aspirations of particular social categories and classes of countries at lower levels of development, and the demographic dynamics of the world population. This does not change the fact that circular business models based on eco-innovation (Pietro-Sandoval, Jaca, Ormazabal 2018) have a huge role to play in the transformation of the growth economy, as each year, “8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the oceans”, “greenhousegas emissions are out of control” (Geng et al. 2019, p. 153), and as if that wasn’t enough “approximately 30%-50% of food intended for human consumption is wasted at different stages of the food system” (Jurgilevich et al. 2016, p. 1).

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Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases Priyanka Sharma

Single Case/Chapter Problem: What is sharing economy? Learning Objectives . To explore the definitional dilemma around “sharing economy” as various disciplines have discussed this phenomenon in multiple ways. . To understand the role of sharing economy in promoting socially responsible consumption and sustainable marketing practices. . To look at some of the prominent themes, models, and overarching theories related to sharing economy. . To deliberate on the challenges and motivation for actors to participate in sharing economy. . To learn about some of the prominent research papers to further contribute to the literature on sharing economy.

P. Sharma (B) Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, India e-mail: [email protected] IIM Road, Prabandh Nagar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226013, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_4

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1

Introduction

Ridesharing (Uber Technologies, Inc.), coworking (WeWork), and home lending (Airbnb, Inc.) are prominent examples of what we refer to as the sharing economy or peer-to-peer-based sharing or collaborative consumption. With a valuation of $72bn, $47bn, and $31bn, respectively, these are the most valuable startups in the world (Leskin, 2019). Found in 2010, WeWork provides flexible shared workspaces to a diverse group from freelancers to Fortune 500 companies. It signs a long-term agreement with property owners and then renovates and furnishes the space to sublease as small offices or the entire building as per the client requirement. This business model has value for both the landlord and the user. Tenants share the cost to maintain the workspace and the utilities with no additional burden on the business owner. Whereas the business operators charge a reasonable fee while offering several benefits such as a conference room, phone line, internet access, and coffee vending machines. Standard Chartered, Microsoft, and Royal Bank of Canada are some of the notable customers of WeWork (Williams, 2019). Lessig (2008, p. 143) viewed sharing economy as “collaborative consumption made by the activities of sharing, exchanging, and rental of resources without owning the goods.” Since then, different scholars have defined this concept in multiple ways. Eckhardt et al. (2019, p. 7) synthesized various conceptualizations of sharing economy. They arrived at a more inclusive definition: “a scalable socioeconomic system that employs technology-enabled platforms to provide users with temporary access to tangible and intangible resources that may be crowdsourced.” There are five dimensions of sharing economy business model, as shown in Fig. 1 (Eckhardt et al., 2019). (1) temporary availability or access is the crucial aspect whereby consumers use the product (e.g., car, industrial equipment, bike, office space) for a certain period without assuming the permanent title (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2012). (2) there is an economic exchange of value (Kumar et al., 2018), making it different from mere giving one’s dress or bike or laptop to a friend for temporary use. Social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook) also allow the creation and consumption of information among multiple agents. However, they do not fall under collaborative consumption as no compensation is involved. (3) it requires a mobile or internet-based platform for buyers and suppliers to locate each other and arrive at a need-based matching solution, e.g., Uber, Ola, Airbnb (Perren & Kozinets, 2018). (4) it expands the role

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of consumers across a continuum from the demand side to the supply side as one can rent and avail some Uber taxi (Jiang & Tian 2018). (5) crowdsourced supply from many individuals as several Ola drivers create an aggregated pool of car-rental services. The financial crisis from 2008– 2011 compelled consumers to search for cost-efficient access and usage of goods and services (Stephany, 2015). This innovative business model brought several benefits for society during the financial crisis. Therefore, sharing economy was ranked among the top 10 ideas in 2011 having the potential to bring global change by TIME magazine (Walsh, 2011). This brings us to an interesting case study from India that we will refer throughout the chapter—Ola Cabs (https://www.olacabs.com/). With head office in Bangalore, it was started by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010 as a result of a bad experience of care rental service. The name implies “Hello!” giving a feel that ride booking is fairly simple and the services give a friendly experience to customers. It is an integrator that facilitates booking administration for both sides of the supply–demand.

Temporary access versus complete ownership of goods The supply side is an aggregated network of individual consumers

A consumer can assume different roles and responsibilities as it represents the demand or supply side entity depending on the exchange

Economic transfer/exchange of value between different entities

Requirement of mobile or electronic platforms

Fig. 1 Characteristics of sharing economy (Source Eckhardt et al., 2019)

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Drivers can drive their car or rent a car from Ola to drive. After registration of their vehicle on Ola they can login to the mobile application and choose the ride requests depending on their suited time and pickup/drop destinations. Ola in turn gets commissions per ride and the costs are primarily incurred on the platform and application development. In sum, it is a novel technology driven ride-sharing market.

Exercise: Learnings from different industries

Visit the websites of TaskRabbit (https://www.taskrabbit.com/) and CrowdMed (https://www.crowdmed.com/). TaskRabbit provides an online market for skills and labor matching with local demand. They offer a host of services such as painting one’s house and assembling furniture. Depending on the task and number of on-job people, one can save money. CrowdMed enables faster and accurate diagnosis and consultation with more than 20,000 medical practitioners. They connect with patients through CrowdMed’s website saving patient’s clinic visits and offering more earnings to medical professionals by helping wider community. Evaluate how the five characteristics of sharing economy relate to these companies. What are the key differences between these two companies and their business model? Are there any success factors that TaskRabbit can adopt from CrowdMed and vice—versa?

2

Enablers of Collaborative Consumption

Changing consumer behavior, the proliferation of social media and electronic commerce, and the penetration of mobile phones have propelled the whole business landscape toward collaborative consumption (Botsman, 2014, p. 24; Hamari et al., 2016). While ownership has always been the most prominent mode of consumption, renting and temporary usage are increasingly becoming popular due to convenience, lower acquisition costs, and ecological sustainability (Eckhardt & Bardhi, 2015). Consider SHARE NOW (https://www.share-now.com/), a German Carsharing company formed from the merger of car2go and DriveNow and available in 16 major cities of 8 countries in Europe. Customers do

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not have to pay extra for parking and fuel as the rates are inclusive of all these expenses, and customers can find and conveniently park the vehicle anywhere within the city, using a mobile app. The trend is now picking up in the business-to-business space as well. Getable (https://www.get able.com/) in the USA offers to share idle equipment among contractors. Similarly, many companies (e.g., Kwipped and Tracktor) are now enabling fleet owners—contractors, distributors, or manufacturers—to share underutilized equipment online. EquipmentShare (https://www. equipmentshare.com/) and Getable take care of the entire fleet management by helping customers with their job site and asset management solutions. Such online marketplaces open doors to the more expansive offerings, with or without operators, thereby increasing profitability by facilitating the utilization of their otherwise idle equipment. Owners can access a large market, save on marketing and promotion budgets, and negotiate guaranteed payment terms. Moreover, the current COVID-19 crisis has accelerated digitization in the heavy equipment market, boosting such sustainable business models. Four market forces have fueled the sharing economy: technological evolution, economic value, socio-psychological factors, and environmental well-being, as highlighted in Fig. 2 (Owyang et al., 2013).

Economic value

Sociopsychological factors

Environmental well-being

Technological evolution

Sharing economy

Fig. 2 Enablers of Collaborative Consumption (Source Owyang et al., 2013)

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Technological evolution: Firms worldwide have been using online and mobile platforms to connect people and facilitate seamless transactions (Finley, 2013), Owyang et al. (2013) found that the top sharing economy-based companies work with online/mobile payment systems. Today a large number of people have access to the internet and mobile devices. Besides, social media platforms have helped people to connect and communicate effortlessly. They influence consumer behavior, make people more willing to share information about their work and life with others, and also read about other’s stories. Thus, technology affects how people make decisions and act in their daily routine. Social networking sites integrate supply and demand, and technology (data analytics and artificial intelligence) matches customers and service providers efficiently. Therefore, with technological advances firms can target and deliver goods and services effectively and efficiently (Gansky, 2010). Verification of users’ data and customer reviews build trust and transparency across the network of buyers and sellers and helps make more informed decisions. Due to the network effect, as more users adopt mobile applications for shopping and accessing product information, the companies such as Ola and Airbnb become the preferred and trusted choice, and give better services to meet customer expectations (Pilkington, 2016). McKinsey Race 2050 report (Cornet et al., 2019) suggests that the automotive industry needs to design new forms of inter-organizational collaboration in autonomous and connected vehicles, develop the necessary infrastructure, and data-enabled mobility solutions. Economic value: The economic recession in 2008 led to high unemployment, and consumers were forced to manage with less. Access to goods and services without paying to own them gave people more flexibility and ease of operations (Botsman & Rogers, 2010). Airbnb and Uber sensed and seized the opportunity and provided people with not only flexible consumption experiences but also ways to rent their idle goods and earn more. Sharing economy is grounded in collaboration and co-development, redefining the concept of economic value through the number of supply–demand participants (SUNG, 1996). This business model attaches “value” to the utilization of resources and increased human relations, changing consumers’ relationship to physical objects and lifestyles (del Mar Alonso-Almeida et al., 2020). One must appreciate that the economic value in this context is very closely tied to the element of trust between the providers and buyers. Therefore, companies such as Airbnb employ several trust-building mechanisms on their user interface,

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promotions, offers to enhance their reputation. Reputation and image have provided economic value for Airbnb by increasing the customer base and an ability to charge a premium (Teubner et al., 2017). Socio-psychological factors: Mobile and internet platforms have changed the meaning of private space. Users have become more comfortable sharing their private information with others on public forums and seeking guidance, and looking for reviews/ feedback from people they otherwise do not know. Reviews and user-generated content determine brand image and the perceived value of products (Ranjbari et al., 2018). This acts as a self-regulated mechanism to monitor and control supplier’s service quality which is integral to sharing economy model. People are hard-pressed on time, and their average attention span has also gone down. So they look for more accessible and flexible ways of information gathering. Moreover, the young generation is tech-savvy and looks for newer ways of consumption experiences, and mostly they are the early adopters of shared economy models. Based on social psychology, Sands et al. (2020) found that social norms influence and nudge people to participate in shared consumption. They gave three segments of sharers motivated by mobility, the diverse platform, and the power platform. Environmental well-being: Rapid population growth and limited natural resources escalate the need to develop sustainable resource sharing mechanisms. The sharing economy leads to optimal resource utilization, lowers idle inventory, and improves environmental sustainability. The French Environment and Energy Management Agency states that more than 33% of the household waste can be shareable, and therefore the sharing economy has enormous implications for environmental protection (Ranjbari et al., 2018). It can make green and sustainable consumption a natural process in business activities and wealth creation (Bucher et al., 2016). Sharing economy satisfies personal needs and facilitates the development of social connections through environmentally responsible means (Davlembayeva et al., 2020). Therefore, sharing economy redefines consumption as a socially appealing mechanism (Davlembayeva et al., 2020). Thus, we understand that the sharing economy renders new ways of (a) consumption, (b) sharing of information, (c) maximization of wealth, and (d) humanization. Consumption gives more importance to utilization than ownership. Through efficient information sharing, resources can be redistributed efficiently and at lower costs. Wealth maximization focuses on an ecosystem comprising material, spiritual, cultural, and

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natural resources. Finally, humanization asserts that mutual goals and altruism are the means to sustainability. Cramer and Krueger (2016) studied the efficiency of UberX (https://www.uber.com/us/en/ride/ uberx/). They found that UberX has higher capacity utilization rates than taxis. It has a more efficient driver-passenger matching system based on advanced analytics, mobile internet, and surge pricing. Second, it has more drivers in the market than some of the largest taxi service providers and therefore gains from the network externalities. Finally, it does not have complex taxi licensing policies, limiting the areas in which drivers can operate. Ola, in India, would not have been a huge success without accounting for these enablers of collaborative consumption. High competition in the taxi market and increase in demand for car-rentals because of comfort and quality service it provide, compelled the providers to investment more in this industry. Moreover, online and offline advertisements and events such as first auto driver partner mela in Chennai in 2017 (fairs for drivers) followed by Pan-India events have helped to create awareness about Ola and attract even small drivers, through Ola Mini service. This ride-type was instant hit among the masses as the fares were very low (similar to the tune of autos/tempos) but with more comfort and better image as going in a car. When Ola started leasing program in 2015 from Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad the majority were sourced from Maruti Suzuki—another Indian name for trust and good performance. Built on a technologically innovative and evolving platform, a tremendous increase in mobile penetration in India has given a huge thrust to this firm’s adoption in the market. The mobile-based GPS tracking system allows the passengers to monitor their ride. Also, after some of the issues concerning women security were raised, Ola application now allows its customers to share ride details with family and friends who can also monitor the safety of the trip. By acquiring Ridlr which is India’s largest public transportation platform Ola is building advanced mobility solutions. For its marketing also, Ola has been quite aggressive in using Social media platforms. Its #chaloniklo Facebook campaign was an instant hit and later it was launched on TV, YouTube (https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=9t2rVHSrbXE), etc. Catering to economic value and the psychological value, Ola differentiated itself by listing the charges for various vehicle types, by time and by distance. Thus, it maintained transparency with the customers to choose the most suited alternative. Second, it was not confined to one city. It extended inter-city commute through

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Ola outstation and also started hourly packages. This gave more options to customer just through few clicks on the mobile application. Third, it various collaborations, for example, with Make My Trip (MMT) in 2013 offered pick-up/drop facilities to MMT customers. Finally, looking at the environmental concern, car-pooling, and ride-sharing is a better option to keep a check on the traffic congestion and increased pollution (air and noise). Ola has been giving signals of being socially and environmentally responsible. 2015 marked the launch and extensive use of Ola boats in flooded areas in Chennai. Each boat carried 5–10 people, essential supplies, and medicines and collaborated with local fishermen and rowers based on the data available from fire and rescue department of Tamil Nadu. This received complements and set an example of combination of technology and human intervention for a societal cause. Ola Corporate (https://corporate.olacabs.com/#/home) is the answer to some of those sustainable transportation questions where Ola takes care of enterprise level transport solutions offering better ride experience, effortless booking, safety, and various corporate advantages. Ola Corporate has also announced to take this service to other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. But Ola may have some challenges in complying with global transportation standards and differences in customer demands. It would be interesting to see how it beats the competition in these new geographies.

Exercise: Learnings from Turo

Visit https://turo.com/, the world’s largest Carsharing marketplace with a presence in the US, Canada, and the UK. Study how Turo works, its offerings, vehicle options, and insurance policies. Compare it with those of a local taxi service in your region. What made Turo so successful? What could be some of the recommendations for the local service provider?

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Exercise: Learnings from the fashion world

Visit https://www.renttherunway.com/. Rent the Runway is a company with more than six million members. It has more than 200 k products in clothing, jewelry, and accessories and offers both a one-time or subscription program. Customers can search for products by occasion, size, and read reviews. They also ask for a backup size and retain the product for up to 4 days before returning it for free without washing it. This mechanism controls environmental degradation by reducing waste and recycling clothes while still meeting the recent fashion trends. Analyze this rental clothing business model based on the four enablers of collaborative consumption discussed earlier. Besides these four, what other factors can promote a largescale adoption of rental clothing and accessories?

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Prominent Themes and Theories

Now, that we understand the definition and driving forces behind collaborative consumption let us look at some of the prominent theories to explain sharing economy concept. Botsman (2012) uses the term “reputation capital.” One can understand it as a firm’s reputation or image (comprising capabilities, intentions and value systems) for the communities and markets. Several sharing platforms such as TaskRabbit, Airbnb, and Uber, depend on some ratings/score and feedback/review system allowing both supply–demand actors to rate each other and gain information about what others are talking about them. Higher ratings imply good reviews and higher trust. Companies should learn and maintain information about the communities they serve and create a recommender system or reputation assessment system to build trust. The “environmental” promise implicit in sharing economy refers to the sustainable deployment and use of resources by prioritizing access rather than traditional ownership (Botsman & Rogers, 2010). However, research tells that consumers’ environmental concerns are often less relevant and compelling than the access to economical and flexible alternatives (Wilhelms et al., 2017). From the provider’s side, open and precise information is the key. Uber

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mobile-based ride-sharing application, and several times its surge-pricing mechanism has caused distress among the customers. Uber now describes how surge pricing works on its website (https://www.uber.com/us/en/ drive/driver-app/how-surge-works/). Companies should strive to give information regarding their usage policies, privacy, dispute redressal, and any specificities, such as renting machine tools for how to operate and their efficiency. Sharing economy seeks to achieve no wasted value. Digital tools help consumers to fulfill their consumption needs and generate value for others. These consumer driven co-production activities make firms to redefine their role as marketers and devise new means to create value for consumers and co-producers, as in Airbnb, where people rent their unused spaces (Dellaert, 2019). Considering the thrust given by several factors on developing sharing economy business models, much research is happening in this domain. Especially, looking at the high number of companies in car/bike rental and accommodation rental domain studies have used many overarching theories such as the theory of planned behavior (Kim et al., 2018), complexity theory (Olya et al., 2018), social exchange theory (Priporas et al., 2017), norm activation model (Kim et al., 2018), value cocreation and service-dominant (S-D) logic (Zhang et al., 2018), transaction cost theory (Akbar and Tracogna, 2018), social comparison theory (Mauri et al., 2018), social cognitive theory (Zhu et al., 2017), and Stimulus-Organism-Response (S–O-R) theory (Mody et al., 2017). Table 1, taken from Altinay and Taheri (2019), summarizes these theories. Thus, by and large we understand that value is created during consumption and includes all the actors and resources. Consider Ola, India again. Earlier we saw some of the differentiating aspects that enable collaborative consumption, leading to firm’s success. But the value cocreation process, if not understood and monitored properly can lead to backlash from the market. On the technological front, a controversy came up in 2015 (Indian Express, 2015) that the rental service company leaked personal details of customers (e.g., mobile numbers, customer locations). The Ola tackled the issue by saying it was a technical fault and it took about three weeks for them to fix the issue. Was this response, right? What else could they have done for more efficient resolution? Although Ola is a classic amalgamation of creativity and technology to provide easy alternatives to customers and to make this taxi market more organized it needs to be more accountable and put platform security as the strategic focus area. In fact, a joint committee of parliament issued a show

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Table 1

Some critical theories within sharing economy literature

Overarching theory

Definition

Theory of planned behavior

Human behavior is governed by behavioral intentions which are a function of attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (Kim et al., 2018) This “includes the recognition that no simple condition is the cause of an outcome of interest” (Wu et al., 2014, p. 1666) A “two-sided,” mutually contingent, and mutually rewarding processes involving “transactions” (Emerson, 1976, p. 336) Schwartz (1977, p. 227) says that altruistic behavior are considered “as feelings of moral obligation not as intentions.” NAM uses such personal norms to predict one’s behavior through “the awareness that performing (or not performing) the particular behaviour has certain consequences and the feeling of responsibility for performing the specific behaviour” (Onwezen et al., 2013, p. 142) Co-creation is explained as “the process by which mutual value is expanded together” (Ramaswamy, 2011, p. 195) Considers the cost of providing for some goods/services through the market rather than provided from within the firm (Akbar and Tracogna, 2018) “Social comparison theory posits that people are generally motivated to evaluate their opinion and abilities and that one way to satisfy this need for self-evaluation is to compare themselves to others” (Argo et al., 2006, p. 99) “SCT is a framework for understanding, predicting and changing behaviour which depicts human behaviour as a result of the interaction between personal factors, behavior and the environment” (Zhu et al., 2017, p. 2218) “Environmental stimuli affect the emotional states of consumers in ways of which they may not be fully aware, but which can affect approach or avoidance behaviour” (Sherman et al., 1997, p. 363)

Complexity theory

Social exchange theory

Norm activation model (NAM)

Value co-creation

Transaction cost theory

Social comparison theory

Social cognitive theory (SCT)

S–O-R theory

Source Altinay and Taheri (2019)

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cause notice to Ola (Economic Times, 2020) and a few other platform companies in relation to the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019. The implementation effects and the market acceptability of the bill is yet to be realized. Other issues on the consumer front are passenger safety, behavioral issues of the drivers, cancelation without notice, dropping at wrong locations—problems that Ola is also charged with several times. Ola seems to have learned from some of those experiences and taking some significant steps, for example, it integrated its in-app emergency button with the Bengaluru Police’s Suraksha app and that of Hyderabad Police for better safety of passengers (Business Today, 2020). But the question is why it took the firm so long to realize and work on these value aspects? With the prevailing crisis of COVID-19 which affected transportation industry adversely, Ola is trying to regain market trust with “Ride Safe India” and “5 layers of safety” initiatives. However, there is a need for more stringent and routine steps to ensure safe travel in today’s scenario such as: temperature checks of drivers and passengers, driver health and wellness plans, mask detection capabilities in the cars, and regular sanitization of the taxis. Drivers should be trained on the safety protocols. However for doing all this they need to ramp up the technological support team, invest into driver development and new marketing and advertising initiatives. Raising funds is a challenge and recently, the US-based firms T Rowe Price and Vanguard have lowered their valuations of Ola, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given these challenges what suggestions would you have for Ola to make the platform more robust and regain the market confidence?

Exercise: Applying S-D logic to justify sharing economy platforms

Visit https://www.sharetool.io/. Share Tool, built on the blockchain and AI technologies, provides a platform for sharing tools, machines, skills, and knowledge. It was started in 2017 and serves in B2B, B2C, and C2C domains. Is the concept of S-D logic applicable to this Share Tool platform? Is there any foundational premise that is not relevant in this context? Which foundational premises are more critical in this context than a platform for car/bike sharing, such as UberX (https://www.uber.com/us/en/ ride/uberx/). What other theories can appropriately explain the business model and value proposition of Share Tool and UberX?

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Conclusions and Agenda for Future Research

This chapter aimed to explain sharing economy concepts briefly, introduce some of the overarching themes and theories as a direction for future research and application of the concept. From an economic view, there is a huge shift which emphasizes utilization over asset ownership. Wealth is jointly created from human relations through mutual trust, information sharing, partnerships, and reciprocity. These aspects make the sharing economy model unique the traditional marketing models and define a new means to achieve sustainable consumption and marketing. Technology is a significant enabler in this context. However, some questions are still unanswered. For example, issues related to consumer information gathering and use by platform companies? How does socially responsible consumption be applied to enhance the performance of sharing economy models? We often find customers wrongly complaining against Ola/Uber drivers as well as drivers indulging in unethical and socially unacceptable behavior toward the customers. How do we define accountability in sharing economy business models? Are people accepting these companies due to environmental and sustainability consciousness, or is it just because of technological trends and ease of use? Some of these answers would enhance the performance and future of sharing economy models for the greater good.

Exercise: Chapter end questions

1. Think of an established company in your region doing business in a conventional manner. What changes the company needs to bring in this business model and the 4P’s of marketing to develop as a sharing platform company? 2. Ask your friends and colleagues renting (1) car/bike services, (2) small household tools, (3) accommodation service, and (4) dress or accessories about their experiences of renting than owning those products. Compare the pros and cons of access vs. ownership. Are there scenarios in which ownership makes more sense than shared access? 3. Read about consumer data protection laws and see how platform companies incorporate those in their terms and conditions?

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4. Since sharing economy implies collaborative consumption, do you see any differences between collectivist and individualistic cultures in the growth of sharing economy platforms? 5. How relevant is the concept of sharing economy for rural marketing? Do you see any differences in the nature of business between urban and rural setup?

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Collaborative Consumption: The Future of Sharing Economy G. P. Ranjitha

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and Krishnan Jeesha

Introduction

The globe is witnessing the generation of “empowered consumers” and “digital natives,” who rarely buy and own his/her needs. The conception of owning things has lost its grounds. These consumers are often referred as “the generation of renters.” Consumers have consciously denied the idea of buying and, they would rather rent it. The idea is to be with a flexible schedule and financial as well as geographical independence instead of a stable status. The contemporary consumers have reconsidered the concept of a successful life. Yester generation of consumers valued success in terms of owning a house and a car, or any materialistic property. But today, sharing is the new perspective to a successful life. Collaborative consumption (CC) is the novel consumption paradigm, which is gaining attention given the economic and environmental crises,

G. P. Ranjitha (B) Indian Institute of Management, Nagpur, India e-mail: [email protected] K. Jeesha Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, India e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_5

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the need for a sustainable future and a responsible consumerism.1 With CC, ownership of a product is swept away by the access to the product.2 Instead of owning a good/service, consumers procure a temporary access to what they need.3 Collaborative consumption is hence a type of consumption where consumers harmonize the procurement of a product/service for a (monetary or non-monetary) compensation.4 This evades the consumer with the higher costs and responsibilities usually associated with ownership. Collaborative consumption spans across industries, including knowledge creation and sharing (e.g., file sharing), food (e.g., public/community gardens) and travel (e.g., shared cars). For example, Quick ride is a car sharing service aiming at “Let’s meet… without the agent” concept. The brand offers owners to avail a profit of the property they possess without the need of extra payment. Simultaneously, the beneficiary procures the service at a reasonable price, flexible time and moreover a contentment of contributing to the economic and environmental sustainability. Similarly, Airbnb offers a platform that helps to establish a contact between the host and the guest and consumer need not bother buying a house. The sharing economy-driven collaborative consumption has emerged out of the radical changes in the consumer habits overturning the marketing and brands with “creative disruption.” In a short span of time, globally companies have sporadically experienced growth in this sector. A study by PwC investigated 7 key sectors viz., human resources sector, tourism and hospitality, financial sector, retail and consumer goods, entertainment, multimedia and telecommunication, energy sector and the mobile industry where the new business model is the most prevalent. These industries have seen substantial and high growth potential in a span of few years. The earned income of 15 Bn USD, by next five years will have risen by 200%, so major chunk of the revenues in these markets

1 Iis P Tussyadiah, “An Exploratory Study on Drivers and Deterrents of Collaborative Consumption in Travel,” in Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015 (Springer, 2015), 817–30. 2 Russell Belk, “Sharing versus Pseudo-Sharing in Web 2.0,” The Anthropologist 18, no. 1 (2014): 7–23; Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, “What’s Mine Is Yours,” The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, 2010. 3 Fleura Bardhi and Giana M Eckhardt, “Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing,” Journal of Consumer Research 39, no. 4 (2012): 881–98. 4 Belk, “Sharing versus Pseudo-Sharing in Web 2.0”.

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will be grabbed by sharing-based model companies. The socioeconomic transformations that have contributed immensely to the rapid spread of this model include: advances in digital platforms and devices, economic rationality of people to use the resources efficiently, new and empowered consumer needs in terms of pro-social and environmental conscious consumption and social changes in terms of urbanization and globalization. With this pervasive nature of the CC schema and the dynamic growth of these brands, the companies cannot deny the fact and cannot afford to ignore this trend. The brands must identify as to how they will be able to tap their capabilities to keep in pace with the trend. The sharing economy-driven collaborative consumption might orient the companies into the following directions. To boost their competitiveness, traditional brands are toward protecting their existing customer base, strategic investments and partnerships with the successful shared economy platforms and companies and developing the collaborative consumable products and services through switching the entire operations to this model.

2 CC: Technological Amalgamation of Ownership and Sharing Economy The concept of sharing economy has gained momentum from various technological advancements that have simplified sharing of both physical and non-physical goods and services through the accessibility of Internet. Popular examples of these include collaborative online encyclopedias (e.g., Wikipedia), open source softwares (e.g., Github) and other content sharing sites (e.g., Youtube, Instagram). Latest examples are microloans for peer-to-peer financing and crowdfunding services. On the other hand, physical sharing services such as mobility services (e.g., QuickRide, blahblah), space sharing services (e.g., Airbnb) or even idea sharing services (e.g., pagalguy.com) have fostered sharing economy through CC. CC is seen as not just consumption but as a set of activities and processes where both the utility and contribution of resources are intertwined through peer-to-peer networks. CC perfectly blends with the characteristics of the sharing economy, namely online collaboration, social commerce, the notion of sharing online and consumer ideology. Collaboration online refers to the larger phenomenon of collaborative activities between online users, such as consumer-to-consumer exchanges. Ideal example is Wikipedia, where users produce content by

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sharing knowledge online. The motivation for consumers to indulge in such collaborative activities can be attributed to a consumer’s need for reputation, perceived enjoyment, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.5 Sharing online. Technology has facilitated the sharing of goods and services through online platforms increasingly. CC platforms like Couchsurfing, Sharecar, Airbnb and Sharetribe have encouraged consumers in sharing not just the good or service, but also their experiences and expertise. The development of CC platforms have extantly been studied from a service design perspective.6 For example, Airbnb, a service for sharing accommodation among travelers has been a successful sharing services among consumers.7 Sharing has also been instrumental in the purview of digital goods such as music, photographs, information and open source software. The co-creation of goods and services has taken up the ground lately such as Local motors, threadless T-shirts and many more across industries. This has redefined the essence of marketing in the new generation of sharing economy through CC. Social commerce. E-commerce influenced by peers in their purchasing decisions is the new dimension of sharing and consumption.8 With a motivation to save money, reduce dissonance, encourage sustainable consumption, social buying services (such as Groupon) are in vogue. But, social commerce is traversing beyond self-enjoyment and inclining to be an economic concern. The role of marketers is thereby reduced while 5 Molly McLure Wasko and Samer Faraj, “Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice,” MIS Quarterly 2005, 35–57. 6 Juho Hamari, “Transforming Homo Economicus into Homo Ludens: A Field Experiment on Gamification in a Utilitarian Peer-to-Peer Trading Service,” Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12, no. 4 (2013): 236–45; Cait Poynor Lamberton and Randall L Rose, “When Is Ours Better than Mine? A Framework for Understanding and Altering Participation in Commercial Sharing Systems,” Journal of Marketing 76, no. 4 (2012): 109–25; Emmi Suhonen et al., “Everyday Favors: A Case Study of a Local Online Gift Exchange System,” in Proceedings of the 16th ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work, 2010, 11–20. 7 Jennie Germann Molz, “CouchSurfing and Network Hospitality:’It’s Not Just about the Furniture’,” Hospitality & Society 1, no. 3 (2012): 215–25; Devan Rosen, Pascale Roy Lafontaine, and Blake Hendrickson, “CouchSurfing: Belonging and Trust in a Globally Cooperative Online Social Network,” New Media & Society 13, no. 6 (2011): 981–98. 8 Chingning Wang and Ping Zhang, “The Evolution of Social Commerce: The People, Management, Technology, and Information Dimensions,” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 31, no. 1 (2012): 5.

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the role of an individual user is redefined to be both a consumer and a producer. This is also quintessential in the context of CC where the users can be consumers, providers or both known to be prosumers. Consumer Ideology. To voice an opinion, technology is increasingly used for collective action in proliferation of an ideology or idea.9 For instance, social media platforms were extensively used in 2008 U.S. presidential candidates’ campaigns, and it was seen further in 2016 with an extravagant usage of twitter.10 However, the philosophy that embed the sharing economy infuses beyond collective action. The positive orientation of sharing economy can be driven toward green consumption11 and other sustainable behaviors are expected in the context of CC.

3 The Triadic Framework of Consumer Collaboration (CC)12 There are three major characteristics that can be used to differentiate collaborative consumption from the traditional modes of exchange— 1. the number of participants 2. the type of exchange 3. directness of exchange. The number of participants: This is the major differentiator of CC from the traditional form of consumption with the exchange becoming triadic from dyadic. The participants now include a customer looking for temporary access to resources, a peer service provider who provides this access and a platform provider who brings them together, i.e., to

9 Onook Oh, Manish Agrawal, and H Raghav Rao, “Community Intelligence and Social Media Services: A Rumor Theoretic Analysis of Tweets during Social Crises,” MIS Quarterly 2013, 407–26. 10 Sunil Wattal et al., “Web 2.0 and Politics: The 2008 US Presidential Election and an e-Politics Research Agenda,” MIS Quarterly, 2010, 669–88. 11 Giana M Eckhardt et al., “Marketing in the Sharing Economy,” Journal of Marketing 83, no. 5 (2019): 5–27. 12 Sabine Benoit et al., “A Triadic Framework for Collaborative Consumption (CC): Motives, Activities and Resources & Capabilities of Actors,” Journal of Business Research 79, no. November 2016 (2017): 219–27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbu sres.2017.05.004.

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serve a single customer, two service providers get involved. An example would be Airbnb (platform) which brings together customer looking for a place to stay temporarily (customer) and a service provider who can give temporary access to their assets (peer). The type of exchange: Deviating from the traditional mode of exchange where customers gain ownership of assets for money, in CC there is no exchange of ownership but the asset provider (e.g., person with spare room) temporarily transfers the property rights to the customer (e.g., person looking for a temporary place to stay). Directness of exchange: This is the characteristic that differentiates it from sharing form of exchange. While sharing relies on social mechanisms for to coordinate exchanges usually among socially connected groups (e.g., family, friends), CC relies on market mediation for its exchanges. Now to understand the triadic exchange framework, we’ll have a look at the three actors that form this triad and their roles in detail (i.e., the customer, the peer and the platform provider). 3.1

Customer

Motives. The most important driver for customers to adopt CC is its costeffectiveness in a world where private ownership is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Social utility (like sense of belongingness, new friendships, etc.) provided by CC platforms is another important factor in its increasing adoption. Another attractiveness of CC is the opportunity for the customer to use luxury goods that they would normally not be able to afford (e.g., luxury rides in Uber, Beachside villas in Airbnb, designer clothes from rent the runway, etc.) and satisfy their desire for status. CC reduces risks and responsibilities associated with owning a product (e.g., maintenance and insurance costs of owning a car) and lets them experience it without committing to purchase thus reducing the risk of making poor purchase decisions. Although sharing does indicate toward a proenvironment impact, that is only a weak motivator for customers to adopt CC. Activities. The customer interacts with the platform, peer service provider and the assets. There is also a possibility to interact with other customers directly or indirectly which drives the community aspect which adds to the social benefits. Based on the service being provided, a customer might be required to provide a varying range of information

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from name and email and address to linking their social media and passport numbers. These also include providing reviews that help other peers and prospective customers develop trust toward other participants and consumptionscapes. The customers are expected to behave appropriately and governance systems may be put in place to ensure this, but this might result in negative consumer reactions and even opting out of CC. Resources and Capabilities. The increasing popularity of CC has been facilitated with the advent of social technologies in Web 2.0. So, a customer is expected to be proficient in using mobile and internet technologies to be able to use the platform either through mobile apps or internet. This automatically positions CC to be more attractive to the younger tech savvy crowd compared to other demographic groups. 3.2

Peer Service Provider

Motives. CC has enabled providers to gain economically by providing them a means by which to monetize their underutilized assets efficiently. The contribution from the customers could be quasi-financial (e.g., virtual currency) or non-financial as well (e.g., social appreciation), but economic benefits are the most important motive for both peer service providers and customers. CC gives the peers entrepreneurial freedom to showcase their skills/assets to customers who are willing to pay for them. This enables them to free themselves the restrictions of a time bound traditional job restrictions. CC also provided an opportunity to individuals owning assets to recover during the economic downturn. Peer providers value social capital they gain from the opportunity to interact with people from multiple cultures across the globe in exchanging each other’s experiences of the local place. Activities. The most important part of CC is the network of peer service providers interested to share their resources which are underutilized through the platform providers making it the most crucial activity that the peers engage in. The peer service provider also acts as the point of contact for the customer and the ambassador of the brand/platform. A single instance of impropriety from peer service provider may affect the customer’s future engagement with the brand. But to standardize, the behavior would defeat the motives of customers to have unique experiences at each place. This can be balanced with practices like the platform provider appraising the service providers with a general code of conduct outlining appropriate behaviors. Peer service providers can

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provide a personalized service to each customer and cultivate relationships to increase the perceived value for the customer, which they value more than productivity especially in CC. Resources and capabilities. They make their underutilized personal assets available for customers. These can include objects, time, money, goods, services, information and skills. Some examples would be a spare room (Airbnb), driving people around (Uber), sharing a skill (Taskrabbit), etc. The reputation of the platform provider indirectly depends upon the reputation of each peer service provider in its network. This reputation is built through the reviews that the customers share about their experiences. There are no other means through which the peer service provider can promote their services. Some platforms (e.g., Airbnb) also provide options to rate the customers to truly capitalize on the social aspect of CC. Trust is extremely important in the CC context as often the customer and the peer service provider would be interacting with a complete stranger whom they have never met before. CC can be considered as their willingness and flexibility to trust each other and supporting well-being and sustainability over profitability. 3.3

Platform Provider

Motives. The primary motive of any platform is to make profit, but since it’s driven by the peer service provider and the customer, the pricing aspect becomes tricky. Shared understanding and trust become a precursor to overcome the risk factor that the participants in CC might experience. This is achieved by the platform playing the role of the brand governor by clearly articulating its mission and value proposition. CC emerged due to rapid changes in the market place and customer preferences along with an opportunity to efficiently exploit the competencies and resources of the participants (customer and peer service provider). This opportunity was taken up by the platform providers. For example, there was a need among the novel experience seeking youngsters for economical ways of travel and accommodation which was filled by Uber and Airbnb. Each actor in the hierarchy has their own important role to play by supporting the other actors in co-creating values and integrating resources rather than striving toward sales and profits. This means that the platform must build relationships with both peer service provider and customer to co-create value which ultimately can result in economic gains.

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Activities. The platform providers act as matchmakers between the customer and the peer service providers using sophisticated algorithms (e.g., Uber) and providing ratings and reviews to help identify desirable customers and service providers. One of the most important activities is to create brand awareness and brand equity by communicating their value proposition. This will be adjusted through overlapping meanings that participants acquire through their various interactions and experiences with each other. Stronger brands also perform the function of engendering trust within the participants. Some ways in which the platform providers create trust and reduce risk are by enabling the customers and peer service providers with a rating system, secure payment methods and proper redressal mechanisms in case of any failure. The brand meaning is affected by the interactions between customers and peer service providers, therefore the platform provider can play the role of shaping this meaning through outlining and communicating the social norms to the participants of CC. The most important role played by the platform provider is to smoothen the resource supply and demand since they operate in an extremely dynamic supply demand market where it’s near impossible to predict the supply and demand since that is decided based on the convenience of the peer service provider and the customer. In such a situation, the platform provider through its matchmaking algorithm can control the demand through strategies like pricing or information sharing (e.g., surge pricing by Uber) (Fig. 1). Resources and Capabilities. The information that’s available with the platform provider about the customer and the peer service provider can be used to fine tune the platform’s algorithm to be extremely responsive to the dynamic changes in a CC context as well as to give the platform a competitive advantage over its competitors making it impossible for them to imitate the value provided. The differential advantage also stems from the network of peer service providers and customers that they have brought together to their platform by leveraging technology. Although there is a view that CC is fast replacing traditional labor and harming them, from the platform provider’s perspective, they are providing a dynamic and open network that can be used by one and all to generate opportunities and create shared wealth.

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Fig.1 The triadic frameworkof collaborative consumption (Source Developed by the authors based on extant literature review)

4

The Future of Collaborative Consumption

The volatile future challenges marketers about what holds and how the “new normal” will define consumers’ interactions and propensity to consume responsibly. The answer to this question will be driven by the galvanic forces exerted by the transforming economic environment. The market dynamics are demanding consumers to, at best, make assumptions about the future in consuming consciously. This trend certainly will orient the new consumer toward collaborative consumption for contributing to a sustainable tomorrow. The impact of the sharing economy on marketing as a domain addresses three core mechanisms (i.e., institutions, processes, and value creation). In a nutshell, the sharing economy constitutes a technologically driven socioeconomic schema with five key dimensions (i.e., temporary access, transfer of economic value, platform mediation, expanded consumer role, and crowdsourced supply).13 The sharing economy is a melting pot with diverse businesses venturing to recognize and create new market niches and reengineer business structures to cater to them. 13 Eckhardt et al., “Marketing in the Sharing Economy.”.

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The bulk of the foreseeable future accounts to the market segments of the sharing economy in terms of (i) Mobility sharing: The shared use of a car, bicycle or vehicles that provides consumers with temporary access on need basis. Examples include: quickride, blahblah car, etc. (ii) Consumerto-consumer (c2c) finance: Consumers and providers collaborate using technology and applications, evading intermediaries such as banks and insurance companies. (iii) Space sharing: This has already redefined the hospitality and tourism industry in the last few years. These allow travelers/tourists to rent accommodations from the owner directly through their website or mobile application. Examples include: Airbnb and couch surfing. (iv) Person-to-person consumer goods rentals: a sharing model for consumer goods such as clothing, furniture and tools. Collaborative consumption weaving ahead new opportunities for business has also redefined the marketers’ vision toward consumers. Consumers on the other hand are rethinking consumption in the light of future. Sharing economy as a driver to deliver responsible consumption has promising avenues for the future.

5

Vignettes on Collaborative Consumption14

Traffic congestion and its adverse effects on the environment has been a pressing issue for years. The rise in automobile purchases given the increase in disposable income and aspirations of consumers is also on a high. But, the shifting attitudes of consumers toward a cautious and responsible consumption has given birth to the concept of mobility sharing. Carpooling not only helps lower vehicular pollution, it also saves time, money and reduces traffic congestion. KNM Rao and Shobhana Sriram redefined this idea on a digital platform through Quick Ride in 2015. Convenient for working professionals, Quick Ride bridges commuters to the owners traveling to the same place/locality or working in the similar offices/locality to offer their cars or bikes on sharing basis. A commuter seeking to join a ride on the way to the office, will be provided

14 Source: https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/carpools-facilitated-by-quickride-witnesses-a-4x-growth-in-2019/1694470 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/cheaper-thanola-uber-how-quick-ride-is-making-office-commutes-convenient/articleshow/741279 71.cms.

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with a series of riders taking the same route. One can see the route similarity, drop and pick up points, rider schedules and even repeat schedules for the week. Quick Ride validates all its user’s authenticated email id of workplaces. The company is on a quadruple growth from 2018. On an average user has shared 2,75,000,00 rides preventing almost 53,000 tons of carbon emissions in 2019. Women users on quick ride has seen a hike with 6,30,000 women on the application in 2019. Mobility sharing has fueled momentum in metropolitan cities where traffic congestion is a primary concern for consumers. However, Quick ride today stands out essentially for its affordability and environmental consciousness. Users of Quick Ride can also evaluate their contribution to environment through their carbon emission saving through carpooling.

References Bardhi, Fleura, and Giana M Eckhardt. “Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing.” Journal of Consumer Research 39, no. 4 (2012): 881–98. Belk, Russell. “Sharing versus Pseudo-Sharing in Web 2.0.” The Anthropologist 18, no. 1 (2014): 7–23. Benoit, Sabine, Thomas L Baker, Ruth N Bolton, Thorsten Gruber, and Jay Kandampully. “A Triadic Framework for Collaborative Consumption (CC): Motives, Activities and Resources & Capabilities of Actors.” Journal of Business Research 79, no. November 2016 (2017): 219–27. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jbusres.2017.05.004. Botsman, Rachel, and Roo Rogers. “What’s Mine Is Yours.” The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, 2010. Eckhardt, Giana M, Mark B Houston, Baojun Jiang, Cait Lamberton, Aric Rindfleisch, and Georgios Zervas. “Marketing in the Sharing Economy.” Journal of Marketing 83, no. 5 (2019): 5–27. Hamari, Juho. “Transforming Homo Economicus into Homo Ludens: A Field Experiment on Gamification in a Utilitarian Peer-to-Peer Trading Service.” Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12, no. 4 (2013): 236–45. Lamberton, Cait Poynor, and Randall L Rose. “When Is Ours Better than Mine? A Framework for Understanding and Altering Participation in Commercial Sharing Systems.” Journal of Marketing 76, no. 4 (2012): 109–25. Molz, Jennie Germann. “CouchSurfing and Network Hospitality:’It’s Not Just about the Furniture’.” Hospitality & Society 1, no. 3 (2012): 215–25. Oh, Onook, Manish Agrawal, and H Raghav Rao. “Community Intelligence and Social Media Services: A Rumor Theoretic Analysis of Tweets during Social Crises.” MIS Quarterly, 2013, 407–26.

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Rosen, Devan, Pascale Roy Lafontaine, and Blake Hendrickson. “CouchSurfing: Belonging and Trust in a Globally Cooperative Online Social Network.” New Media & Society 13, no. 6 (2011): 981–98. Suhonen, Emmi, Airi Lampinen, Coye Cheshire, and Judd Antin. “Everyday Favors: A Case Study of a Local Online Gift Exchange System.” In Proceedings of the 16th ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work, 11–20, 2010. Tussyadiah, Iis P. “An Exploratory Study on Drivers and Deterrents of Collaborative Consumption in Travel.” In Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015, 817–30. Springer, 2015. Wang, Chingning, and Ping Zhang. “The Evolution of Social Commerce: The People, Management, Technology, and Information Dimensions.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 31, no. 1 (2012): 5. Wasko, Molly McLure, and Samer Faraj. “Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice.” MIS Quarterly, 2005, 35–57. Wattal, Sunil, David Schuff, Munir Mandviwalla, and Christine B Williams. “Web 2.0 and Politics: The 2008 US Presidential Election and an e-Politics Research Agenda.” MIS Quarterly, 2010, 669–88.

The Profile of Potential Youth Volunteers in the Face of Bullying: An Attempt at Segmentation from the Perspective of Willingness to Collaborate as a Volunteer Araceli Galiano-Coronil , Juan José Mier-Terán Franco , and Rafael Ravina Ripoll

1

Introduction

Education is a fundamental right of all people and is a resource that favours social mobility; that is, it prevents the perpetuation of poverty, it also promotes equal opportunities and reduces social inequality. Although progress has been made in the enrolment rate, nearly 258 million children are out of school in 2018, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO Institute for Statistic 2021). However, the low enrolment

A. Galiano-Coronil (B) · J. J. M.-T. Franco · R. R. Ripoll University of Cadiz, Avda. de La Universidad, 4 - 11406 Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz), Spain e-mail: [email protected] J. J. M.-T. Franco e-mail: [email protected] R. R. Ripoll e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_6

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rate is a concern, but the data in official statistics reveal another even more pressing problem, bullying. In this sense, it should be noted that 32% of students were harassed by their peers at least once in a month in 2019. This harassment can be physical, sexual or psychological, the most common in North America and Europe being psychological, while in the rest of the regions, it is physical and sexual. In this context, cyberbullying has emerged in recent years, affecting one in ten children (UNESCO Education Sector 2019). In the Spanish environment, it should be noted that in 2017, there were 1,054 complaints of bullying (Epdata 2020). If we consider Olweus’ studies (Olweus 1994), bullying refers to a student that is exposed, continually to hostile actions by one or more students. The adverse effects that the victim can suffer are low self-esteem, difficulty integrating into the school environment, and learning development. The International University of Valencia (Universidad Internacional de Valencia 2018) also mentions that children suffer passivity, emotional disorders, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and guilt. Fighting against bullying is one of the goals to achieve what is proposed in SDGs 4 and 16 to guarantee equitable quality and inclusive education, and promote inclusive societies (UNESCO Education and Sector 2019; Sourander et al. 2010). There is extensive literature that addresses health and psychosocial problems related to bullying, especially mental health such as depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide (Moore et al. 2014; Sigurdson et al. 2015). Although, not much literature on social marketing, volunteers, and bullying has been found in the sources consulted. Most of it is focused on adolescents’ psychological and socio-demographic aspects (Da Silva et al. 2018; Weng et al. 2017), or violence online (Dennehy et al. 2019; Melovi´c et al. 2020). Therefore, this study aims to analyse the profile of people willing to collaborate as volunteers in NGOs that help children who have suffered bullying from a social marketing perspective. For this purpose, the following objectives have been set: – To raise awareness about the problem of bullying. – To know the profile of the young people who are willing to collaborate as volunteers. – To comment on marketing initiatives to encourage collaboration as NGO volunteers in the fight against bullying.

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2 Social Marketing and Behaviour: Main Motivations and Barriers to Volunteering 2.1

Social Marketing and Behaviour

Social marketing is a discipline that has become increasingly important since Kotler and Zaltman proposed the first formal definition in 1971 (Kotler and Zaltman 1971), which is specified below: “Design, implementation, and control of programs designed to influence the acceptance of ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution, and marketing research.” (p. 5)

This concept has gradually evolved to include the term “behaviour”, as Andreasen (1994) affirmed in its definition, referring to the fact that the ultimate objective of social marketing is to change voluntary behaviour in order to achieve appropriate conduct concerning specific social causes such as stopping smoking, eating healthily, collaborating with NGOs, etc. Andreasen (1995) indicated that to promote a change in behaviour of people necessarily go through four different phases. These, shown in Table 1, are based on the model developed by Prochaska and Di Clemente (1991). In the first phase, the pre-contemplation phase, the aim is to make the target group aware of the behaviour. To do this, they must be shown that the new behaviour proposed does not go against the social groups’ ethical values, and it is helpful to improve group and individual life. In the second phase, called contemplation, it is vital to understand how the programme’s targets decide how they can be influenced and motivated Table 1

Stages of behaviour change and marketing tasks

Stages of behaviour change

Marketing tasks

Andreasen modified stages

1. Pre-contemplation

Create awareness and interest Change of values Persuade, motivate Create action Sustain change

1. Pre-contemplation

2. 3. 4. 5.

Contemplation Preparation Action Maintenance

Source Andreasen (1995)

2. Contemplation 3. Action 4. Maintenance

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to undertake the proposed action. In this stage, the main activity is to act on beliefs. In the third phase, called preparation, people are seriously considering acting soon and carrying out the proposed behaviour. In the fourth phase, called to action, the decision to act may depend on the search for personal gratification or even social pressure. The personal conviction that the proposed behaviour can be effectively adopted is essential, so this critical activity is training and facilitation. Finally, in the final or maintenance phase, it is crucial that, through marketing activities, the person maintains over time the new behaviour adopted. In conclusion, in order to get the person to adopt the behaviour proposed by the social marketing programme, it is necessary to get the individual first to know the idea that is proposed, secondly, to evaluate the possibility of adopting it and seeing with pleasure the possibility of adopting it, so that later on the person can be convinced to adopt the proposed behaviour. 2.2

Motivations and Barriers to Collaboration as a Volunteer

Another critical issue in social marketing is to consider the main barriers and motivations of the target adopters to adopt the appropriate behaviour. In this regard, various studies divide volunteer motivations into two groups, those that are “heterocentric” or altruistic and those that are “self-centred” or linked to personal development (Omoto and Snyder 1995). The heterocentric ones refer to the benefits that volunteers achieve for other people, such as the desire to help others or participate in collective actions. The self-centred ones refer to the positive results that the person expects to achieve for him/herself by acting as a volunteer, among which are: belonging to a group, personal gratifications and use of free time. In this sense, García (1994) adds a third type of motivation called instrumental, based on growth in experience, entry into the professional world or knowledge of reality. Following the above, it should be pointed out that other research, such as that carried out by Allison, Okun and Dutridge (2002), concluded that other determinants of collaboration as a volunteer are: enjoyment, religiosity and team building. Chacón, Pérez and Vecina (2010) consider it more appropriate to analyse the motivations of volunteers through open-ended questions, where people can spontaneously express those relevant reasons that lead

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them to volunteer. In consideration of the study mentioned above, the following categories and sub-categories of motivations have been obtained: Values (religious, social transformation, reciprocity and interest in the community), knowledge and understanding (self-knowledge), social adjustment, improvement of the curriculum, defence of the self, improvement of esteem (personal growth, social relations, enjoyment), organizational commitment (institutional and with the group) and interest in the activity (with people or specific action). In Spain, volunteers act moved by similar factors such as solidarity or helping others, learning something new and doing something different, meeting new people, making friends, religious faith, acquiring work experience or professional skills, and political convictions (Plataforma del Voluntariado en España (PVE) 2018). Of these parameters, it is worth focusing on the first one because specific differences must be considered between the term solidarity, altruism, and the expression “helping others”. It is common to identify volunteering actions as altruistic behaviours; however, it would be more convenient to relate the volunteer with the helping behaviour from a motivational perspective since he/she would expect to receive some compensation, mainly psychological (Yubero and Larrañaga 2002; Konrath 2011). The willingness to collaborate as a volunteer is influenced not only by individuals’ motivations, as discussed in the previous paragraphs, but also by the barriers or difficulties encountered by individuals when participating in a volunteer activity. The target adopter’s costs may be monetary or non-monetary, referred to as “adoption costs” (Kotler and Roberto 1992). Monetary costs comprise the amount of money that the individual has to pay to acquire a social product. As for non-monetary costs, Moliner (1998) calls them “sacrifices”, and they would be the following: – Of time. It refers to the dedication to making more efficient use of the time that the target adopters have to devote to acquiring the social product. – Physical. It encompasses the physical efforts involved in acquiring a given behaviour. – Psychic. Refers to the emotional costs that the target audience has to face. – Social. These are related to the person’s environment and social position (friends, family, co-workers). In other words, how the campaign will affect their self-image.

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– Opportunity cost. It refers to the possible alternative uses that individuals could make of their resources to acquire the social product. One of the main controversies arises when deciding whether to donate time or money. In this sense, the value of a donation is not the same as the price paid for a product or service since economic values and social values govern them. In particular, the representation of time is more closely related to an emotional meaning. In contrast, money is more closely related to the concept of economic utility. People see solidarity as a means to happiness (Liu and Aaker 2008). A common finding is that volunteers are more likely to consider themselves happy (McGowan 2006; Borgonovi 2008; Akintola 2010). In this sense, voluntary action is often described as a “warm glow” that they associate with helping someone and contributing to the public good as well as feeling more vigorous and energized (Meier 2006). Other studies reach similar conclusions by stating that volunteering results in reduced psychological stress and improved life satisfaction, self-esteem and physical health (Thoits and Hewitt 2001; Post 2005). Returning to the research of Liuy & Aaker (2008), they observed that if asked about the intention to donate time, it is easier for the person to be seen as a contributor. The amount of donations also differs depending on whether one asks first to donate time and secondly to donate money (being higher in this case than if one reverses the question). Another aspect to highlight, according to various research, is that people prefer to donate money rather than time if it is highly linked to the cause or values defended by the organization (Reed et al. 2007; Sarros et al. 2011). It is because they have greater confidence in the NGO (Amagoh 2015). Being known and trusted is the main reason for choosing to collaborate with an NGO. For social marketing, this approach is quite interesting when establishing a pricing policy that optimizes the benefits expected by the volunteer and minimizes the difficulties encountered in carrying out their work.

3

Methodology

This work has carried out an exploratory and descriptive study using secondary information by gathering techniques a bibliographic review on

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the aspects on which the research is focused. The survey was also used as a technique for information retrieval. The social cause on which the survey focuses is school bullying. Young people and children should not be considered a vulnerable group, but rather one of the main assets for change to face the world’s problems. This group is called upon to be a key player in achieving sustainable development objectives (SDO). Spain is ranked 21st in the global ranking of the 41 OECD countries in terms of child welfare. However, it is below average in employment and economic growth objectives and fighting against poverty and reducing inequality (Unicef 2020). Guaranteeing children and young people’s well-being is an essential condition for fulfilling Agenda 2030, and making the ODS a reality is a commitment to a social and political model that places children and young people, especially the most vulnerable, at the centre. Children have an enormous capacity to bring about change for themselves and their communities, and the rest of the world. As an example of this, we highlight the courage of Gabriel Fabregat, a 16-year-old high school student who suffered bullying and who now leads the organization Bracelets Out, an organization that fights against bullying. This organization comprises six young activists, many of them with a past of bullying, who offer “equal to equal” attention to students who need it (Gómez 2018). A questionnaire was designed by adapting the one developed by Niebuur et al. (2019) to identify the profile of people who are willing to collaborate as volunteers and compare it with those who are not willing to participate. This instrument is based in turn on the Volunteer Functions Inventory, for whose construction Clary & Snyder (1991) were based on these functions (improvement, protection, knowledge, social, values and career) and considered accessible and significant people who are motivated by volunteering. The questionnaire was administered to young people between 18 and 30 years of age residing in the city of Jerez during 2018. A total of 172 valid surveys were obtained. It consisted of 12 questions corresponding to five blocks: socio-demographic data, cognitive aspects (if they knew the organization under study or another related to the subject in question), stages of behaviour, barriers and motivations to volunteer. Before concluding this sub-section, it should be noted that the questionnaire was provided to a group of expert teachers and employees of the organizations to ask them to review the questionnaire concerning the clarity of the wording and whether they would recommend additional

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elements or the elimination of others. This group recommended several small drafting changes and two additional behavioural preferences, and we implemented these suggestions. We also tested 100 students from the Social Science and Communication faculty from the different grade levels to consider those not understood. Once these tests had been carried out, the final questionnaire was drawn up. Concerning the analysis, a classic uni and bivariate tabulation was used, completed with the application of association tests and contrasts of means. The analyses were performed using the SPSS v.25.0 software.

4

Results

At a descriptive level, Tables 2–5 show the distribution of practitioners in different variables of interest. Table 2 shows that women are more willing to collaborate as volunteers than men. They are characterized by having university studies, without work but with occasional income. Concerning the respondents who are Table 2

Distribution of respondents according to socio-demographic variables Willingness to collaborate as a volunteer

Gender Level of studies

I am currently working Income level

Source Own elaboration

Man Woman Primary Secondary University Master PhD Yes No I have no income I earn less than 1000e/month I earn more than 1000e/month I have income sometimes

No (%) 22.10 11.11 11.11 0.00 5.26 14.25 2.34 0.00 4.48 17.30 2.34 3.46

Yes (%) 77.90 16.96 60.82 0.00 9.94 66.45 1.75 0.00 15.20 63.02 11.50 9.30

Total (%) 100.00 28.07 71.93 0.00 15.20 80.70 4.09 0.00 19.68 80.32 13.84 12.76

1.10

5.80

6.90

15.10

51.40

66.50

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unwilling to collaborate as volunteers, it is noteworthy that the percentage of men is equal to that of women. An interesting fact reflected in Table 3 is that most of the respondents, both those who are willing to collaborate and those who are not, are in the pre-contemplation phase. It means that they are aware of the problem of bullying but have not considered taking any action in this regard. Tables 4 and 5 show the average importance of users to the main barriers and motivations (Likert scale of 1–5). Concerning the barriers that prevent collaboration as a volunteer, it should be noted that, although they have relatively low importance, 3 of them stand out with averages above 3 in respondents who are willing to collaborate as volunteers: lack of time (3.96), lack of money (3.64) and transport difficulties (3.62). Regarding Table 5, it stands out that helping others is the primary motivation of the respondents to collaborate as volunteers in the organization under study (4.48), followed by meeting new people (4.01). Next, to analyse the possible differences between the willingness to collaborate as a volunteer in the different blocks of variables considered, different statistical contrasts were applied. The results are shown in Tables 6 and 7. Table 3 Distribution of respondents according to stage of behaviour change and knowledge about the organization Willingness to collaborate as a volunteer

Stage of behaviour change

Knowledge about the organization Knowledge of other organizations about bullying Source Own elaboration

Precontemplation Contemplation Preparation Action Yes No Yes but I don’t remember the name No

No (%) 22.10 0.58 19.77 1.16 0.58 0.58 21.64 13.76

Yes (%) 77.90 0.00 58.14 16.86 2.91 4.09 73.68 32.12

Total (%) 100.00 0.58 77.91 18.02 3.49 4.68 95.32 45.88

18.80

35.32

54.12

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Table 4

Importance of the different barriers to collaborating as a volunteer

Willingness to collaborate as a volunteer No Yes Total

Lack of time

Lack of money

Transport difficulties

Not knowing people

Lack of motivation

State of mind

3.54 3.96 3.87

3.00 3.64 3.50

2.65 3.62 3.40

2.43 2.83 2.74

2.19 2.30 2.27

1.92 2.17 2.11

Source Own elaboration

Table 5

Importance of the different motivations to collaborating as a volunteer

Willingness to collaborate as a volunteer

Meet new people

Professional experience

3.46 4.01 3.89

2.97 3.61 3.47

No Yes Total

Rewarding Do something Community to help people useful services 3.86 4.48 4.35

3.14 3.82 3.67

3.23 3.85 3.75

Source Own elaboration

Table 6

Chi-Square tests

Pearson Chi-Square Gender Stage of behaviour change Knowledge about the organization Income level Level of studies I am currently working Knowledge of other organizations about bullying

Value

df

Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)

11.637 8.873 0.459 0.993 8.727 0.051 50.585

1 3 1 3 2 1 2

0.001 0.031 0.498 0.803 0.013 0.822 0.001

Source Own elaboration

Concerning Table 6, it should be noted that the willingness to collaborate as volunteers is not associated with knowledge about the organization, income level, and is working. However, there is a relationship between this variable and gender, behavioural stage, and level of education. Further deepening in the user profile, it has been found (Tables 2–3)

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Table 7

Comparison of means between willingness to volunteer and barriers Lack of time

Mann–Whitney U Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a. Grouping Variable:

1973

Lack of money 1690.5

0.04

0.010

Transport difficulties 1388

Not knowing people 2075.5

0.000

0.170

Lack of motivation 2327 0.702

State of mind 2126.5 0.261

Willingness to collaborate as a volunteer

Source Own elaboration

Table 8 tions

Comparison of means between willingness to volunteer and motivaMeet new people

Mann–Whitney U Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) a. Grouping Variable:

1647.5 0.002

Professional experience 1720.5 0.006

Rewarding to help people

Do something useful

1417

1676.5

0.000

0.003

Community services 1618.0 0.002

Willingness to collaborate as a volunteer

Source Own elaboration

that there is a greater inclination to participate among women (60.82%), respondents who are in the contemplation phase (58.14%), and those with university studies (66.45%). Finally, with regard to the importance that interviewed attach to barriers and motivations to participation as volunteers statistically significant differences have been found in: lack of time, lack of money, transport difficulties, meet new people, professional experience, rewarding to help people and do something useful.

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5

Marketing Proposals

Once having taken into consideration the results, the following proposals for marketing actions have been made. The target audience of the initiatives should be young people between 18 and 30 years of age willing to collaborate. Concerning the behavioural stage, most of the respondents were in the pre-contemplation phase. This result is significant because it conditions the type of marketing actions to be carried out to get them to collaborate as volunteers. It means that they are aware of the problem but have not considered acting on it. Under these premises, it is essential to point out that, in addition to considering the behavioural objective, it would also be necessary to establish knowledge or belief objectives (MierTerán 2011) since the target public is at a stage where they are aware of the problem but perhaps do not have enough information to make them aware of the harsh consequences of harassment. In this sense, Leal (2000) proposes activities to persuade or motivate, i.e., to convince that it is right to carry out the behaviour. To this end, a marketing campaign is proposed in which the agent of change is the association itself (Kotler and Roberto 1992). The behavioural objectives will be: to increase the number of young people to collaborate as volunteers in NGOs that help children and adolescents in bullying, and ensure that cases are reported. Likewise, as a belief objective, it is proposed to deepen bullying among young people. These activities will be carried out in secondary schools and universities. Before designing these activities, it is necessary to take into account the motivations and barriers to participation. The main difficulty encountered was lack of time, so if mandatory activities or daily chores do not leave much time for volunteering, perhaps a paradigm shift should be considered, whereby volunteering becomes more of a “must do” activity in which volunteering becomes more of a civic, ethical obligation, rather than a residual activity to be and not a residual activity, to which idle time can be devoted, the time that is left over once the essential things are done. The main product would be the record that allows verifying that the bullying situation has improved through the activation of a protocol that safeguards the victim, protects their rights and freedoms and allows them to describe what happened in their case, freely and anonymously. As improved products, free online information workshops would be offered to deepen and sensitize the target audience to the seriousness of the

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problem and a space on the NGO’s website so that possible cases of bullying can be reported anonymously. It is proposed that the main social networks should be used, in particular Facebook and Instagram, both used very frequently by young people (IAB Spain 2021; Statista 2021). NGOs are also taking advantage of the potential of social media as marketing and communication tools (Campbell and Lambright 2020; Florenthal et al. 2020; Klafke et al. 2021). The advantages of using digital social networks include low cost, the opportunity for two-way communication, relationship building and content of interest (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010; Nah and Saxton 2013). As augmented products, it is proposed to create talks (with psychologists specializing in the material and real testimonies), events and workshops on young people’s topics. A helpline would also be provided to facilitate communication and reporting of bullying cases. Social networks, as mentioned above, are powerful communication and distribution tools that provide users with all the information necessary to carry out the proposed activities. In this sense, the creation of a blog in secondary schools and universities is proposed as a school activity in which pupils can share their experiences and those they may know about in their immediate environment (Song and Song 2021). It would serve as a first exploration to detect possible irregularities in the behaviour of the students. In addition, a Facebook page in scholar centres will also be created where, in a more informal and social context, activities can be proposed, and the association’s Facebook page will be updated. It would also be convenient to use Twitter because interesting hashtags can deepen and contribute to improving the knowledge about bullying and its specific aspects. Finally, it is also convenient to carry out content marketing activities in schools and for the organization to increase its visibility and popularity. One of these proposals could be similar to the one carried out in the association for children with Down’s syndrome, called Down Jerez Aspanido, prepared by students from the University of Cadiz (Spain). The activity was designed under the content marketing approach, a presentation of a drone of a company based in the area and videos about the utilities of this instrument. The activity increased the visibility (likes and comments) of the organization’s Facebook page exponentially in the period in which the activity was carried out (Coronil and Ripoll 2017).

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6 Conclusions, Limitations and Future Research Directions The present study offers an insight into the profile of young people who are willing to volunteer in causes related to bullying. It also shows what characteristics young people who are not interested in participating have. The first interesting fact shown by the study is that most of the respondents are willing to collaborate as volunteers. It is a relevant fact that coincides with the report from the Volunteer Platform in Spain (Plataforma del Voluntariado de España (PVE) 2016), where it is pointed out that, although the degree of satisfaction for volunteering is high (almost nine out of ten volunteers), the majority (62.7%) think that it is a job that is not sufficiently valued. Concerning the profile obtained of young people who are willing to collaborate as volunteers in causes related to school bullying, the characteristics are female with university studies, unemployed but with income from time to time. These characteristics coincide with the 2018 report on volunteering in Spain, except that most of the volunteers work in this report. It could indicate the high volume of unemployment in Jerez, where the percentage of unemployed people amounts to 35.58% in March 2021, primarily women. It is interesting to note that concerning people who are unwilling to collaborate as volunteers, there are no differences in gender, although the rest of the characteristics of the socio-demographic profile coincide with the people willing to participate. Refers to the bullying problem, another interesting result is that most of the respondents, both those who are willing to participate and those who are not, are in the contemplation phase, i.e., they are aware of bullying but have not considered taking action. It is important because it conditions the marketing strategy to be carried out. In this sense, as Leal (2000) states, it would be convenient to propose activities to persuade or motivate, i.e., to convince that it is right to carry out the behaviour. In addition, the majority of respondents stated that they did not know about the organization Bracelets Out, but they are aware that there are organizations dedicated to fighting this problem. Concerning the main motivations that move the respondents to collaborate as volunteers, the most valued are helping others and meeting new people. From these results, it can be deduced that people are willing to collaborate for psychological and social reasons. In this sense, many of the studies carried out on this issue point to the fact that psychological

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and behavioural aspects motivate volunteers to collaborate (Ballesteros 2011; Osorio 2009; Lu et al. 2020; Yarris et al. 2020). However, more recent studies indicate that community service, career advancement and well-being were the primary motivations for individuals (Yamashita et al. 2019). It is also interesting the findings from Yang (2021) research that reveal a significant theme of self-helping motivation through engaging in other-helping endeavours during crisis time. One striking fact is that the value of acquiring professional experience is much higher among those who are willing to collaborate as volunteers than among those who do not plan to participate. Concerning the barriers, the most significant obstacles are lack of time, followed by lack of money and transportation difficulties. In reports on volunteering in Spain, lack of time is the main obstacle to collaborating (Plataforma del Voluntariado en España (PVE) 2018). It is pretty clear that if there is no free time if obligatory activities (work or study, support tasks, care for dependent persons) occupy all or a large part of the day, it is hardly possible to think about volunteer activities. It is interesting to see that social or psychological barriers such as not knowing anyone, lack of motivation or mood are not considered barriers that hinder collaboration as a volunteer. However, the respondents are not very aware of the difficulty that emotional aspects may pose, as they may be affected by specific situations of children or young people who have suffered bullying. Psychological stress is one of the most common risks faced by volunteers (Vecina et al. 2001), but civil society does not consider this factor when thinking about carrying out this type of solitary activities. In conclusion, it is pointed out that this philosophy is particularly relevant today as public authorities, businesses, and non-profit organizations join forces to ensure that current sustainable development objectives are met. In this context, the key to good Social Marketing is to talk to (and listen to) the people you want to reach. It is a customer-oriented process, so all aspects of a programme must be developed proactively with the wishes, needs and shortcomings of the target audience as the central focus. The present study, like any other, has some limitations, the first of which is that no reliability test has been carried out. The second is that it has been carried out in only one place in Spain, so there could be different results in other countries. The third is the cross-sectional nature of the study, as well as the low response rate. All of this limits our ability to make causal inferences. Finally, the results may be more statistically

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robust if we consider the following procedure: first, a sample of students would be chosen. Then a social marketing campaign would be implemented to achieve greater collaboration with the association under study. Finally, after the campaign, a follow-up would be done to see if they have moved on to another stage of behaviour, for example, from the contemplation stage to the preparation stage. In this sense, it is important to consider the bias that may occur in the results if there are subjects with a negative attitude towards this type of campaign. For future research, a comparative scale could be developed to see the differences between the motivations of volunteers and non-volunteers according to their stage of behaviour. This scale could be particularly interesting for young people and teenagers, who may be experiencing bullying more closely. In this way, recruitment strategies for volunteers could be improved, and even jobs could be offered that are more in line with their motivations and consider their difficulties in volunteering. In addition, strategies could be developed to retain current volunteers and motivate them to become more involved by better-adapting jobs to their motivations. Future research should also seek to extend this work with an actual social marketing intervention and a purposively selected sample.

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An Unexpected Journey: Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being Bikramjit Rishi

1

and Sarthak Agarwal

Introduction

Social media is “a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, para. 9).” It serves as a powerful tool for managing communication and relationships among friends, families, consumers, employees, and organizations (Tang et al., 2015). However, the technology is frequently evolving—with improvement happening on both the technology side (the addition of new features and services) and the user/consumer side (with

B. Rishi (B) School of Management & Entrepreneurship (SME), Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (SNIoE) (Deemed to be University), Greater Noida, India e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] S. Agarwal School of Management & Entrepreneurship (SME), Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (SNIoE) (Deemed to be University), Greater Noida, India e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_7

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consumers discovering new ways/methods of using social media) (Appel et al., 2020). Owing to the wide range of functionalities that social media offers, the number of people using it has increased dramatically in the last decade. In 2020, social media were used by over 3.6 billion people, and the number is expected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025 (Statista, 2021a, 2021b). Likewise, there has been an observed increase in the time consumers devote to social media. Globally, the average daily social media usage of internet users aged 16–64 worldwide increased by nearly 60%, from 90 minutes per day in 2012—to 145 minutes per day in 2020 (Statista, 2021a, 2021b). These trends indicate the massive potential of social media and the primary reason why social media marketing forms an integral part of a firm’s marketing strategy (Appel et al., 2020). It also offers several advantages over traditional marketing techniques, including—lower costs, increased and new forms of social interaction, targeted advertising, and improved customer service (Nadaraja & Yazdanifard, 2013). As per Sirgy (2021), “Consumer Wellbeing reflects a meta-level concept of societal welfare” (p. 1) and may be broadly compared to customer satisfaction. Research has identified multiple conceptualizations that define consumer well-being, generally applicable to all consumers (Leong et al., 2016). For instance, the consumer price index, total consumption expenditure index, and consumer complaint data (Better Business Bureau) measure consumer well-being in the public sector. Similarly, shopping satisfaction (Meadow & Sirgy, 2008), possession satisfaction (Andrews, 1976), and perceived value in life (Sirgy et al., 2006), among others, contribute to consumer well-being in the academic sector. A comprehensive definition of consumer well-being would encompass the emotive and mental reaction generated in consumer experience, including three components: consumer satisfaction, perceived quality of life, and positive emotion (Zhao & Wei, 2019). The category so defined indicates that consumers buy products and services for their consumption and look for refining their perceived quality of life—all of which ultimately constitute their perception of well-being. Customer satisfaction has long been the end goal of marketing practice (Webster, 1988). Research has revealed that customer satisfaction positively influences a firm’s financial outcomes, including sales and profits (Yeung & Ennew, 2000). The research findings also suggest that it is

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linked with loyalty, positive word of mouth, and repeat sales. (e.g., Gronholdt et al., 2000; Shankar et al., 2003; Szymanski & Henard, 2001). From an individual consumer’s perspective, consumer well-being can improve personal physical and mental health and inhibit unhealthy states (Zhao & Wei, 2019). Thus, consumer well-being constitutes a crucial element in the field of macro-marketing. Today’s consumer is living in an increasingly “omni-social” world, with social media intersecting with most aspects of his/her life (Appel et al., 2020). Hence, it is crucial to consider the role played by social media in a consumer’s well-being. To understand this, we must first identify the dimensions of consumer well-being that are applicable in the context of social media. Several metrics that were originally designed to measure consumer well-being are now accounted for by social media. Likewise, the increasing use of social media has also invited research on its impact on a consumer’s well-being. The effect of these models has been discussed in detail in the subsequent sections. This chapter aims to link social media and consumer well-being by exploring the role of social media in various dimensions related to well-being and designing a framework for marketers to promote consumer well-being through marketing efforts on social media.

2

Social Media for Consumer Well-Being

As social media continues to proliferate people’s lives and the social media interactions among consumers are continuously evolving, researchers are making an effort to understand the use of social media. Researchers conduct conceptual and empirical studies to link social media goals, consumer motivations, and consumer well-being (Hoffman, 2012). The need for such models is gaining importance as consumer participation on social media platforms has led to both positive and negative consequences on well-being. Since the impact of social media is multifold, one may categorize the same based on the three broad characteristics of consumer well-being. These include—consumer satisfaction, positive emotions, and perceived value of life (Zhao & Wei, 2019). When it comes to consumer satisfaction, we explore the models proposed by Sirgy (2021) and identify those relevant in the social media context. Table 1 summarizes the review of consumer well-being models. Those models whose role has now been replaced by social media platforms are identified for this chapter. For instance, as discussed earlier,

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the Consumer Complain Model, defined by the Better Business Bureau, collects data on complaints on a company or brand (www.bbb.org/). A high number of customer complaints about a specific company indicates lower levels of consumer well-being. Today, major social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are used extensively for consumer complaints (Dekay, 2012; Einwiller & Steilen, 2015). Likewise, the Quality Model of consumer well-being states that a positive assessment for a specific product represents a higher level of consumer well-being. Consumer Reports, an independent non-profit member organization, provides consumers with an expert evaluation of the “value, quality or authenticity” of goods and services (www.consumerreports.org/). Social media also serves as a platform where consumers can share their reviews about product consumption experiences and influence consumers’ look for new products (Proserpio & Zervas, 2017). The models defined by Sirgy (2021) are primarily focused on consumer satisfaction. Still, new and emerging concepts of well-being such as eudaimonia (or psychological well-being) and social well-being (Sirgy & Uysal, 2016) are more focused on the two characteristics of consumer well-being defined earlier, i.e., positive emotions and perceived value of life (Refer Table 1). Eudaimonia reflects the use of relations with others, autonomy, environmental consciousness, self-growth, and purpose in life toward an individual’s functioning (Ryff & Singer, 2003). Social well-being constitutes social actualization, social coherence, social contribution, social acceptance, and social integration for positive social functioning in daily life. These aspects of consumer well-being are more significant from a social media perspective. To understand this, we look at the way consumers use social media today. Whiting and Williams (2013) determined seven themes based on social media use: social interaction, information seeking, passing time, entertainment, relaxation, communicatory utility, and convenience utility. At the same time, we should also explore the various motivations and goals that drive consumers to use social media. Firstly, consumers use social media to satisfy basic psychological needs, that is, individuals are motivated to connect with others and, additionally, for autonomy and competence (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Autonomy is the self-determined behavior in which the individual has a perceived locus of control. At the same time, competence is the capability of an individual to meet the challenges presented by a task. Secondly, the self-determination

Quality

Consumer complaint

Consumer Reports, an independent non-profit member organization, provides consumers with expert assessment of the “value, quality or authenticity” of goods and services (https://www.consumerreports. org/cro/about-us/what-we-do/index.htm)

The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics defines Consumer Price Index as a “measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by Urban Consumers for a market based of consumer goods and services” (https:// www.bls.gov/cpi/) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) uses the TCEI to compare total consumption expenditure across countries. The TCEI is a composite measure of all expenses across various expenditure categories, including cars, paper products, telephone connections, electricity, etc. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) collects customer complaints on a specific company or brand (https://www.bbb.org/)

Cost of living

Total Consumption Expenditure Index (TCEI)

Description

A review of consumer well-being models

Metric

Table 1

(continued)

A high number of customer complaints for a specific company indicates lower levels of consumer well-being (Sirgy, 2021) The positive assessment of the products determines a high level of consumer well-being (Sirgy, 2021)

At the macro level, a higher level of consumer well-being is indicated by a high level of expenditure (Sirgy, 2021)

Consumer well-being is impacted negatively due to the inflated prices

Impact on consumer well-being

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The model uses the Overall Consumer Satisfaction-Composite (OCSC). The composite is based on the expressed satisfaction of the consumers while purchasing products and services from the local institutions like local retailers, furniture stores, medical stores, transportation, recreation, education, and so on (Meadow & Sirgy, 2008) This metric involves two dimensions—Positive (positive contribution of shopping toward the quality of life) and Negative (The adverse outcomes of shopping in the form of overspending of money, time, and efforts) (Lee Sirgy, 2012; Sirgy et al., 2021) A determinant of consumer well-being determines consumer satisfaction with material goods. Additionally, another measure on possession satisfaction of economic goods has been designed by

Shopping satisfaction

Possession satisfaction

Shopping well-being

Description

(continued)

Metric

Table 1

Higher satisfaction with material goods increases overall happiness

Both dimensions are determining the quality of life and consumer well-being

Consumer’s expressed satisfaction with local retail establishments leads to an increase in consumer well-being

Impact on consumer well-being

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Day (1978) and Leelanuithanit et al. (1991) conceptualized acquisition (Consumer Satisfaction with shopping experiences) and possession (Possession of material goods) dimensions in the consumer life domain This metric, developed by Lee Sirgy (2012), measures consumer satisfaction with varied marketplace experiences, i.e., acquiring, owning, consuming, maintaining, and disposal of products Developed by Sirgy et al. (2000), this metric measures a consumer’s well-being based on the community resident’s satisfaction with various establishments in the local area, including insurance, real estate, transportation, and banking This model uses Need Hierarchy theory and identifies the goods and services that satisfy the different levels of the Need Hierarchy theory Based on the impact of industry on consumer well-being. For example, the effect of the Internet industry is determined by the effect of the Internet on consumer life, including work life, leisure life, social life, etc., which is further determined by the perceptions of benefit and costs of the Internet within that specific domain (Sirgy et al., 2006)

Acquisition/possession satisfaction

Perceived value in life

Need satisfaction

Community

Consumption life cycle

Description

Metric

(continued)

A high level of value perception indicates a high level of well-being in that industry. In the case of the Internet, higher value perception means more increased Internet well-being

Consumer well-being is based on the level of the need hierarchy and the ownership of products and services at that level

Consumer well-being is enhanced with an increase in satisfaction from these services

The different marketplace experiences contribute to the consumer well-being

Consumer well-being improves with increased satisfaction from acquiring and owning goods and services

Impact on consumer well-being

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Uses the Satisfaction Hierarchy model, this metric identifies that consumer well-being is impacted by the life events like work-life balance, leisure life, and family life (Lee & Sirgy, 2012)

Bottom-up spillover

Source Created by Authors

Description

(continued)

Metric

Table 1

The impact of the life events on the consumer well-being

Impact on consumer well-being

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theory states that people are motivated to engage in a particular behavior based on their motivational orientation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). It could be intrinsic or extrinsic, and individuals are expected to exhibit greater enjoyment, satisfaction, and general well-being. Finally, self-esteem serves as an essential aspect of an individual’s social media goal pursuit (Hoffman & Novak, 2012). It has two components—private self-esteem and collective self-esteem. Despite these benefits, social media may “engender undesirable influence” on users (Valkenburg et al., 2006, 2016). Excessive use of social networking sites also negatively impacts users’ well-being, specifically mental health risk and behavioral disorders (Ho & Ito, 2019). When we consider the consumer mentioned above motivations and behaviors, we can relate that social media better supports an individual’s need for psychological and social well-being. While these concepts may differ from consumer well-being, they are essential aspects to consider from a marketing perspective because they are ultimately driven by consumption. Thus, the question is—is there anything that organizations can do to mitigate the negative impact of social media on consumer well-being and enhance its positive effects? The next section of this chapter provides a framework for organizations to use social media for well-being.

3 Designing a Framework to Use Social Media for Consumer Well-Being Having established the various models of consumer well-being relevant in the social media context, we can now define multiple strategies and guidelines that organizations can integrate into their social media marketing strategy to improve consumer well-being. The proposed framework is shown in Fig. 1. 3.1

Identification of Models

Consumer well-being can be defined based on the consumer well-being models in terms of three broad characteristics—consumer satisfaction, positive emotion, and perceived quality of life (Zhao & Wei, 2019). Our framework uses these three characteristics to purpose models of consumer well-being for social media strategy.

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Identification of consumer wellbeing Models for social media

Model A (Customer Satisfaction)

Consumer Complaint Model

Model B (Positive Emotions + Perceived Value of Life)

Quality Model

Psychological Well-being

Social Well-Being

Strategic Actions (Model-Specific)

Model A (Customer Satisfaction)

Model B (Positive Emotions + Perceived Value of Life)

Execution Strategies

Goal

Execution Strategies

Goal

Relevant Themes

Relevant Themes

Outcomes (Impact)

Model A (Customer Satisfaction)

Model B (Positive Emotions + Perceived Value of Life)

Fig. 1 Consumer well being models for social media (Source Created by authors)

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3.1.1 Model A—Customer Satisfaction Several studies have been conducted on construing the meaning of customer satisfaction. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) may be considered as an adequate representative of the concept of customer satisfaction (Grzeskowiak & Sirgy, 2007). The various subconstructs included in this survey have customer loyalty, customer expectations, customer complaints, perceived quality, and value perceptions (Fornell, 1992). In the context of social media, we have focused on the consumer well-being models defined by Sirgy (2021), specifically, the Consumer Complaint Model and the Quality Model. As mentioned in the previous section of this chapter, the consumer complaint model focuses on how consumer well-being is influenced by a customer’s experiences with the products or services. These experiences may be positive or negative. It implies that a high level of complaints indicates a low level of customer well-being concerning a specific company or brand. On the other hand, the quality model focuses on how product/service reviews by experts in terms of quality (reliability, safety, durability, among others) also impact consumer well-being. Typically, a positive assessment of a product or service represents a high level of consumer well-being. 3.1.2 Model B—Positive Emotions and Perceived Value of Life Consumer well-being is essentially the link between consumer satisfaction and quality of life, extending beyond the functional value derived from products and services to also include emotional value and an individual’s perceived value of life. As discussed before, these two characteristics are a function of a consumer’s psychological and social well-being and are crucial from a social media perspective. The Ryff scale of psychological well-being measures psychological well-being on multiple facets, including self-acceptance, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and autonomy Zhukovskaya & Troshikhina (2011). Social media’s impact on psychological well-being may be positive or negative. A study conducted by Chen and Li (2017) revealed that psychological well-being is positively related to communicative use and self-disclosure on mobile social media. At the same time, social media use may also enable a social comparison with peers, with possible negative influence on specific aspects of personal well-being, including self-esteem and anxiety (Ho & Ito, 2019). Thus, marketers must design their marketing policies to contribute to a consumer’s psychological well-being.

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Table 2

Maslow hierarchy of needs and role of social media

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Role of social media

Physiological needs

Individuals post about the health and well-being of their family and friends Individuals post on social media about financial security, mental well-being, and physical well-being Social media users typically want to post something to get social acceptance from their friends and social media groups People post me-centric content that fulfills their esteem and want to get recognized by their friends and followers These are ultimate achievements posted by the individuals when they achieve something quite crucial for them. For example, people post about getting a new job, graduating from school/university, purchasing some product, and completing a challenging project

Safety Love/belonging

Esteem

Self-actualization

Source Created by authors

Social well-being, as discussed before, is the combination of many subconstructs, including social integration, social acceptance, social coherence, social actualization, and social contribution (Keyes, 2003). Research has revealed that people are likely to have higher social well-being due to routinely using and integrating social media into their social routines (Bekalu et al., 2019). There are many reasons why people share content on social media. The studies correlate social media with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as listed in Table 2 (Rishi & Bandyopadhyay, 2017; Rishi & Kuthuru, 2021b). 3.2

Model-Specific Strategic Actions

As discussed before, improving customer well-being is an essential part of a firm’s marketing strategy. The following points discuss modelspecific execution themes and strategies for marketers to achieve the same. Table 3 lists the strategic actions for the customer satisfaction model. Firstly, the goal for Model A, or customer satisfaction, would be “To increase customer satisfaction on social media.” In this context, one can identify two themes based on their relevance in the current model, namely, social listening and brand advocacy, that justify the importance of integrating social media in a firm’s marketing strategy.

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Table 3 Strategic actions of customer satisfaction model

Goal Themes Strategies

115

To increase customer satisfaction on social media Social listening Brand advocacy Conduct a social media audit Address customer inquiries and complaints on social media Use employees as brand advocates Influencer marketing

Source Created by authors

Stewart and Arnold (2018) define social listening as “an active process of attending to, observing, interpreting, and responding to a variety of stimuli through mediated, electronic, and social channels.” In other words, it is a process that involves checking the online presence to find out what is being mentioned or shared about a company, topic, or brand. Social media is a great tool to collect instant feedback and draw insights on consumer experiences and insights about a brand (Tuten et al., 2020). Likewise, customers often depend on the recommendations of others who have already experienced the product/service to make a purchase decision. Consumers take positive actions to support the activities of a brand by promoting the brand to their followers. Brand advocacy is used to describe actions taken by people who love a brand and continuously support the organization by promoting its products/services to new customers and prospects (Sarkar et al., 2020). A “brand advocate” may be an employee, a business partner, an influencer, or other customers on social media. Based on the themes defined above, we have identified multiple strategies that can be used to increase customer satisfaction on social media. The first, and most important step, is to conduct a social media audit. A social media audit is a procedure of appraising brand presence on social media to determine the opportunities to boost the presence of the brand on social media (Rishi & Bandyopadhyay, 2017; Barnhart, 2020). It enables brands to assess brand perceptions, customer pain points, and social media performance across different platforms. In a social media audit, a brand looks at information like—the platforms it is active on, level of optimization, performance metrics (reach, shares, clicks, average

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number of engagements, video views and brand mentions, etc.), different types of content shared on each platform, customer reviews, average response rate to customer inquiries, etc. Conducting a social media audit is one of the first steps in designing a successful social media strategy and is an essential social listening component. Secondly, brands should constantly address customer queries and complaints on social media. As discussed before, customer reviews and experiences of a brand are crucial determinants of customer satisfaction. Brands should ensure that it considers the feedback provided by its customers to improve its products and services constantly. Also, responding to customer queries on social media helps improve customer satisfaction. Thirdly, brands can use employees as brand advocates. Employees have the best knowledge about products or services and can promote the same. Therefore, it is crucial to include employees as part of a brand’s advocacy program. Finally, brands can use influencer marketing to promote a product or service and increase brand awareness. Today, 17% of companies spend over half of their marketing budget on influencers alone. Nearly 90% of all marketers find that the ROI (return on investment) from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels (Bailis, n.d.). 3.2.1 Model B—Positive Emotions and Perceived Value of Life In this model, a brand can create positive feelings and communicate a good quality of life. Table 4 lists the social media strategic actions to achieve positive emotions and the perceived value of life. Table 4

Setting goal, themes, and strategies for Model B

Goal Themes

Strategies

Source Created by authors

To have happier consumers/delight consumers on social media Customer engagement Brand-consumer synergy Social marketing Promote user-generated content Establish a brand personality Have a well-balanced content strategy Encourage social interaction Address social issues (Like mental health)

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Secondly, the goal for Model B would be “To have happier consumers on social media/delight consumers on social media.” In this context, one can identify three themes based on their relevance in the current model, namely, customer engagement, brand-consumer synergy, and social marketing, that justify the importance of integrating social media in a firm’s marketing strategy. Customer engagement may be defined as an “emotional connect” between consumers and brands (Clarabridge, n.d.). Customer engagement can take different forms—and involves consumer-consumer as well as consumer-brand communication. It is crucial from a marketing perspective as it enables brands to build strong customer relationships, which boosts customer loyalty. Similarly, based on the self-congruency theory, brand-consumer synergy suggests that consumers are more likely to purchase a brand’s products if consumers identify some conjunction between the user image and their individualism (Sirgy, 1982). Selfcongruity enables brand loyalty and brand-community belongingness to directly contribute to consumer well-being (Grzeskowiak & Sirgy, 2007). It implies that brands should focus on promoting messages that reflect the brand-user image that many brand consumers can identify with, that is, experience self-congruity. Finally, Social marketing is when an organization wants to bring about a voluntary change in the target market segment by using marketing concepts. Many organizations with a social focus use commercial marketing practices to boost brand image and impact consumers. Based on the themes defined above, we have identified multiple strategies that can be used to achieve happier consumers on social media/delighting consumers on social media. Firstly, one of the critical components of customer engagement is user-generated content. Brands that share original content reward consumers experience several benefits, including credibility, trust, and driving purchase decisions. Secondly, marketers should work toward establishing a brand personality. As discussed before, brand-consumer synergy, specifically, self-congruency helps improve consumer well-being. Marketers should focus on delivering content that resonates with the brand’s character and ensure that it reflects the personalities of its target consumers. Thirdly, while social media can serve as an effective tool to promote products and services, brands should ensure that their content strategy is well-balanced and not focused only on promotion (Rishi & Kuthuru, 2021a). Fourthly, brands should create an environment where customers

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can interact with each other and promote social interaction. Research has revealed that marketers should emphasize sharing and connecting to increase consumers’ social value. Likewise, companies can borrow content from the followers and use the borrowed content in the marketing strategy to better engage with them. Both social and content enhance psychological well-being (Jiao et al., 2017). Finally, as discussed under social media marketing, brands may also address social issues like mental health by bringing such cases to light through social media marketing practices. These enable them to project a more “humane” image. 3.3

Outcomes

It is essential to evaluate its impact to measure return on investment (ROI) with a strategy in place. Table 5 lists out the consequences of the aforementioned model-specific strategies: An example of Starbucks Corporation further elaborates the impact of these strategies on customer satisfaction. Starbucks Corporation, an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves, uses social media as a critical component of its marketing strategy. In 2008, owing to its rapid expansion policies, Starbucks struggled with brand dilution. It could not retain its position as an exclusive place with increasing competition from Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds, which also started selling coffee. With Howard Schultz taking over, the company decided to use social media to reconnect with its customers. The following principles guided its social media strategy—“listen, be transparent, use authorities, be human, share timely information, offer personal attention, be humble in replies, don’t preach, give fans access and don’t spam users” (Rishi & Mohammed, 2022). MyStarbucksidea.com: It was launched in 2008 as a forum to interact with customers directly. The website invited consumer feedback and ideas for new products or services. Starbucks also assigned idea partners to help in social media engagement. Using Twitter for customer service: To bring the customer experience to the online community, Starbucks used its Twitter accounts to address customer queries and complaints. Building a community on Facebook: To build its community on Facebook, Starbucks delivered relevant content, experience, and offers. Its

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Table 5

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Outcomes of customer satisfaction model

Strategy

Outcome

Social media audit

An understanding of a brand’s current social media performance (through metrics like the number of followers, shares, mentions, views, etc.) Assess consistency across a brand’s social media profiles Compare a brand’s social media performance with its competitors Determine a brand’s strengths and weaknesses to make informed decisions about its marketing efforts Prompt word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied customers Understand customer pain points to improve product/service quality Increase brand awareness through customer engagement Improve brand credibility and authenticity, as customers can identify with employees/influencers personally Provide high value to target audience in terms of product reviews, usefulness, features, among others

Responding to customer complaints/queries on social media

Brand advocacy/influencer marketing

Source Created by authors

main objective was to have one-on-one interaction with its customers and understand their preferences and experiences. Focusing on customer engagement: On social media, Starbucks also conducted events and addressed social issues on multiple occasions to provide customer experience and build customer relationships. For instance, to promote green initiatives, Starbucks launched an event on Facebook where customers who brought their cups to social media were offered free coffee. Similarly, during the U.S. Presidential Elections in 2008, Starbucks gave a free cup of coffee to those who voted in the elections. In conclusion, Starbuck’s focus on delivering unparalleled customer service on social media and online engagement allowed it to become the first consumer brand to have 10 Million followers on Facebook and rank

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No. 1 in online engagement in 2010. It was able to establish an emotional connection with its consumers and the environment. Later on, Starbucks also explored Influencer marketing in creating marketing content that is more appealing to its target audience. At the same time, online influencers are also mediators for feedback from consumers (Mussies, 2020). Finally, Starbucks also has an employee brand advocacy program, where employees are actively encouraged to help spread awareness and build relationships with the public. They also have dedicated social media accounts for their partners (employee advocates), which are run based on a comprehensive set of guidelines aligned with the company culture (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2018). Table 6 lists the possible outcomes of the positive emotions and perceived value of the life model. Similarly, for the second model, we elaborate on Nike’s social media strategies on consumers’ social and psychological well-being. Nike focuses on how brands can leverage Cause marketing practices to contribute to a consumer’s well-being. Cause marketing is defined “as a type of corporate social responsibility in which a company’s promotional campaign has a dual purpose of increasing profitability while bettering society” (Organ, 2017). Several brands, including Starbucks, Nike, and Uber, have implemented cause marketing practices in their social media strategies (Tyson, 2020). Table 6

Outcomes of positive emotions and perceived value of life

Strategy

Outcome

Well-balanced content strategy

Builds trust and increases shopper confidence Positively influences consumer’s purchase decisions Marketers can create an opportunity for consumers to interact with each other and the brand. It is essential because people don’t use social networks for a one-way experience—they’re seeking connections It also improves organic reach on social media With the growing importance of social marketing around the world, promoting campaigns directed toward improving the well-being of society is highly effective when it comes to having happier consumers It also offers brands a widespread positive presence in the community and improves awareness

Social marketing

Source Created by authors

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Nike Inc. is a US organization focusing on the designing, developing, manufacturing, and sales of different product categories, including footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. Today, Nike is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The company has a massive social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with over 92 million followers on Instagram alone (Ravi, 2018). In the context of social media, Nike focuses on the following aspects—customer service, influencer marketing, and a powerful, well-balanced content strategy (with elements of product promotion, story-telling, cause marketing). Customer service: Nike has one of the most robust customer service accounts on Twitter (Chan, 2020). The company has a dedicated Twitter account, “Team Nike,” which provided support seven days a week and provides service in seven languages. Influencer marketing: One well-defined characteristic of Nike’s social media strategy is its focus on influencer marketing. The audience of Nike is versatile and comes from different walks of life, including athletes, rappers and entrepreneurs, etc. An excellent example of Nike’s Influencer Marketing Strategy is its participation in the Colin Kaepernick controversy, an ex-NFL quarterback who protested against police brutality toward African-Americans. Colin posted an image of himself with a quote, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything,” with the hashtag #JustDoIT (Arya, 2019). The company also has some of the biggest names in sports as its spokespersons, including Roger Federer, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan. Social content: Nike’s content is inspired by its goal to build a sense of community—to create a lifestyle. The company often uses a storytelling photo/video format to promote its core values (Ravi, 2018). It also delivers emotional and social values through its social media platforms—for instance: The “Find your greatness” campaign (2012): featuring different people doing extraordinary things—by overcoming their fears, challenges, and obstacles. The “Dream Crazier” campaign (2019): featuring female athletes that have broken societal barriers, bought people together through their performance, and inspired generations of athletes to follow their dreams. The “You can’t stop us” campaign (2020): The campaign has been released in the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This campaign promoted the messages of perseverance and inclusivity when it was most needed across the globe.

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These campaigns strongly resonated with Nike’s target audience, allowing the brand to reflect a more “human” image to its customers. As discussed before, such practices benefit the society (through psychological and social well-being) and the organization (Increased brand awareness, brand image, and trust).

4

Summary

According to Sirgy (2021), “consumer well-being reflects a meta-level concept of societal welfare” (p. 1) and may be broadly compared to customer satisfaction. It is characterized by three main components— consumer satisfaction, perceived quality of life, and positive emotion (Zhao & Wei, 2019). Further, as proposed by Sirgy (2021), consumer well-being is defined by several models/conceptualizations in the public and academic sectors. This chapter explores those models that are most relevant in the context of social media. Specifically, these models are divided into two broad sets of characteristics of consumer well-being. Firstly, consumer satisfaction entails themes like customer loyalty, customer expectations, and customer complaints. Secondly, positive emotions and perceived value of life extend beyond the functional value derived from products and services, including consumers’ social and psychological well-being. Additionally, this chapter puts forward a framework of model-specific strategies that marketers can use to enhance their consumer’s well-being through social media. These strategies reflect a broad set of themes highlighting the importance of social media like social listening, brand advocacy, customer engagement, brand-consumer synergy, and social marketing. The impact of these strategies is discussed with the examples of Starbucks Corporation and Nike Inc.—two organizations whose social media practices have led to high levels of well-being for their consumers. Consumer well-being has always been the end goal of marketing practice. Thus, with the increasing significance of social media in a consumer’s life, marketers must adopt new social media marketing strategies to enhance their consumer’s well-being.

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Directions for Future Work

As social media is a constantly evolving technology, its role will inevitably expand in the future. This chapter discusses a few themes that highlight the potential of social media in the future and its implications on consumer well-being. For example, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest offer the feature of social commerce feature on their platforms. In social commerce, the entire shopping experience—from product discovery to product sale is carried out on social media (McLachlan, 2020). The social commerce market almost doubled from 2017 to 2020 (45.8–80.1 million USD) and is expected to cross 100 Million USD by 2023 in the US market alone (Lipsman, 2021). At the same time, this feature may not be applicable in the models identified in this chapter and there is a scope to understand the applications of social commerce in context to consumer well-being. With the advent of augmented reality, the consumer experience is going to be redefined on social media. With Augmented Reality (AR), businesses can bring the experience of a brick-and-mortar store to the online world. They can also boost consumer engagement by offering more immersive experiences of their products and services on social media (Griffin, 2020). Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have already implemented AR features. Researchers can investigate the AR, customer experience and consumer well-being. At the same time, mobile-exclusive marketing ads are gaining popularity on social media. Marketers would have to develop new ideas for delivering content that is both engaging and interactive for the customer on mobile devices to provide mobile-focused experiences on social media (Popli & Rishi, 2021a, 2021b). Finally, Chatbots are gaining popularity for instant customer service. As discussed in this chapter, customer service is a crucial aspect of consumer satisfaction/well-being. An AI-based chatbot can have full-time conversations with customers without requiring human intervention (Barker, 2021). Since Chatbots can respond to multiple customers at any point in time, they can be an effective tool for customer service on social media (Popli & Rishi, 2021a, 2021b). Thus, the future potential of social media creates new opportunities and challenges for companies looking to improve their consumer’s wellbeing. For instance, new features like AR and chatbots allow companies to deliver more immersive experiences on social media.

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Socially Responsible Consumption and Marketing in Practice Madhavi Venkatesan , Martina Yorde Rincon, Kathleen Grevers, Shannon M. Welch, and Elizabeth L. Cline

1

Introduction

Marketing is a significant driver of consumption. To the extent that consumption is a catalyst for economic growth, as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the standard global indicator of economic status, marketing provides both temptation and information to foster

M. Venkatesan (B) · M. Yorde Rincon Department of Economics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] M. Yorde Rincon e-mail: [email protected] K. Grevers Fashion Revolution and Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. M. Welch Fashion Revolution, Boston, MA, USA e-mail: [email protected] E. L. Cline Remake, Boston, MA, USA

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_8

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consumer demand. Arguably, from this perspective, supply does effect demand, as demand is manufactured through the promotion of marketed want, projected obsolescence, and appearance of satisfying an unmet need (Nelson, 1974; Vakratsas & Ambler, 1999; Wernick, 1991). All three of these phenomena are focused on gratification but do not necessarily include an understanding of the supply chain related to a product, and responsibility for exercising the power of demand any further than self-satiation. In fact, much of the exclusion specific to supply chain responsibility is assumed by the consumer to be within the oversight of regulation (i.e., government) and the firm (Edelman, 2020). Given the strength of consumer expenditures in developed countries’ GDP, economic transformation to encompass sustainability may be catalyzed through education—economic literacy—that promotes a shift in consumption value orientation to include a responsibility for the holistic impact of a given consumption choice—a moral framework. Arguably, the inclusion of responsibility for consumption aligned to the welfare of other life in the present and future would result in justice-oriented consumption choices. The consumer, from this perspective would then be the rationale for the internalization of externalized costs of production that ensure sustainable use of environmental resources as well as labor. However, given the challenge of direct-to-consumer communication highlighted by opt-in/opt-out features and cancel culture action, education as defined is often siloed by group think limitations often leading to validation of the adage, “preaching to the choir.” Though social media is not an exception to these characterizations, its intersectionality offers an opportunity to communicate and share information that may not be accessed otherwise (Côté & Darling, 2018). In the sections that follow, we provide an overview of the history of social media and the use of the channel for advertising and promotion. We then address the potential for social media to be used for social change with the discussion of two social media campaign cases: #PayUp and #HashtagRevolt. We conclude with a discussion of limitation, concerns, and next steps.

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The Rise of Social Media

Pew Research Center began tracking U.S. social media adoption in 2005 when the market was littered with many small social networking sites. Facebook, which started in 2003 was at its infancy and available to a

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limited audience of selected colleges, Twitter, and Instagram, were yet to be deployed in 2006 and 2010, respectively. At that time, approximately 5% of American adults noted using some form of social media, only a few of those are extant today, the most well-known being LinkedIn which was online in 2003. By 2011, nearly half of all Americans reported using social media, and as of early 2021, 72% of the public are active on one or more types of social media, 69% use Facebook, 40% use Instagram, and 23% use Twitter (Pew, 2021). Current U.S. usage rates are mimicked to some extent in aggregate global data. On a global scale as depicted in Fig. 1, as of February 2020, Facebook has the strongest penetration at 63% with Instagram and Twitter trailing at 36 and 23%, respectively. Among the three platforms as of 2020, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are actively used by marketers with Facebook having the highest use rate at 94% followed by Instagram and Twitter, with 76% and 53%, respectively as depicted in Fig. 2. According to Statista, in April 2021 9.5% of total active Facebook users worldwide are women between the ages of 18 and 24 years, while male users between the ages of 25 and 34 years constitute the largest group on the platform (Tankovska, 2021a). This compares with Instagram for which 15.6% of global active Instagram users are identified as women between the ages of 25 and 34 years; more than half of the global Instagram population is 34 years or younger (Tankovska, 2021b). The largest

Fig. 1 Global active usage penetration of leading social networks as of February 2020 (Source Statista [2021a])

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Fig. 2 Leading social media platforms used by marketers worldwide as of January 2020 (Source © Statista [2021b])

demographic user group of Twitter, with 38.5% of users, is between 25 and 34 years old. The second-largest age group, at 21%, is between 35 and 49 years old. Users aged less than 24 years old were approximately 24%, while users aged 50 or above accounted for roughly 17% (Tankovska, 2021c). The rise of social media and the present statistics on its use are not necessarily attributable to strategic longitudinal planning of a particular platform’s founders but rather are more reflective of deployment and the speed of user-centric adaptation of a given platform. Social media relies heavily on algorithms, which provides user content that aligns with demonstrated search and action on the platform. In other words, social media is constructed to align with user benefit. “As social media usage has become more widespread, users have become ensconced within specific, self-selected groups, which means that news and views are shared nearly exclusively with like-minded users” (Prier, 2017, 59). For this reason, social media can both limit information and provide information, both without an evaluation of quality, as defined by reliability of source and validation of statement. “Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook employ an algorithm to analyze words, phrases, or hashtags to create a list of topics sorted in order of popularity. This trend list is a quick way to review the most discussed topics at a given time” (Prier, 2017, 52). From this perspective, success on social media is dependent on the words used in communication, the strength of the social media presence or network

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of a user, and the interest of social media users in communicating outside their immediate friend network. Facebook has scope limitations based on existing friends, while both Instagram and Twitter are transparent with respect to followers and are designed to promote information dissemination. These platform attributes make it easier to evaluate social media campaigns on Instagram and Twitter. Obar et al. (2012) evaluated 53 advocacy organizations specific to their use of social media and found that both Facebook and Twitter were among the most routinely used platforms, with the organizations participating noting that social media “can help facilitate civic engagement and collective action” while also strengthening “outreach efforts and enabl[ing] engaging feedback loops” (21). Specific to corporate use of social media, marketing on social media encompasses all three channels (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) but Instagram and Twitter are the channels most widely used to influence, primarily due to the transparency and ease of information flow, which is furthered using a select group of users known as “influencers.” “Social media influencers (SMIs) represent a new type of independent third-party endorser who shape audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media” (Freberg et al., 2010, 1). Influencers have the power to affect purchasing and perception of significant numbers of individuals based on their stated social media following. In 2021, the market power of social media influencers is expected to be $13.8 billion, a significant increase from $9.7 billion in 2020, which still represented a sizable gain from 2019 at $6.5 billion (Influencer Marketing Hub, n.d.). As of year-end 2020, 20.9% on social media users reported that they engaged with social media to follow celebrities or influencers, while finding products to purchase scored 26.5%, and seeing content from your favorite brands scored 23.4%. “Influencers aren’t necessarily actors or musicians with decades of experience. Anyone can become an online personality and gather a large following if their content is interesting enough to an audience. Their followers are typically very loyal, and that’s why influencers have changed the game for marketing teams. Influencers serve as trusted voices for consumers and have built lifestyles online that many people want to mimic. Brands can tap into that” (Elsbury, 2019). Influencers with large followings such as the Kardashians, each member of the family has a social

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media following, can make an income from social media stated endorsements and simultaneously generate compound the sum in the form of revenue to the company retaining them (Kirst, 2015). In 2020, Kim Kardashian ranked 11 on a listing of the most influential people on Twitter worldwide in an assessment by Statista (Tankovska, 2021d) and was listed at six on the comparable Instagram ranking, behind her sister Kylie Jenner, who was ranked four (Tankovska, 2021e). The same year, news outlets noted that Kim Kardashian received between $300,000 and $500,000 for a product endorsement post; the social media celebrity herself highlighted that her income, estimated to be more than $20 million, from social media marketing exceeded her earnings from Keeping up with the Kardashians her family’s reality television show where she is a central figure (Isaac, 2020). Influencers have varied spheres of influence (i.e., micro-influencers) and the monetization of their influence highlights the revenue generation capability to the sponsor company. Of importance in the present discussion, the existence of influencers highlights the significance of social media in fostering action, even if the action is related to consumption. As a result, it is not surprising that there is also a direct relationship between social media and activism. In the sections that follow, we discuss the role of social media activism and provide two case studies of social media activism in the fashion industry.

3

Social Media and Social Activism

Social media platforms by their nature, particularly Twitter and Instagram, are easily able to disseminate information through influencers and hashtags. Though the impact of the former is based on followers, the latter are searchable by users but are also used by computer algorithms to position posts to users, highlighting another aspect of social media, artificial intelligence (AI). AI is embedded in social media platforms to disseminate information based on use of hashtags and other modes of determining common themes. Hashtag use on Twitter, for example, will place all tweets using a hashtag in one stream, increasing visibility and interaction across the platform. Hashtag use on Instagram and Facebook work similarly, except for the privacy restrictions on these platforms that allow users to limit or determine who can view their posts. Though beyond the scope of the present discussion, AI presents a potential threat to information flow

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and transparency as it, on the surface, may appear objective but within its programming has a distinct probability embedded bias (Venkatesan, 2021). Activism as a social phenomenon typically includes two or more of the following: a contentious issue, collective action, solidarity or collective identity, and an effort to solve problems using communication (Chon & Park, 2020). When combined with social media, using both influencers and hashtags, activism is transformed from physical demonstration to a click. Indeed, social media activism allows aggregation of interests on a topic and a seemingly organized advocacy to occur, albeit in relation to an individual’s schedule, with the ease of simply adding an affirmation in the form of an emoji from a thumbs-up to a heart. Further, the evolution of activism on a given platform is seemingly self-determined as each userclick increases the potential distribution of a post. Though social media may offer an opportunity for social activism, there are limitations. Perhaps most significant is if the activist campaign is on the same platform as the subject of activism. How can competing messaging be reconciled? In the next section, we highlight two social media campaigns that actively targeted fast fashion and provide the rationale, accomplishments, and learnings related to these initiatives. The first #PayUp was an outcome of outrage related to cancellation of contracts and defaults on obligations by corporations subcontracting garment work. Following, the #HashtagRevolt campaign hijacked fast fashion brand’s social media presence to increase attention and awareness of the adverse impact of fast fashion. In both cases, the social media campaigns are characterized as grassroots activism and provide insight with respect to the potential for social media as an educational and organizing tool.

4

Social Media for Social Change

Social media has been used for social change specifically targeted toward political elections, public policy, and regulatory efforts. These have included local efforts to national and global issues. The traction of any of these efforts has been determined by the pre-existing bias toward the issue or concurrent influence of the poster. Below, we address two specific social media campaigns focused on the fashion industry. The first #PayUp aligns with fast fashion from the perspective of economic equity but has

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grown to encompass environmental justice as well. The second, #HashtagRevolt is a novel use of social media where the campaign “highjacks” the social media presence of brands being targeted to increase awareness of the adverse impact of fast fashion. 4.1

Case Study: #PayUp

The #PayUp campaign was formed in March 2020. The origin of the campaign was informal and as noted by Elizabeth Cline, one of the two significant forces behind the hashtag, the hashtag was used to increase awareness of the defaults and cancellation of major fast fashion brands on their contracts. “There was little work for a freelance journalist at the start of the pandemic, giving me time to notice firsthand what was happening,” noted Cline (unpublished interview). The cancellations followed the global economic slowing resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Though opportunistic for the retailers, the consequences for workers were devastating. “Dozens of global brands refused to pay for an estimated $40 billion worth of finished goods that garment workers had spent countless hours sewing, according to research by the Worker Rights Consortium and Penn State Center for Global Workers’ Rights Director Mark Anner. Millions of garment workers were laid off globally without pay as a direct result of the cancellations, sending them into the gravest economic crisis of our lifetimes without their paychecks or any savings” (Remake, n.d.a). 4.1.1 #PayUp Campaign Partners and Supporters From its inception, #PayUp was able to build “a global coalition of garment workers, experienced labor rights groups, NGOs, and fashion activists…Strengthened by the power of social media, the #PayUp campaign went viral over the summer of 2020, with citizens all around the world using the #PayUp hashtag, resulting in over 270,000 people signing the original #PayUp petition” (Remake, n.d.b). The dissemination of #PayUp can be attributed to a variety of factors including the slowing economy, which gave opportunity for many sensitive to issues relation to economic equity to participate. However, perhaps most significant was the influence and social media dexterity of the two leaders of the campaign, Elizabeth Cline, and the non-profit Remake, both were active in worker’s rights related to fast fashion before the pandemic and had networks of influence that they could tap into.

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4.1.2 Campaign Accomplishments #PayUp on Instagram and Twitter reached approximately 2.4 billion in English-speaking countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which are also the main countries where purchases from the brands targeted take place. As of June 2021, the hashtag has been used in over 84 thousand Instagram posts and 26 thousand Twitter posts. Posts on both sites varied from individuals to NGOs and other entities, including influencers. Comments directed readers to actions and promoted the signing of the #PayUp petition. As of December 2020, the #PayUp campaign, resulted in $15 billion in contract fulfillment obligations that had been previously canceled; estimates are that another $7 billion has been paid since the start of 2021. Though the amount appears significant, it is roughly half of the $40 billion in contract defaults and cancellations retailers executed because of anticipated pandemic-related slowdown in sales. Table 1 lists the names of the retailers based on their pay-up status. Table 1 #PayUp targets and outcomes

PayUp Yes

PayUp No

Adidas Amazon Asos C&A Gap H&M Kering Levi’s Lululemon M&S next NIKE Patagonia Primark PVH Reformation Target Under Armour UNIQLO VF ZARA

American Eagle Outfitters Arcadia Bestseller BooHoo Everlane Fashion Nova Forever 21 Global Brands Group JCPenney Kohl’s Mothercare Ross Dress for Less Sears The Children’s Place The Edinburgh Woolen Mill TJX URBN Victoria’s Secret Walmart

Source Remake (n.d.b)

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4.1.3 Learnings/Implications The #PayUp campaign that started with a simple hashtag is now associated with $22 billion dollars in committed payments from certain brands to factories and garment workers, however due to the lack of transparency with respect to payments, it is difficult to quantify the financial impact of #PayUp to the supply chain, workers, and the companies involved. When looking at the retailers’ earnings statements, none explicitly referred to #PayUp. Specific to the incentive to pay-up, it might be that some companies took action to avoid negative consumer sentiment while others considered the campaign insignificant. The former may be more aligned to brand premium and the latter to the demographic of the consumer base. If this indeed is the case, it would be consistent with the results of prior research that highlighted the positive correlation between income and sustainability (Fairbrother, 2013), and age and sustainability (Ballew et al., 2019; United Nations, n.d.). However, there are potentially other reasons, including supplier dependence, where companies operating with a few suppliers may have felt more pressure to pay-up to maintain requisite relationships (LeBaron et al., 2021). Overall, the #PayUp movement given the action it has catalyzed can be classified as successful, however, there is arguably more that can be done. For example, targeting social media with respect to a company’s brand position, demographic focus, and the sustainability interests of its customers, as well as its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and commitment to sustainability, might help determine a company specific catalyst for corporate action. This is especially true when a company may have an active social media presence and is able to obscure its sustainability image. Remake has continued the #PayUp campaign and has built on the initial success adding a seven-point action strategy to protect garment workers’ rights on a global scale. The initiative includes a dedicated website, “PayUp Fashion,” and an updated petition. 4.2

Case Study: #HashtagRevolt

Through advocacy, industry partnerships, events, initiatives, and education, Fashion Revolution USA’s (FRUSA) mission is to bring together stakeholders across the fashion, clothing, footwear, accessories, and textiles supply chain to help create an inclusive US fashion system that conducts business ethically, regenerates the environment, and produces

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responsibly, supporting all voices across the apparel network. The global organization reaches over 500 k people on its global Instagram account (Fashion Revolution [@fash_rev], 2021), the USA arm reaches nearly 26 k (Fashion Revolution USA [@fash_revusa], 2021). However, those citizens who engage with the organization are already tapped into the social and environmental issues that currently face the fashion industry. To reach new citizens outside of the sustainable fashion echo chamber and spread the messaging and mission of Fashion Revolution USA, the team had to think outside of the box. Considering FRUSA did not have funding for advertising, it used guerilla and grassroots tactics. Guerilla marketing is an unexpected brand program through alternative media (Wensen, 2008) or a means to gain maximum exposure through minimal cost to the company (Prévot, 2007). Targeting the hashtags of many popular fast fashion brands (Table 2), Fashion Revolution USA created the #HashtagRevolt campaign to educate fast fashion consumers who follow those brands’ hashtags on the issues facing the fashion industry by curating a global coordinated “hashtag hijacking” campaign during Fashion Revolution Week (FRW), April 19–25, 2021. Hashtags are a powerful source of information flow (Bonilla & Rosa, 2015), often set up by brands to generate positive PR; however, their public nature allows for manipulation. Instead of being used for a brand’s original messaging, the hashtag hijacking references the use of a branded hashtag to disseminate information from another group or organization’s messaging to a brand’s followers. Textual hijacking is understood as a tactic played out by a less powerful actor to use, manipulate, and divert the space and resources created by a more powerful one (de Certeau, 1984). In order to have the impact desired, Fashion Revolution USA brought many global and regional like-minded organizations and influencers together to disrupt the messaging of fast fashion brands. The goals of the campaign were to: . . . .

raise awareness on the issues with the fashion industry create NEW curious and informed citizens drive citizens to Fashion Revolution toolkits encourage citizens to use their voice.

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Table 2 Fast fashion brand hashtags targeted

Fast fashion brand

Brand hashtag

Pretty Little Thing Nasty Gals Miss Guided Forever 21 Zara Fashion Nova Bershka Lulus Urban Outfitters Tobi H&M Top Shop

#prettylittlething #NastyGalsDoItBetter #happilymisguided #F21xe #Zfgirl #zarawoman #NovaBabe #bershkastyle #lovelulus #UOonYou #shoptobi #HM #TopshopStyle

Source Fashion Revolution (2021) (personal communication, April 19, 2021)

The campaign messaging focused on one social and one environmental issue through infographics posted on Instagram and encouraged citizens to get involved and “revolutionize the power of hashtags during #FashionRevolutionWeek” (personal communication, Mock, March 30, 2021). A co-branded campaign asset was created in partnership with Fair Trade USA highlighting that “98% of garment workers cannot meet their basic needs” (personal communication, Martin, March 9, 2021; Morgan, 2015). 4.2.1 #HashtagRevolt Campaign Partners and Supporters Fashion Revolution USA and the global organization proactively sought the support of non-profits, NGOs, and influencers to amplify the messaging. Fashion Revolution USA partnered with Fair Trade USA as the organizations’ missions have a similar focus and they had partnered on previous initiatives. In addition to the Fair Trade USA, key partner organizations and industry leaders included @Greenpeace, @chicksforclimate, @ecoage, @canopyplanet, @marinatestino, @amandahearst, @stand.earth, and What the Hack, a digital disruptor organization that launched a two-team hackathon to amplify these efforts. What the Hack invited citizens across the globe to create additional Instagram campaigns utilizing the key messages and hashtags. Team 1 created a new account, @askyourbrand, and the #askyourbrand hashtag

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targeting a smaller group of people who have a wider reach on the Instagram platform utilizing past Fashion Revolution messaging. “We want influencers to start questioning the brand’s ethical and environmental policies/ implementation before they signed their promotional agreements. Nevertheless, we need to educate influencers on what they need to ask and how to verify the information they are given by the brand” (personal communication, Soundararajan, May 4, 2021). Team 2 created a campaign entitled “we are not clueless,” which ran on Instagram from April 19, 2021, to May 3, 2021, with a campaign video that included clips from the movie Clueless and included further statistics about the fashion industry. “We chose Clueless, a 90’s popular culture movie reference, for our campaign because the sustainability space can be frequented by intellectuals, activists, customer minimalists and supply chain professionals. This can be intimidating for the more entrepreneurially focused fashionistas and technologists who are genuinely interested in developing commercially viable solutions with innovation, circularly and ethics as a focus” (personal communication, Kilgarriff, May 4, 2021). The strategies of each hackathon team varied from FRUSA’s approach. Mackenzie Mock, Director of Communications, Fashion Revolution USA, explains: Hashtag Revolt used an approach that flipped social media on its head by hyper-targeting popular fast fashion hashtags, bringing together the foundation of Fashion Revolution–digital campaigning and education–and the power that our collective voices must demand change. User generated content is akin to word-of-mouth advertising in the digital world, and these hashtags are the primary way brands seek this content out. It was a major success to have our educational content reach the masses at the top of these hashtag streams and hopefully catch the eye of new audiences to bring into the Fashion Revolution fold. (personal communication, Mock, June 14, 2021)

While the approach of What the Hack’s teams were independent of FRUSA’s, it ultimately amplified the #HashtagRevolt campaign reach and helped to infiltrate the targeted fast fashion brands’ hashtags. 4.2.2 Campaign Accomplishments Through Fashion Revolution USA’s global coordinated effort to infiltrate the hashtags of many fast fashion brands, the #HashtagRevolt hijacking attracted over 1,000 posts during FRW. Fashion Revolution USA’s messaging successfully disrupted the fast fashion brands’ hashtag feeds

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on April 19th and throughout Fashion Revolution Week sparking international curiosity among concerned citizens. General comments received on @fash_revusa posts were all positive, with several comments indicating followers would participate in the #HashtagRevolt campaign. The #HashtagRevolt campaign was mainly activated on Instagram, however supplemental posts were published on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. On April 19, 2021, the @fash_revusa Instagram account gained 340 followers and received 36,000 Twitter impressions during the first day of activation. 4.2.3 Learnings and Implications Preparation for launching this social media campaign started in February 2021 when key statistics were selected in partnership with the global team of Fashion Revolution. Outreach to like-minded organizations with high Instagram followers were contacted in the month leading up to FRW to secure support. Support included sending a newsletter to each organization’s subscribers the week and day before the launch to build support as well as posting on Instagram with the supplied assets and copy on April 19, 2021. However, supporting organizations did not participate in sending newsletters to their subscribers. Understanding the limitations of partnering organizations’ support, future campaigns of this nature will not request newsletters to be sent. Additional learnings center on the functionality of the Instagram user face and the multiple graphics used in the campaign. The inability to copy and paste text from one account to another makes it more difficult for the platform’s users to share supporting copy explaining the information given in the image. Fashion Revolution USA’s decision to create two infographics and one image highlighting the #HashtagRevolt campaign (three images in total), may have hindered support as well. Perhaps one targeted statistic with one graphic may have made it easier for followers to participate. Since the campaign asked followers to include twelve brands’ hashtags, it may prove easier to garner social media reposting if the campaign targeted one brand’s hashtag. However, this approach goes against Fashion Revolution’s standards to call out one brand or organization; this policy reflects the focus on industry change which may be clouded if one retailer is referenced.

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143

Issues, Limitations, and Next Steps

Evidence suggests that firms are recognizing that environmental and social justice issues are parameters in consumer decision-making. However, just because a firm highlights performance related to the environment does not equate to their operationalizing sustainability. Current research indicates that advertising through social media can confuse or even neutralize the adverse outcomes related to a firm’s production processes. Oh et al. (2017) note that firms can self-promote the appearance of sustainability through promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility activities that are not aligned and purposely obscure the environmental and social injustice impacts of their operations. These campaigns take advantage of consumer understanding of a topic such as recycling and use it to promote misinformation. An example is Fashion Nova.1 The California based company, using micro-influencers, has been able to dominate fast fashion through social media marketing (Nguyen, 2021). However, the company’s supply chain has been linked to sweatshop style production, where a largely immigrant workforce is paid by piece, and as a result, workers earn less than minimum wage and as little as $5 an hour (Kitroef, 2019). That the working conditions and compensation are based in California has resulted in media attention, but these injustice issues have been veiled by the retailer’s social media blasts, which align their sensitivities with the #BlackLivesMatter movement (McGrath, 2020) and #StopAsianHate (Spencer, 2021). These social media hashtags serve to limit customer awareness of the social and environmental practices of the company—presumably the same base that would have influence over the company’s business practices and accountability. However, perhaps an even more significant issue may be the social media platform itself. Though social media has limited barriers to access a given platform, user access is not equitable with transparency. Social media is offered by public companies with both investors and profit motivations; it, in essence, is a private entity accessible by the public. This may impact how user data is used by operating system algorithms and even the freedom of participation on a platform if implicit censorship is incorporated within the platform’s operations (Tierney, 2013). Social media

1 Fashion Nova’s suppliers in a “2019 Labor Department investigation were found to owe workers $3.8 million in backpay” (Chua, 2021) and the company is listed among those that have not fulfilled the financial component of their contractual obligations.

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reflects the development of technology with limited regulatory intervention whose impacts are only emerging and whose existence is affecting social action, potentially reducing it to clicktivism. There is a need for oversight and evaluation of how the platforms that constitute social media are affecting collective action and perception of community.

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Eco Marketing: Cultivating Green Consumers and Communities—Marketing Strategies to Facilitate Green Purchase Behavior Sakshi Aggarwal and Shweta Jha

1

Introduction

“Environmental or Eco Marketing constitutes all activities that generate and facilitate exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs, with a minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment” (Grundey, 2009). The concept of environmental marketing has emerged since ecology has become a relevant variable for the achievement of organizational goals (Calomarde, 2000; Neagu, 2012). As consumers, our consumption patterns and behaviors are impacting the natural environment in an unprecedented manner (Stern, 2000).

S. Aggarwal (B) Indian Institute of Management, Amritsar, Punjab, India e-mail: [email protected] S. Jha Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi, India e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_9

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“Scientific evidence for the warming of the climate is unequivocal” (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The evidence for climate change—global temperature rise, warming of oceans—40% faster than previously thought (Cheng et al., 2019), shrinking ice sheets, decreased snow cover, glacial retreat, sea level rise, declining arctic sea rise, and ocean acidification—is compelling and disturbing. In response to the growing environmental degradation, many companies have realized the need to be sustainable and many brands across industries such as Unilever, Nike, and Starbucks are embedding sustainability in their core operations (Hardcastle, 2013). Firms that function sustainably and encourage sustainable consumption are likely to earn greater profits in the longer run (Kotler et al., 2019). Since traditional marketing focuses on meeting the endless needs and wants and apparently views resources to be plentiful (Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Swim et al., 2011), it may seem that the goals and assumptions of marketing and those of sustainability are orthogonal to each other. Ecological marketing or Environmental marketing or Green marketing refutes this perspective, it understands that the capacity of both resources and the environment is limited (McDonough and Braungart, 2002; Mont & Heiskanen, 2015) and asserts that marketing and sustainability are inextricably intertwined. This chapter highlights how marketing and behavioral science may influence consumers to be more sustainable in their purchase and consumption behavior. “Green purchase behavior refers to the purchase of ecologically friendly products or sustainable products that are recyclable and beneficial to the environment and avoiding the products which harm the environment and society” (Chan, 2001; Mostafa, 2007). The subsequent sections discuss different segments of consumers and how they may be influenced by marketers and advertisers to consume green products by communicating customized solutions to their issues and reasons for not buying green (Table 1).

2 2.1

Segments

Environmental Consciousness

Environmental consciousness means that “a consumer is more cognizant about environmental problems and follows a more environmentally

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Typography of consumers to promote green purchase behavior

S.No

Segmentation criteria

Segments

1

Environmental consciousness

2 3 4

Gender Moral character Individual self/personality (a) Self-accountability

Environmentally conscious Environmentally non-conscious Feminine, masculine High moral values, low moral values

(b) Self-concept clarity 5

Cultural Identity (a) Lifestyle (b) Consumption orientation (c) Connectedness

6

Political ideology

High self-accountability Low self-accountability High self-concept clarity Low self-concept clarity Global lifestyle, local lifestyle Global consumption orientation Local consumption orientation Global connectedness Local connectedness Conservatives, liberals

friendly lifestyle that results in mitigated environmental problems in the purchase, use, or disposal of goods” (Ahn & Park, 1998). Green purchase behavior may not be displayed by both environmentally conscious and non-environmentally conscious consumers. The non-environmentally conscious consumers may not be motivated to buy green as they do not find an incentive in the purchase for themselves. Even for the environmentally conscious consumers, there exists a significant “attitude-behavior” gap or “values-action” gap in sustainable consumption, which means that environmental consciousness does not get necessarily converted into green buying behavior. For example, this gap among UK consumers is about 30% (Defra, 2006). Greendex survey (2012) and Dupont green living survey (2014) show that “Indian consumers are concerned about the degradation of the environment and feel guilty about the impact they have on the environment”. However, the concern for the environment does not necessarily convert into buying behavior (Akehurst et al., 2012) in India, where in spite of the environmental concern shown by the people, green consumption has not taken off (Sreen et al., 2018).

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In this section, we elucidate upon differential communication strategies for environmentally conscious and non-conscious consumers to encourage them to purchase green products. 2.1.1 “Green Need not Be Expensive”—The IKEA Way When we think of green products, we tend to associate them with being expensive. Green need not be an expensive eco-friendly purchase; it may be a small light bulb that saves energy. IKEA is popular for DIY and economical furniture. The company is leading the way to show green need not be expensive. It has introduced in its production eco-friendly products and energy saving solutions like LED lights and tap nozzles. It recycles and incinerates waste from their stores for energy recovery (Ringstrom, 2018, Reuters). 2.1.2 Green = Less Effective? Consumers perceive that green product is less effective (Lin & Chang, 2012); thus, they typically feel the need to use more of a green product to attempt to acquire the desired result. This inferior functional perception of green products may be improved by highlighting their perceived effectiveness. When information about a green product’s functionality and effectiveness is provided by the marketers, consumers would rely less on the green = less effective heuristic and would bear a more favorable attitude toward the green product (Luchs et al., 2010). Ways that marketers may use to boost a green product’s competence and effectiveness: . Endorsement by a highly trustworthy source (Aaker et al., 2010): For example, a popular F1 driver for a green car that also has a great engine and other specifications. . Using a highly authentic source of information, for example, Consumer Reports, in advertising/communication. The effectiveness of this method may be witnessed in the decreased usage of ultra-concentrated detergent (Scott et al., 2009). These methods are likely to increase environmentally conscious consumers’ willingness to purchase green products. Environmentally conscious consumers care about ecological well-being; their skepticism toward the effectiveness of the green products may be one of the reasons

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for their attitude-behavior gap, which the marketers may overcome by using the above-mentioned ways. 2.1.3 Tesla—“Green & Powerful” Tesla, Inc. is an electric vehicles and clean energy company. Relying on its technology, Tesla has been able to carve out a niche for itself in the market for automobiles. It manufactures luxury, long-range electric automobiles—this segment is different from economical, electric vehicles and luxury gas-driven automobiles. Tesla does not develop TV advertisements to market its automobiles, rather it relies on more authentic and trustworthy ways—customers and sales centers. Sales centers educate customers, who in turn refer it to other prospective customers. This not just saves marketing cost but also makes the process information-driven and more reliable (BBC TopGear). 2.1.4 The Green Consumption Effect Environmentally non-conscious consumers are not aware and/or bothered about environmental degradation. Therefore, they usually don’t consider buying or consuming green products. Tezer and Bodur (2020) demonstrate the green consumption effect, which is driven by warm glow and is defined as a feel-good emotion after engaging in a prosocial (in this case, a green) behavior (Andreoni 1989, 1990). It increases the enjoyment that accompanies a consumption experience. Consuming/using a green product makes consumers feel valued as an individual in a society, makes them perceive an increase in their social worth (Grant & Gino, 2010). Therefore, consuming green products is beneficial not only for environmental well-being but also for individual well-being. Marketers may rope in the environmentally non-conscious consumers into buying green products by highlighting the individual well-being rather than environmental well-being associated with the products. For example, environmental-friendly cosmetic products may be advertised to environmentally non-conscious consumers by emphasizing not on their eco-friendliness but on the positive impact they would have on application—on outward appearances as well as how they would make the consumers feel about themselves.

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2.2

Gender

Gender refers only to behavioral, social, and psychological characteristics of men and women. Consumers often associate “green products and behaviors with femininity” (Brough et al., 2016). A survey conducted by OgilvyEarth suggests that “going green” is perceived to be more feminine than masculine by most American adults (Bennett & Williams, 2011). We discuss below the reasons for the cognitive association between the concepts of greenness and femininity among consumers: . Many pro-environmental messages use font styles and colors that are more feminine than masculine (Brough et al., 2016). . Many green marketing efforts are targeted toward the areas in which women are usually more involved than men, for example, the household chores of cleaning, washing (Brough et al., 2016). . “Environmentalism and conservationism reflect caring and nurturing of the environment”, which are considered feminine traits (Gilligan, 1982; Brough et al., 2016). . “Green consumers are seen as more cooperative, altruistic, and ethical” than their non-green counterparts (Mazar & Zhong, 2010), again these are known as feminine traits. Because of this association, men and women may perceive those consumers who engage in green behaviors as more feminine. This greenfeminine stereotype could affect perceptions of not just others but self as well. Threat to masculine identity could be a possible explanation for the avoidance of green behaviors by people who have a high need to be associated with masculinity. Consumers’ response to the stereotype may depend on: . Individual differences: How much an individual is concerned about maintaining their gender identities? Not all women identify with femininity, similarly not all men identify with femininity but there is a substantial section which identifies with masculinity and green marketing often doesn’t cater to this section. . Situational factors: Cues or situations that affect (threaten or affirm) one’s gender identities.

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Table 2

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Examples of masculine branding of stereotypically feminine products

Product category

Masculine branding (Brough et al., 2016)

Diet Soda

Dr. Pepper 10—it’s not for women; Pepsi Max—the first diet cola for men Powerful Yogurt (brand designed specifically for men) Broga—Yoga studio for men Suburban-craftsman, Family-handyman

Yogurt Yoga Studio Home improvement products

The “identity signaled by a product or behavior may change when a new social group identifies with it” (Berger & Rand, 2008) and this possibility can be used to create masculine branding for green products (when required) as an effective strategy for altering the feminine association linked to environmentally friendly products and actions. This strategy has been used by marketers in other product categories (see Table 2). 2.3

Moral Character

Moral psychology literature suggests a link between moral values and environmental behavior (Jia et al., 2017). It has been found that individual’s moral traits motivate them to participate in green consumption (Spielmann, 2020). Cohen et al. (2014) defined moral character as “an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior associated with moral/ethical and immoral/unethical behavior”. It has been observed that consumers who give more importance to moral character are more likely to seek personal and product level benefits from the green products. Individuals with high morality are known to have a resilient ethical value system, and they receive intrinsic motivation to behave in a manner that is consistent with their self-view (Jia et al., 2017). Therefore, they are more likely to consume green products as they receive intrinsic rewards through green consumption as green products are perceived to be good or virtuous, and consumers with high morality tend to buy more virtuous products (Spielmann, 2020). Additionally, individuals with high moral character are likely to feel more responsible toward the activity damaging the environment (Wu & Yang, 2018). It is also crucial that marketers communicate to their consumers the reasons for environmental degradation and how their

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product may help reduce that damage. This communication may assist firms in filling the gap between the intention to purchase green products and the actual sale of green products. Wu and Yang (2018) found that when consumers with high morality get to know that environmental degradation is happening due to vehicle exhaust, they are more likely to travel by public transport. Hence, we recommend that ridesharing firms and electric vehicles firms communicate to consumers how they are saving the environment, and it may help them acquire customers with high morality. Also, communicating “green is good” will help marketers attract more customers with high morality. 2.4

Individual Self or Personality

Consumer’s self plays a very significant role in the purchase of a green product. Consumers are likely to behave in alignment with themselves. It has been observed that consumers with high self-accountability and low self-concept clarity are more likely to participate in green product consumption. 2.4.1 Self-Accountability Traditionally, consumers tend to evaluate the functional self-benefits of the product (Shavitt, 1990). However, consumers reported that they make their consumption decisions based on sustainability and ethicality (Cotte & Trudel, 2009). Thus, consumers, in general, have a self-benchmark to participate in sustainable behavior. They become selfaccountable for their behavior. Self-accountability is defined as “emotions that instill a sense of feeling responsible for the outcome” (Passyn & Sujan, 2006). Self-accountability increases the individual’s desire to live up to the self-standards and provide a sense of responsibility. Peloza et al. (2013) found that consumers with high self-accountability are more likely to consume green products compared to individuals with low self-accountability. 2.4.2 Self-Concept Clarity While choosing between conventional and green products, consumers believe that they are making a trade-off between the performance and environment-related benefits (Dixon & Mikolon, 2020). However, they still make this trade-off as there is a lay belief that green products are moral and consumers derive positive marginal utility by its consumption

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(Carrington et al., 2014). This utility comes from other image benefits, such as signaling others a positive green image (Noppers et al., 2014). It has been found that individuals with low self-clarity are likely to derive more benefits from positive self-signals than individuals with clearer and established self-views. Hence, consumers with low self-clarity are more likely to consume green products as it provides more consumption value to them. Also, with an increase in self-concept clarity, the difference between the consumption values derived from the choice of conventional products versus green products declines incrementally (Dixon & Mikolon, 2020). Hence, we argue that marketers can use the benefit of positive selfsignals in the promotion of green products to consumers with low self-clarity. For example, marketers can promote value of green products and how consumers can build their positive image by consumption of green products. The green consumption effect (Sect. 2.1) may be put to use in this case as well. Since consumers with high self-clarity are less likely to be influenced by the potentially positive self-signals, they need to be communicated with in a more factual way. They should be informed about the need of the time, should be reminded of the deteriorating planet condition and how their act of buying and consuming green can actually contribute to nurturing a green community and planet. People with low self-accountability and high self-concept clarity may be the toughest nuts to crack; they can be convinced to buy green products by highlighting their functional and performance-based attributes, rather than their eco-friendliness. 2.5

Cultural Identity

Globalization and the sudden rise in economic development have increased people’s materialistic needs (Sharma, 2011). Materialism boosts the economy but simultaneously degrades the environment (Brown & Kaseer, 2005; Kasser, 2005). However, globalization may not necessarily degrade the environment but can play a significant role in safeguarding it. Strizhakova and Coulter (2013) argue that the relationship between materialism and consumption of green products gets moderated by an individual’s cultural identity. They identified three different measures such as lifestyle, consumption orientation, and connectedness through which individuals’ cultural identity decides their tendency toward green products.

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An individual’s cultural identity was defined as “the coexistence of a broad range of beliefs and behaviors embedded to varying degrees in local and global discourses” (Strizhakova et al., 2012). It has been found that consumers with a stronger global cultural identity lead an affluent and materialistic lifestyle, but they desire to live a green life and therefore are more likely to purchase and consume green products compared to individuals with a weaker global cultural identity (Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013). 2.5.1 Good Country Index “The Good Country Index measures what countries contribute to the world outside their own borders, and what they take away: it’s their balance-sheet towards humanity and the planet” (https://index.goodco untry.org/). Norway tops the list for contribution to the planet and climate in the good country index. It has led the world in a number of environmental initiatives, including the highest electric car adoption in the world and has pledged to be climate neutral by 2030. But what’s noteworthy in the light of “cultural identity” is that “Norwegians embrace the concept of friluftsliv, which translates to ‘open-air life’ and conveys the importance of spending time outdoors to be healthy and happy”. So, apart from the governmental policies, it is their culture that makes Norwegians extremely environmentally conscious and encourages them to exhibit green behavior (Galloway, 2019). 2.5.2 Lifestyle The lifestyle provides a significant difference for an individual with a higher global cultural identity versus a weaker global cultural identity. Individuals with a higher global cultural identity prefer global brands and have a higher affinity for global consumer culture (Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013). Individuals with this kind of lifestyle are more likely to seek green products. Also, they will show more affinity to those global brands that are likely to follow environmental-friendly policies. 2.5.3 Consumption Orientation Consumption orientation investigates the individual’s interest in purchasing global brands for personal consumption (Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013). Individuals with a consumption orientation toward global products are more likely to have a global cultural identity, which further

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increases their likelihood of purchasing green products and consuming environmentally friendly brands. 2.5.4 Connectedness Connectedness focuses on an individual’s connectedness to the global world. Individuals with higher connectedness to the global world are likely to have a global identity (Cameron, 2004; Russell & Russell, 2010). Strizhakova and Coulter (2013) have found that materialism positively impacts the purchase of green products for consumers who have higher global connectedness compared to those who have lower global connectedness. Hence, consumers with global lifestyles, global consumption, and attachment are more likely to indulge in green products. The education level can be one of the significant reasons as individuals with global cultural identity are found to have higher education levels (Strizhakova & Coulter, 2013). Marketers can advertise the “global-connectedness” attribute of their product and can leverage that for selling green products offered by their brand. 2.5.5 Grassroot Grassroot is an Indian, eco-friendly, luxury fashion brand by the fashion designer Anita Dongre. Based in the country’s rural art and craftsmanship, it sets global trends. The brand uses organic fabric, natural vegetable dyes and reuses waste products to produce mindful, handcrafted and sustainable clothing. Grassroot is a great example to exhibit how indigenous brands can be made global by their global connectedness and reach (“Anita Dongre to launch craft-based sustainable brand Grassroot”, 2022). 2.6

Political Ideology

“A political ideology is a set of ideas, beliefs, values, and opinions, exhibiting a recurring pattern, that competes deliberately as well as unintentionally over providing plans of action for public policymaking in an attempt to justify, explain, contest, or change the social and political arrangements and processes of a political community” (Freeden, 2001).

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Table 3 liberals

Effective green messaging/communication for conservatives and

Segment

Effective green messaging/communication (Kidwell et al., 2013)

Conservatives

– – – –

Liberals

Usage Usage Usage Usage

of of of of

terms like “we”, “our”, “citizens”, “duty” images of patriotism call to action helping and fairness

2.6.1 Conservatives and Eco-Friendly Labels Gromet et al. (2013) shows that conservatives avoid eco-friendly-labeled products. They would rather buy a less efficient product than the one labeled environmental-friendly. Apparently, Conservatives are put off by environmental-friendly labels like “protect the environment”. Conservatives regard “duty, authority, self-discipline, and actions consistent with their in-group’s social norms” highly (Graham et al., 2009; McAdams et al., 2008) while liberals consider “empathy, fairness, and individuality” important (McAdams et al. 2008; Morrison & Miller, 2008). Therefore, marketers need to create persuasive green/sustainable appeals constituting information in alignment with the moral foundations of individuals with different political ideologies (Kidwell et al., 2013). Messaging adhering to social norms, in-group effects, and strengthening the social order (Janoff-Bulman et al., 2009) should be used to target conservative consumers, while communication underlining individualizing moral foundation and improving overall social justice (Janoff-Bulman et al., 2009) should be used to rope in liberal consumers (Table 3).

3

Discussion

This chapter elucidates how marketers can target various segments to instill and increase green purchase behavior. Consumers often come across situations where they have a choice between a conventional product and the green product, for example, choosing a conventional plastic bag or an eco-friendly bag, choosing to ride by a conventional, petrol or dieseldriven car or an electric vehicle, choosing conventional products or energy saving options, and so on (Wu & Yang, 2018). It has been observed that 75% of consumers intend to purchase green products or environmentally

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friendly products (Saad, 2006). However, despite the intention, there is less than 4% sale of green products around the globe. This gap between the attitude and actual behavior is a major concern for the future of our planet, for the firms intending to launch green products or already selling the green products. In this chapter, we have identified various segments from the literature—environmentally conscious individuals, individuals with high moral character, individuals with high self-accountability, individuals with low self-concept clarity, females/people who identify with femininity, and liberals, which can be easy and lucrative targets for green marketers as they are more likely to engage in green product consumption. Even these segments, the ones more likely to exhibit green purchase intention, may need further reasons and nudge to actually buy green products. We provide green advertising and communication strategies to rope in these seemingly easy consumers. Further, the more daunting task—we provide marketing and communication strategies to rope in the segments, which are usually not much inclined to buy or consume green products— for example, the environmentally non-conscious consumers, people who identify with masculinity, conservatives, to name a few. Apart from the various segments discussed in this chapter, green marketers can also target other segments by adopting the following strategies, as suggested by Jia et al. (2017): providing discount on deposits for plastic/glass bottles, incentivizing the usage of refurbished items. Correspondingly, policymakers need to highlight the importance of providing rebates on the use of hybrid cars and solar panels (Jia et al., 2017). This may help boost green purchase behavior in other segments that are not included in this chapter, such as price-conscious consumers, innovators, and early adopters. Besides, media can play a significant role by highlighting the importance of the usage of green products. 3.1

Learn from Disney

Disney has a zero net direct greenhouse gas emission and zero waste policy within all its facilities. It also focuses on reducing indirect greenhouse gas emissions by reducing electrical consumption. The entertainment giant uses water-saving technology and is focused on lowering the footprint of its manufacturing and distribution facilities. Disney’s policy is to have a net positive environmental impact, and this had made it a leader in environmental responsibility (Horovitz, 2018, The New York Times).

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Lastly, people can be nudged to be greener in their being. Nudge theory is a “concept in behavioral economics, political theory, and behavioral sciences that propose positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence the behavior and decision-making of groups or individuals” (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). Green nudges are nudges that aim at promoting environmentally responsible behavior (Schubert, 2017). Following are a few strategies to nudge people to go green: . Describing plant-based dishes in an appealing manner (e.g., Spicy chickpea curry) increases their consumption. A study showed that it resulted in 25% increase in their consumption (Turnwald et al., 2017). . Easy to use and aesthetically appealing recycling bins leads to an increase in recycling behavior. A study showed that it leads to a remarkable increase of 34% in recycling beverage bottles (Duffy & Verges, 2009). . A study conducted in a university dining hall showed that serving food in small-sized plates and without trays lead to waste reduction (Thiagarajah & Getty, 2013).

4

Limitations and Future Research Directions

The typography of segments discussed in this chapter is not exhaustive. These segments were deemed most relevant for the purpose of the book chapter. Other segments can be looked into and discussed in future. We provide multiple examples to make our readers understand the concepts better, future research may look into more in-depth case studies. The customized solutions and communication strategies provided in this book chapter to cultivate green communities are based on academic research and our interpretation of the research. Other angles of interpretations may be explored in future.

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Recommended Readings Anita Dongre to launch craft-based sustainable brand Grassroot. (2022). Retrieved from https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fashion/anitadongre-to-launch-craft-based-sustainable-brand-grassroot/ Bhattacharyya, J. (2022). The structure of sustainability marketing research: A bibliometric review and directions for future research. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-06-2021-0239 Balaji, M. S, Jiang, Y., Bhattacharyya, J., Hewege, C., & Azer, J. (2021). An introduction to socially responsible sustainable consumption: Issues and challenges. In J. Bhattacharyya, M. Balaji, Y. Jiang, J. Azer & C. Hewege (Eds.), Socially responsible consumption and marketing in practice: Collection of case studies (1st ed., pp. 1–20). Springer. Bhattacharyya, J., Balaji, M.S, Jiang, Y., Azer, J., & Hewege, C. (2021). Socially responsible consumption and marketing in practice: Collection of case studies (1st ed.). Springer. In-Press. Bhattacharyya, J., Dash, M., Hewege, C., Balaji, M. S., & Lim, W. M. (2021). Social and sustainability marketing: A casebook for reaching your socially responsible consumers through marketing science (1st ed.). Routledge. Bhattacharyya, J., Krishna M. U. B., & Premi, P. (2020). Amul Dairy (GCMMF): Expanding in the US, leveraging the E-commerce advantage. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 19(2), 149–163. Charter, M. (Ed.). (2017). Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge. Sharma, R. R., Kaur, T., & Syan, A. S. (2021). Sustainability marketing: New directions and practices. Emerald Group Publishing.

Promoting Mindfulness Behavior at Buffet Restaurant Jiayu Wang

1

and Meixuan Zhang

Introduction

‘Human beings waste far too much food.’ This could be a bold, challenging statement that provokes the reader to immediately question their own food wastage, immediately putting them into the frame of mind where they need the information you supply According to FAO data, about a third of food prepared for consumption is never eaten, but is wasted and turned into garbage (2011). This is a great waste of natural environment and food resources. The food supply chain alone accounts for two-thirds of fresh water usage, and produces 23% of total man-made greenhouse gases (Poore, J., & Nemecek, T., 2018). On the other hand, food waste has caused great pollution to the environment. If we regard

J. Wang (B) Tourism College, Hainan University, Haikou, China e-mail: [email protected] M. Zhang School of Architecture and Planning, Hunan University, Changsha, China e-mail: [email protected] Hainan University-Arizona State University Joint International Tourism College, Hainan University, Haikou, China

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_10

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the global carbon emissions from food waste as a country, it should be ranked third in the world (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). Additionally, the disposal of wasted food requires more resources; food waste disposal alone accounts for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Hertwich, E. G., & Peters, G. P., 2009). If the total amount of food waste can be reduced by 38%, the negative impacts on climate and biodiversity can be reduced by 40% and 30%, respectively (Beretta, C., & Hellweg, S., 2019). As the problem of food waste is particularly important in the most populous country in the world, China, and will exist for a long time into the future. Food waste runs counter to China’s goal of building a resource-saving and link-friendly society (Dai Haixia (Translate), 2011). Therefore, it is necessary to explore positive methods to reduce food waste, especially buffet plate waste.

2

Literature Review

Food waste refers to the non-consumed food in the stages of food production and consumption. Combined with the characteristics of buffet, the wasted food includes not only customers’ leftovers, but also food waste during production that customers have no choice (Wang, J., et al., 2021). The research of Silvennoinen, Nisonen and Pietiläinen shows that 17.5% of the finished food in cafeteria eventually turns into garbage, which is divided into kitchen garbage (2.2%), service garbage (11.3%) and customer leftovers (3.9%). That is to say, 78 grams of the 449 grams of food prepared, on average, ends up as waste (2019, P.97). Such plate waste is a great loss of natural resources. The intervention measures taken to reduce food waste, such as reducing the size of plates, designing stamp collecting games, setting plates, and providing food in batches, have proven to be positive and effective (Juvan, E., et al., 2021). For example, in two hotels in Slovenia, 36,428 family members participated in stamp collecting games in July and August. The move reduced food waste by 474 kg and saved hotels 6,636–7,584 euros in food purchase costs and 114 euros in handling costs (Dolnicar, S., et al., 2020). However, there is no systematic research on the intervention of buffet waste in China. We regard the above actions as actions of mindfulness, which can reduce the waste of buffet dining. These are positive behaviors that reduce the waste of buffet and indirectly benefit the environment, economy and resources. For example, the 190 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted

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by food waste in Europe every year would be reduced (Scherhaufer, et al., 2018). The scope of the restaurant’s rights has great potential to reduce waste (Papargyropoulou, E., et al., 2019). In other words, the mindfulness displayed by restaurants can reduce plate waste. Increasing customer mindfulness is also a tool to reduce plate waste. However, there is no research showing that customers’ understanding of the consequences of food waste is related to eating behavior, and there is no research on whether customers’ understanding of food waste will affect the amount of food waste in cafeteria (Juvan, E., et al., 2021). Among the many popular themes in Chinese culture, food plays an important role, especially on special occasions and at festivals (Wang, J., et al., 2021). However, food waste is very common in China. In particular, the waste from independent restaurants is large enough to be quite concerning. In addition, although Chinese culture advocates saving food, there are also psychological effects such as worrying about losing money (‘I have to get my money’s worth’), which will also lead to food waste (Li, N., & Wang, J., 2020). So, mindful behavior needs to consider the influence of Chinese culture, which is not present in the current research studies.

3 3.1

Method Setting

In our research, the qualitative research method is used, which explores the reasons why Chinese customers waste food and then gets the mindfulness behavior suitable for Chinese to reduce waste. We select Haikou City of Hainan Province as the main source of data, because it is a very developed tourism province in China. Most of our interviewees are tourists from other regions, which ensures that our data sources maximize the entertainment of buffet dining. In addition, we chose three cafeterias of different grades in Haikou City to study. This can reduce the waste behavior of different levels of restaurants and the difference in the amount of waste among breakfast, lunch and dinner (Juvan, E., et al., 2021). The first cafeteria in which we interviewed is located in a five-star hotel. The second cafeteria is the cafeteria of a mid-range hotel affiliated with a university. The main customers are teachers, students or other people related to the education industry. The third cafeteria is considered the most popular; its prices are low, it serves a wide range of dishes and is located in a business center. Staff also pointed out that the majority of consumers at this restaurant are students.

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3.2

Data Sources

Using the methods of field investigation, semi-structured interview and participatory observation, the author collected data from three cafeterias in Haikou. During the interview with each cafeteria, we also had informal conversations and formal interviews with Chinese tourists and relevant staff. Among them, a total of 30 cousumers participated in our interview. In this process, we always abide by an interview guide, with questions starting from the buffet experience, then turning to the observation of food waste behavior and other tourists’ food waste in this dining experience, and finally to the effect and acceptance of mindful behavior in cafeterias. Accordingly, we also gather customers’ suggestions on mindful behavior. The interview time will be controlled (within 10 to 15 minutes) to ensure the quality of our interview. In selecting interviewees, we first used a convenient sampling survey to ensure the quality of the interview. Since sampling according to the characteristics of the population (such as education level, gender, marital status, income level, etc.) is very important to maximize the difference, we will take the collected data into account when looking for new interviewees. The structure of the interviewees is 26 Chinese tourists and four restaurant staff, comprising eight males and 22 females. The age span ranged from 19 to 76 years old, and the main age distribution was 18– 44 years old (Youth). Twenty percent of the interviewees lived in Hainan, including the staff of the three restaurants. The other 80% of the interviewees came from 12 other provinces in China. Eighty-six percent of the respondents had an educational level of bachelor degree or above. Among them, 50% of the interviewees are professional teachers and students, and the other 50% are not only restaurant staff, but also engineers, teachers and other qualified professionals. 3.3

Data Analysis

In this study, the qualitative analysis method was used, and 30 interviewers were coded scientifically. First, we coded the customers of highend restaurants (five-star, breakfast, ¥ 128) as 1, middle-end restaurants (three-star, breakfast, ¥ 128) and ordinary restaurants (lunch, ¥ 68 + ¥ 10 deposit) as 3. Customers interviewed in different restaurants are given corresponding codes. Then, we coded the tourists’ gender, age and native

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place. M1-58-Shandong, for example, means a 58-year-old male customer who had breakfast buffet in a fancy restaurant, who is from Shandong province.

4

Findings

Excluding food wasted during production, or food wasted as leftovers still in the buffet, this study only focused on the served food selected by customers. The study found that the phenomenon of food wastage in cafeterias in China is still very common. According to the observation method, we found food waste in three cafeterias of different grades, and more than 80% of respondents said they had seen plate waste in cafeterias. Interviewees said that there are several reasons for wasting food. Specific reasons can be divided into two categories—restaurant waste and customer waste. 4.1

Reasons for Food Waste

Restaurant Waste Customers may choose food provided by the cafeteria that does not meet their own taste, is hard to swallow or is not fresh. The 28th interviewee (F3-19-Hebei) said that the main reason for her food waste was that the food provided by the restaurant could not be eaten, and she thought it was a forced plate waste. Customer Waste Some customers admit that they don’t have a concept of food quantity when eating self-serve. They think that buffet is a place for leisure and relaxation, and they don’t want to consider whether their choice will cause food waste. For example, an interviewee (M2-20Shandong) says that he likes the fried chicken provided by the restaurant very much. Even when he is almost full (which is likely to cause waste), he still goes to get a second portion to satisfy himself. Chinese culture, too, has an impact on food waste. Chinese people pay more attention to cost performance. In Chinese culture, customers worry that they will suffer losses and fear missing out on good food (Li, N., & Wang, J., 2020). Therefore, in the cafeteria, they will subconsciously take more than they can eat. Besides this, Chinese customers are curious about the food (especially Western food) provided by the cafeteria, so customers will choose more food than they usually eat.

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Interestingly, through observation, we found that young couples are more likely to leave leftovers. This is mainly because they show their love through some actions. For example, they will carefully select food to show off to their circle of friends, or choose dishes for each other. A female interviewee (F2-29-Beijing) said that she likes to show off exquisite dishes in her circle of friends, so as to show off the love of her boyfriends. However, not all couples are like this. The other interviewee (F3-19Hebei) said they didn’t like to show off their daily life and boyfriends through food.

4.2

Mindful Behavior

During the interviews, in the face of a variety of reasons for the waste of buffet food, we also found some measures to save food. We consider these measures to reduce the waste of buffet plate as mindfulness, because it includes restaurant measures and customers’ own choices. There are two kinds of mindful behaviors adopted by restaurants to reduce food waste. One is guiding, such as placing food-saving plates, playing moderately restaurant broadcast and so on. The other is compulsory measures, which impose fines on customers’ waste behavior. Mindfulness of Restaurants First of all, 70% of the interviewees said that they did not or rarely noticed the guiding slogans in the restaurant. Moreover, some interviewees also said that they were disgusted with the radio and felt that it would affect their dining experience; they also said the reason slogans or broadcasts are not taken seriously is that they are too boring. The interviewee (F2-29-Sichuan) said that she had breakfast for nearly two weeks in the second independent restaurant, but she didn’t notice that there were signs advocating economy on the table. When we told her that the slogan was a traditional Chinese poem: ‘every grain is hard,’ she said it was too common that customers can see it anywhere so she ignored it. At the same time, the interviewees said that the restaurant could adopt interesting ways, such as pictures or stamp collecting games, to promote the reduction of food wastage. In this way, the acceptability of customers is very high. Adjusting the provision of food is also one of the positive measures to reduce waste for cafeteria. When we designed the interview questions, we referred to the research from Kallbekken and Sælen (2013) asking the interviewees’ opinion about reducing the size of the plate, which

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has proven to be an effective policy. Most of the interviewees said they could accept this method. Self-ordering has also proven to be positive and effective, reducing waste. We interviewed the chef (F2-45-Hainan) in restaurant 2. Her specific task is to cook pasta for tourists according to their orders. She said that tourists eat her noodles with almost no waste because she will cook according to the tourists’ requirements. In addition, the common cafeteria (code 3) follows the practice of charging a deposit and imposing a fine for waste. However, restaurants coded as 1 and 2 providing buffet breakfast for customers have no explanation for the fine policy. We speculate that the fine may have something to do with the quality of the cafeteria. All the interviewees know the fine policy of the cafeteria, but such a policy is not supported by everyone. A small number of interviewees said that such a policy would affect their mood when eating buffet. On the other hand, the others say that if there is a fine policy, they will restrain their behavior and try not to waste. In particular, although it is a very common and socially acceptable measure, there is no legal support for cafeteria fines in China (Yu, Xiaohang., 2016). In conclusion, there is still a long way to go before this measure becomes compulsory. Customers’ Psychological Mindfulness Influenced by Chinese traditional culture, some interviewees think that it is very shameful to waste food. An elderly customer (M1-58-Shandong) said that when he was a child, food was very expensive, so he was taught by his parents to save. This consciousness of saving food is a kind of mindful consciousness to reduce plate waste. The awareness of environmental protection is also a kind of mindfulness. If the interviewees understand the harm of food waste to the natural environment, they will consciously reduce waste. Finally, a healthy and balanced diet is also a mindfulness to reduce waste. A customer (2F-20-Shanxi) said that she attaches great importance to the healthy diet, so she will choose a fixed quantity and healthy collocation when taking meals.

5

Discussion and Recommendations

Through the research, it is found that the phenomenon of food waste exists in different levels of cafeteria in Haikou. The causes of food waste are mainly divided into food problems provided by restaurants and tourists’ own problems. For these reasons, we collected tourists’ views

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Fig. 1 Align diagram

on mindful behavior. We believe that every mindfulness measure can solve the problem of food waste (See Fig. 1). Offering smaller plates and applying the ordering mechanism according to demand are effective ways to reduce the probability of customers choosing too many unsatisfying or disliked foods. For the problem of food waste caused by the curiosity of tourists, the psychology of eating back the cost or the psychology of showing off, we can effectively reduce the waste by publicizing the spirit of saving through interesting publicity, so that customers can understand the consequences of food waste and the benefit of the healthy diet. The fine behavior is mandatory and not supported by the law; although this measure can effectively solve the problem of waste, we have reservations about whether it is mindful behavior. Following are some suggestions for restaurants. First of all, restaurants can adopt more interesting publicity methods to attract customers’ attention, and the content of publicity can also be extended to many aspects, including the spirit of frugality, healthy diet and so on. At the same time, the restaurant can choose to educate customers by showing photographs of harm to the environment caused by the disposal of food waste. Second, the restaurant can also adapt the timing, quantity and type of food supply according to its own customer type and dining time. Ordering, taste experience and shrink plates are also encouraged.

6

Limitation and Future

According to Stenmarck’s classification, plate waste can be divided into edible waste, inedible waste and potentially edible food (2016). Food waste refers to food that is not consumed. Although most of the food

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waste is usable waste, there are other types of waste (Juvan, E., et al., 2018). However, the study only used the observation method to calculate the food waste of customers, creating the problem of inaccurate judgment of food waste. There are many objective factors influencing customers’ buffet waste behavior. Event type, event size and menu price all affect customers’ buffet waste behavior (Leverenz, D., et al., 2020). Although there is no clear evidence, even weather and season are considered to be factors affecting the waste of buffet food. This study does not consider the influence of these other factors, which is likely to affect the results. Social demographic characteristics are also pointed out to be one of the important factors affecting the phenomenon of buffet waste (Juvan, E., et al., 2018). However, our interviewees generally have a higher level of education, and their choice of occupation is relatively single; also, no children were included in the sample. To a certain extent, this will make the results somewhat one-sided. In future research, we can weigh and classify the customer’s plate waste to obtain more accurate waste data, and we could consider the influence of other objective factors. In addition, it is necessary to enrich the demographic characteristics of interview samples.

7

Conclusion

The results show that the waste behavior of tourists in cafeterias is still serious, including all different levels of restaurants. In order to reduce food waste and environmental pollution, it is very important to promote mindful eating habits. This can help the cafeteria solve the waste problem from the source. In addition, moderate diet and balanced eating habits are also conducive to the health of customers.

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Dolnicar, S., Juvan, E., & Grün, B. (2020). Reducing the plate waste of families at hotel buffets—A quasi-experimental field study. Tourism Management (1982), 80, 104103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104103 FAO, 2011. Global food losses and food waste. Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/ ai2697e.pdf (Accessed 16 April 2021). Hertwich, E. G., and Peters, G. P. (2009). Carbon footprint of nations: A global, trade-linked analysis. Environmental Science and Technology, 43, 6414–20. Juvan, E., Grün, B., & Dolnicar, S. (2018). Biting off more than they can chew: Food waste at hotel breakfast buffets. Journal of Travel Research, 57(2), 232– 242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287516688321 Juvan, E., Grün, B., Zabukovec Baruca, P., & Dolnicar, S. (2021). Drivers of plate waste at buffets: A comprehensive conceptual model based on observational data and staff insights. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, 2(1), 100010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2021.100010 Kallbekken, S., & Sælen, H. (2013). “Nudging” hotel guests to reduce food waste as a win–win environmental measure. Economics Letters, 119(3), 325– 327. Leverenz, D., Moussawel, S., Hafner, G., & Kranert, M. (2020). What influences buffet leftovers at event caterings? A German case study. Waste Management (Elmsford), 116, 100–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.07.029 Li, N., & Wang, J. (2020). Food waste of Chinese cruise passengers. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 28(11), 1825–1840. https://doi.org/10.1080/096 69582.2020.1762621 Papargyropoulou, E., Steinberger, J., Wright, N., Lozano, R., Padfield, R., & Ujang, Z. (2019). Patterns and Causes of Food Waste in the Hospitality and Food Service Sector: Food Waste Prevention Insights from Malaysia. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 11(21), 6016. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1121 6016 Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992. Scherhaufer, S., Moates, G., Hartikainen, H., Waldron, K., & Obersteiner, G. (2018). Environmental impacts of food waste in Europe. Waste Management, 77, 98–113. Silvennoinen, K., Nisonen, S., & Pietiläinen, O. (2019). Food waste case study and monitoring developing in Finnish food services. Waste Management (Elmsford), 97, 97–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.07.028, P97 Stenmarck, Å., Jensen, C., Quested, T., and Moates, G. (2016). Estimates of European Food Waste Levels. (Accessed 14 April 2021). US Environmental Protection Agency. (2008). Cruise ship discharge assessment report (Report #EPA842-R-07–005). Washington, DC: US Environmental

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Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/cru ise_ships/pdf/0812cruiseshipdischargeassess.pdf Wang, J., Peng, C., Zhang, M., Zhang, L., An, J., Yang, X., Fang, H., Fan, P., & Liu, M. (2021). Food waste behaviours at buffet restaurants in China. IOP Conference Series. Earth and Environmental Science, 690(1), 12016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/690/1/012016 Yu, Xiaohang. (2016). Legal thinking on fines for customers’ waste in cafeteria. Reform and opening up, (12), 71–71.

How Farmers Present a Sustainable Product to Socially Responsible Consumers—An Approach to Local Organic Agriculture Marisa R. Ferreira, Beatriz Casais, and João F. Proença

1

Introduction

The concept of sustainability derives from an international agenda which can, at the same time, encourage product innovation and the development of new business models. In fact, sustainability can be seen through a dual approach, firstly as a business positioning, getting it stronger by a

M. R. Ferreira (B) CIICESI, ESTG, Politécnico Do Porto, Porto, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] B. Casais School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] J. F. Proença Department of Economics & Advance, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] CSG, ISEG, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_11

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higher value proposition that is presented to the consumer with competitive advantage; and, secondly, supporting an international agenda of being green and environmental concerned, which can encourage innovation in products and in the development of new business models. The number of socially responsible consumers is increasing and they are now facing the problem of accessing organic products, whose distribution is restricted to local markets. This dilemma assumed particular relevance during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, paving the way for new distribution solutions through digital platforms (Kumar et al., 2020). The pandemic drastically impacted on farmers and the economic restart must include sustainability conditions (Barcaccia et al., 2020) and the adaptation to urban needs (Pulighe & Lupia, 2020). In this sense, the topic of distribution challenges in agriculture, and in particular sustainable farmers, became a much-debated issue, being the electronic commerce an issue that deserves more and more debate (Banerjee et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2020). The growing trend of electronic commerce (Zeng et al., 2017) and product distribution in niche e-marketplaces aggregating several suppliers is a challenge for expanding markets (Brush & McIntosh, 2010; Casais, 2020). This perspective is framed under the philosophy of organic and sustainable agriculture (Manikas et al., 2019), through a marketing mix approach (Baker, 2014). Our case study will analyze three local organic farmers, from a small European city, using a commercial narrative strengthened by an ethical, transparent and responsible performance which allows them a neighboring and local approach to a very attentive and increasingly concerned market, emphasized by the pandemic context. These local organic farmers intensify the option for direct sales, reducing intermediaries, in order to have the fairest price that they can practice. The growing trend of electronic commerce (Zeng et al., 2017) and the distribution in emarketplaces is explored as a challenge to expand markets (Brush & McIntosh, 2010; Casais, 2020).

2

Conceptual Background 2.1

Sustainability

Nowadays people have a great impact on our planet and environment. Our households have a gigantic impact on the environment, and companies, from start-ups to larger enterprises, also have a significant influence

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(Płachciak, 2009). Our new technologies, as well as the manufacture process, contributes to climate change. Disturbing transformations in nature and our environment are all around us: forests and wildlife are declining; air and oceans are progressively polluted; sea levels are rising, and the incidence of risky weather phenomena is growing. Currently, several guidelines and legislations indicate and obliges citizens and enterprises to change their behaviors (Baziana & TzimitraKalogianni, 2016). The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development validated the importance of environmental sustainability (Chaves-Avila & Gallego-Bono, 2020) as the framework inside which economic and social growth will take place, with meaningful consequences for the future. It is expected that companies may be an important add-on to sustainable economic development, through their performance and their employees, to the local community and society, in order to improve their quality of life. In this sense, many companies often extend their sustainability impact through social responsibility policies to people, inside and outside the organization (Alonso-Almeida & Llach, 2019), being that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as a set of specific organizational actions and policies that take into account the expectations of stakeholders and the interaction between economic, social, and environmental performance (Dahlsrud, 2008). At the same time, the several lockdowns had led to increasing consciousness of the importance of food accessibility for citizens, so novel and adjusted solutions, as well as small food supply chains of fresh agricultural, and organic, products might have an encouraging position in decreasing uncertainties (Pulighe & Lupia, 2020). Re-imagine conservative approaches to environmental sustainability, put into practice CSR guidelines, strengthen and reorganize established knowledge and methods as a mean to stimulate sustainability and encourage the role that agricultural play in society to raise awareness, is fundamental, so our approach to local organic farmers intends to raise awareness to sustainability through organic agriculture. 2.1.1 The Green Market There is an important change happening in the market and consumer behavior—a green market that aims at improving people lives, groups, society, and the natural ecosystem (Guyader et al., 2019). This current juncture requires a change of the production processes to achieve goals of sustainability which carry additional complexity (Vickers & Lyon,

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2014). The production and delivery of organic commodities, such as organic fruits and vegetables have a higher importance now (Alamsyah & Muhammed, 2018). As a rising movement, a great number of European consumers are purchasing healthy, organic and vegetarian food (IRi, 2017). The same report mentions a significant growth in the number of people who are buying organic products: a 35% increase in just three years, with Germany running this organic consumption behavior, with 67% of consumers saying they prefer to buy organic food (IRi, 2018). The green market is increasingly significative namely because of consumer health conscious and the problems related with lifestyle diseases (Rana & Paul, 2017). In this sense, businesses try to become more sustainable not only due to environmental concerns, but also to get a better positioning with a sustainable value proposition and competitive advantage next to the market that are aware for these problems (Moravcikova et al., 2017). The green economy creates challenges in the agricultural system, triggering innovations in farms to allow the production of quality food free of pesticides (Armanda et al., 2019). Besides the farmers’ environmental concerns, the increasing trends for green purchases made farmers to implement those green innovations (Lioutas & Charatsari, 2018) and recruit more employers for rural jobs (Unay-Gailhard & Bojnec, 2019). This phenomenon is highly valued by consumers, but creates several implications in retail and distribution (Rana & Paul, 2017). There is a big challenge in sustainable production, but a higher challenge is even to place fresh products at competitive prices in local markets to the socially responsible consumers and to drain the production in a short-time with good quality (Fig. 1). Considering that businesses focused on sustainability as a competitive advantage and a value proposition require a green marketing perspective focused on the assumptions of green consumer behavior, and the challenges to adapt marketing activities to the green ecosystem (Papadas et al., 2017) and Fig. 2 shows a more friendly and visual illustration of the marketing mix approach.

3

The Case

This chapter presents the case study of three local organic farmers (Quinta do Verdelho, Quinta do Casalermo, and Quinta da Felgueira) based in Guimarães, Portugal, who have been producing and selling organic

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Fig. 1 Market at the museum cloisters (Source The Authors)

Fig. 2 Marketing-mix (Source The Authors)

fruits and vegetables for more than ten years. They offer a great diversity of products, from honey, bread or liquors to blueberries and turnips or homemade jam. One of these farmers is a pioneer in the region regarding the implementation of a sustainable agricultural system. Not only their production is organic, but they also adopt a holistic, ethical, transparent and responsible performance which allows them a neighboring and local approach to a very attentive and increasingly concerned market, emphasized by the current pandemic context. Today, as a result of the current context, its target audience is more diverse, however, its core target is a group of people who are very aware of issues related to sustainability and who have huge concerns related to massive production. This target intends to make choices considered

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responsible, since one of their priorities is conscientious and healthy consumption. This leads us to a second priority related to health, that is, this target considers that consuming organic products is the option that best contributes to their well-being. These local organic farmers intensify the option for direct sales, thus reducing intermediaries, in order to obtain the fairest price that they can practice. The explanation of the case follows the perspective of the marketing-mix theory (McCarthy, 1964) to inform about how farmers present a locally-oriented sustainable product to socially responsible consumers; how they manage an ethical price list; how they reach socially responsible consumers and tackle the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to home delivery and electronic purchases; and, finally, how these organic farmers promote their sustainable offer. The purpose of this study is to present creative and sustainable ways of managing product quantity restrictions stemming from an increasing demand in urban cities, which previous literature also highlights as a challenge (Pulighe & Lupia, 2020). 3.1

The Farm Products

All the products are produced in an organic and sustainable way through systems that do not allow the use of synthetic chemicals—such as different types of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides—or genetically modified organisms. Sustainability is present not only in terms of production but also considering the final products, since—whenever possible—they use the fruit surplus to make jams or dry it, to produce liquors or to mix it in bread, thus working in a sustainable and circular system while trying to address seasonal surpluses. In addition, these farmers say that there is a certain segment of the public that has begun to lose their mistrust of new products, such as certain varieties of mushrooms, until now fairly unknown to the wide public and which, as such, generated some resistance and distrust. In the recent past, vegetarians seemed to be the most obvious customers for these farmers; however, new customers have emerged who buy mainly for health reasons, so the public is now much more diverse. Business to business models must also be mentioned as a challenge, since it brings the need of developing both new products and the production dimension. In this case, restaurants and small supermarkets, which

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are also increasingly looking for these organic food options and look for a green/bio positioning in the market to attract niche consumers who value this kind of offer. 3.2

Fair Trade Prices

These organic farmers only do direct sales, and their main objective is to obtain the fairest price possible. When comparing their organic products with, for example, organic options from a big supermarket, the majority of times the farmers’ product prices are lower. This is connected with a lifestyle positioning, that sustainability requires also a social responsibility and ethical attitude in business. 3.3

Personal Communication

In terms of communication, the farmers believe in the concept of proximity and they expect a growing trust from consumers. With this orientation in mind, their communication is very personal, mainly through informal talks with customers about their products. One of the farmers occasionally organizes an activity called “Sunday at the Farm”, a day where the farm is open to anyone who wants to visit it, learn some simple agricultural organic techniques, and volunteer to help in a specific activity or just visit and share a picnic. This activity is advertised on Facebook and its main goal is trying to build engagement with their actual customers and potential ones. In a way, their communicational approach works proximity, highlighting the importance of nature and ecosystems, for example in the weekly email (where they send the list of products available), they can make references to aspects related to seasonality, refer to some climatic aspect that may interfere with agriculture (for example “we have had days without frost but still fresh and humid, so the ideal time for leafy vegetables”), they might make cooking suggestions (for example “this week we have the first news on the spring leaves, with the spikes of turnip greens, the basis of a very typical dish - spike rice, which we normally make in a version closer to a risotto”), or they can send a photo of a flowering fruit tree or seasonal vegetables.

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3.4

Distribution in Local Markets

In terms of distribution, proximity is, again, the most important element. There are two ways of buying the organic products: in the local market, in the city center; or customers can send their orders by email, every Tuesday, and collect their products at one of the farms on Wednesdays (between 6 and 8 pm). The delivery process is reported as the most difficult task. The pandemic context raised the public awareness for the importance of local sellers, but also for the option of Internet orders and home delivery. City lockdown has led to increasing awareness of the fundamental importance of food availability for citizens, and since the beginning of the lockdown period (Pulighe & Lupia, 2020) there was a growth in demand, more people are sending their orders through the farmers’ collective email and more people are attending the local market. According to these farmers, customers refer two important aspects: one related with health, since people are generally more aware of health problems and consider organic food an important element to a healthy living; and another related to keeping the social distance, that is, avoiding big supermarkets and having the possibility to make their orders in advance. These farmers are on the path to creating niche e-marketplaces, where together they can meet consumers and expand market both geographically and by supplying businesses that look for sustainable farmers for their organic positioning. The challenge for a niche e-marketplace is the much-needed balance between offer and demand, the geographic delivery and the ethics of fair payment to delivery drivers.

4

Lessons Learned---Discussion and Challenges

The literature stated several challenges for agriculture in order to be prepared for global markets through technology-based systems of supply chain (Banerjee et al., 2019; Kulandasamy et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2020; Zeng et al., 2019). The Covid-19 pandemic and the worldwide lockdowns paved the way for a higher demand of home delivery and e-commerce solutions and farmers faced several challenges that should be addressed in a near future (Barcaccia et al., 2020; Pulighe & Lupia, 2020), since populations were impacted by mobility restrictions, social distancing measures, and shutdown of several private and public establishments and institutions which impacted on food consumption behaviors, food basket and diets that have changed precipitously (Barcaccia et al.,

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2020). These challenges face several barriers in a context of small production, ethical and sustainable positioning. This case study shows how local farmers can balance the sustainable positioning by creating new opportunities (e.g., niche e-marketplaces) where the local physical distribution remains the central point, but where purchases and orders can be done online. In terms of products, the most important barrier is production. There is a recognized limitation in terms of production quantities, inherent to organic agriculture, as it does not allow massive production, and, at the same time, there is the fear of not selling the products easily, since perishability is a variable to be taken into account. A possible solution may involve the anticipation of orders, allowing for a more extended management over time. Despite the above-mentioned growth in demand, these farmers believe that this growth suffers from the huge impact that the pandemic has on the general public and consider that demand has experienced a peak of growth that over time will be adjusted to the real needs, i.e., they consider that the demand for healthier/organic foods will continue to grow, but at a smoother pace. Proximity is one of the most important factors in the growth of organic farming. Perhaps this is why these farmers say that this growth is not exclusive to the current moment and that there has been a peak in demand, but they believe that, regardless of the pandemic, they had been selling a little more over time. This growth has been happening in a sustainable way in order to convey a serious and reliable message in terms of communication, and so the creation of niche e-marketplaces seems to be an adequate and important solution to the current pandemic context. The advantages for a better communication with customers are clear and the possibility of increasing weekly loyalty with digital communication strategies is emphasized. Sustainable and green awareness amid consumers can be enhanced on the basis of the perceived value of sustainable products, underlined through, for example, the fact that organic production procedures and practices protect environments and habitats (Schaltegger et al., 2016) and the benefit of organic products over commonly manufactured products is evaluated by consumers that consider the gains to the environment (Alamsyah & Muhammed, 2018). In some contexts, for common consumers, to pinpoint the green products detailed eco-friendly attributes might be challenging, so producers, in this case farmers, need

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to develop and mature well-organized information systems and, eventually, green/sustainable product certification (Ma et al., 2018) can help make the message more robust. This topic of sustainability in consumption calls also for social marketing actions that might be conducted by public policy managers (Assadourian, 2010). Governments and local municipalities might activate the preference for local products in order to potentiate local economies. This can also be promoted by the creation of bioregions, with the certification of farmers and the communication of their activity in the city council official communication. With that purpose, a social marketing approach is suggested for these local governments, in order to potentiate the awareness for the benefits of organic purchases (Peattie & Peattie, 2009) fighting the eventual stigma that bio is expensive and hard to find in the retail markets. Also, these organic farmers may also be agents of social marketing, engaging consumers for a loyal purchase behavior, based on the sustainable assets of the products, creating activist communities around the business and the organic lifestyle of their members. In terms of distribution, one of the problems is related with deliveries, as these farmers do not deliver at home. They operate regularly in a local market on Saturday mornings and deliver, at the farm, on Wednesday afternoons, so the non-existing possibility of home delivery is a failure. We understand that (i) orders are placed in small quantities, and (ii) that the logistics inherent to this type of deliveries would demand a lot from farmers, however considering the current lifestyle of individuals, as well as the pandemic situation, which can last, it seems that this possibility should be considered. We suggest the creation of a home delivery format through a pre-defined basket, that is, if a person wants to have access to home delivery, they should make a certain type of purchase, in this case a specific pre-defined basket which would impose a mandatory minimum consumption, being that the location, or distance, should also be considered. This might be solved by the creation of digital marketplaces, based on local communities, as the municipality council, that could manage orders, stocks, and also home deliveries. This last service could be highly valued, in a context that e-commerce gets adopters and particularly the pandemic lockdown involved the close of local markets. The suggestion of niche local e-marketplaces is an alternative to the multinational e-marketplaces that are investing on fresh products, like Amazon.

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As municipalities have recently created e-marketplaces for restaurant deliveries for the local restaurants, the same procedure could be done to local farm products. Agricultural products seasonality is a problem because, in a given period of time, farmers can have an enormous amount of a certain product, which in turn gives rise to the problem of unsold products, thus bringing the need of selling the products in a short period of time. The e-marketplace could be a solution for this problem by considering all the marketing-mix variables and combining product stock with communication strategies, dynamic pricing policies and specific distribution. For example, consider the case of seasonal strawberry production: the emarketplace could run a time-limited campaign by raising awareness of the importance of seasonal consumption, stressing the quality and benefits of consuming this fruit, and presenting recipes that could integrate the fruit. It should also be noted that there are different varieties of strawberries, which could have different prices, depending on, for example, quantities, baskets combined with other fruits or even be presented to different distribution channels (B2C and B2B), with adjusted forms of distribution. Thus, considering this specific example of strawberries, we were able to identify the potential and benefits of an e-marketplace adjusted to the specificity of proximity organic farming. The expansion of distribution challenges and communication awareness has also a problem of perceived price. Sometimes the reference bio or organic give to the consumer the perception that the prices are more expensive. This means that while the distribution in local markets may be perceived as a pricing deal to get fresh products at low prices, when farmers invest in marketing to share the organic and bio attributes of production, the price perceived may increase, particularly if distributed in modern channels, as e-commerce or partner stores. This is a communication challenge that might have to be overcome with the modern marketing model that is being suggested. However, these tasks require a marketing job position to manage digital communication with customers, the e-commerce orders and purchases and social media management to attract digital consumers to the platform. The possibility of creating clusters with several farmers for a joint e-marketplace with the same sustainable and ethical position may help reducing costs and attract socially responsible consumers.

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5

Conclusions

This chapter explores the case of three local organic farmers that decided to intensify their options for direct sales, and thus reducing intermediaries, in order to obtain the fairest price possible for their products. The challenges are discussed and extrapolated for international markets. The demand for better and healthier food and the need for an overall well-being appearing amid the population, pushed the idea of what these farmers are. Their achievements are due to numerous motives, some of which are emphasized in this chapter. This case study presents a practical approach to discuss the marketing mix applied to organic products, particularly in the context of local organic production. The current pandemic context led to a growth in demand for fruit and vegetables sold directly by producers to consumers, and that is a fundamental change and an important sign for organic farmers. We present a description of the case and a discussion of the application of the marketing mix variables. Furthermore, we explore and indicate possibilities of growth in terms of distribution in niche e-marketplaces, showing the advantages and main challenges for its application. This chapter is based on the case of three Portuguese local farmers, but the challenges presented here may be extrapolated to an international context. In terms of future research, we consider that must incorporate an extensive and open discussion about what sustainability is, what it characterizes, and, mostly, analyze the metamorphic developments that occur under its auspices; more precisely future research should look at the particularities of local businesses comparable to our farms and understand the internal and external benefits and difficulties, and a special emphasis on the socio-spatial context that might, or might not, support sustainable business models, innovative strategies and sustainability transitions. Acknowledgements Marisa R. Ferreira and João F. Proença gratefully acknowledges financial support from FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal), national funding through projects UIDB/04728/2020 and UIDB/04521/2020.

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It’s Time to Rethink the Consumption of Genetically Modified Foods Practitioner Article

Do The Khoa and Priyanko Guchait

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The Rise of Ethical Consumption

In 2018, the NobelPrize in Economics was awarded to Paul Romer and William Nordhaus for their effortful contribution to dealing with sustaining scarce natural resources (Nobel Foundation, 2018), highlighting the role of sustainability in the contemporary business landscape. As a matter of fact, population growth and modern living style have intensified human impacts on the natural environment, of which climate change and shortage of resources are two of typical ongoing issues in coping with natural resource preservation (Baca-Motes et al., 2013). In response to this extensive concern, businesses across industries have recognized the need for ethical consumption pattern and therefore increasingly encouraged consumers to engage in various ethical practices. In fact, in line with the growing importance of sustainability in today’s business, retailers have increasingly put efforts into polishing a corporate

D. T. Khoa (B) · P. Guchait Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_12

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socially responsible image. Empirical evidence indicates that this social responsibility-oriented approach can help firms drive image performance (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2013), mitigate operational cost for earning greater profit (Baca-Motes et al., 2013), as well as deliver many other essential benefits (Grimmer & Bingham, 2013). A new cross-continent survey carried out by Nielsen (2018) shows that global consumers prefer companies that implement such programs to pursue sustainability, which explicates why spurring ethical consumption is now a top priority for retailers. Nonetheless, it is not the sole responsibility of retailers in this battle. Indeed, to cope with increased natural resource scarcity, consumers and their lifestyle are known to have a crucial role to play in preserving resources through more ethical consumption. While natural resources are scarce, escalating human needs are almost unlimited. This, along with growing population and overconsumption, has quickly led to resource depletion (Phulwani et al., 2020). Consequently, pressure to pursue sustainable development is rapidly shifting to consumers, thereby consumers should be more accountable for considering the avoidance of excessive consumption as well as other consumption alternatives (Quoquab & Mohammad, 2020). Put it a different way, since ethical consumption is increasingly being placed on the shoulders of consumers, this burdens them to advocate sustainable alternatives and consume more ethically in order to halt natural resource deficiency (Marzouk & Mahrous, 2020). On the other side, though the broad concept of sustainability can be viewed from the triple bottom line model that emphasizes the equal weight of environmental, societal and economic performances for sustainable development (Elkington, 1997), many consumers hold the misconception that ethical consumption is only related to conserving the environment. In reality, ethical consumption actually goes beyond lightening carbon footprints to address economic and social aspects as well (Hosta & Zabkar, 2020). As such, ethical consumption from consumers’ side must be linked not only to protecting the natural environment but also to financially benefiting relevant stakeholders (e.g. farmers) and enhancing social well-being.

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GMO Dilemma

While the vast majority of consumers want to consume in an ethical way, they are not always willing to turn their talk into walk, of which the consumption of genetically modified (GM) or engineered foods is a prime example. Perhaps GM foods are one of the most controversial and debating topics in relation to ethical consumption. While scientists have constantly exhibited a widespread scientifically driven agreement that genetically modified foods are totally safe to consume without posing any threats to health (AAAS, 2013; Economidis et al., 2010), consumers increasingly reject GM foods and hesitate to consume them given their biased concern over the adverse and dangerous effects of GM foods on their health (Fernbach et al., 2019). This recognized mismatch, which is driven by misinformation as the discrepancy between subjective self-assessment of GM foods and objective and scientific knowledge of genetics and genetically modified organism (GMO), is reported to become more extreme (Fernbach et al., 2019). Since public perception of GM foods is very negative although there is indeed no big nutritional difference between GM foods and their non-GM counterparts, many retailers have to label their foods as “non-GMO” to distinguish from GM foods, which causes the sales for GM foods to keep declining and affects the agricultural sector and farmers as well as increases the amount of food waste ending up in landfills. For instance, in the US, manufacturers are now mandated to label foods containing GMO as “bioengineered” to alert consumers to the presence of genetically modified ingredients in the products (Berry, 2021). Meanwhile, millions of people in developing countries are presently grappling with financial downturn during this COVID-19 pandemic, GM foods therefore represent a source that can provide an affordable nutritional intake to these low-end consumers. This undoubtedly presents a dilemma that calls for urgent attention from relevant stakeholders, especially policy makers and retailers.

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Scientific Research on GMO

In this ongoing controversy, a big question should be solved: is rejection of consuming GM foods an ethical behavior? Let’s look at some sorts of scientific evidence to shed light on this question. With respect to the impact of GMO crops on the environment, there are two opposite schools in this matter. The first school supports the idea that there are no proofs

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showing that GMO crops have threatened the genetic diversity as well as GMO-free production. In fact, GMO system can even contribute to preventing erosion, preserving soil carbon, and reducing fuel and energy used by farm machinery (Gyamfi, 2017). Plus, GMO crops have the potential to lower the usage of insecticides and herbicides by farmers (Gyamfi, 2017). On the other hand, as a result of global warming, land suitable for agricultural production moves to regions with higher altitude because higher areas often have cooler and more humid climate. Nevertheless, when being grown in these high altitudes, crops might then face new species of insects, weeds, bacteria and fungus (Doxzen, 2018). Modifying DNA of certain crops can help to mitigate the destruction by such fungus or viruses as plants become more resistant to disease and less vulnerable to infection after being altered the DNA (Doxzen, 2018). As such, farmers do not need to use an excessive amount of pesticide and herbicide that could destroy the environment. Importantly, GMO technologies, by altering DNA, then allow crops to be still well planted in low altitudes with lower threat from those external attacks. In other words, GMO might protect the environment by minimizing crop devastation from pests. Meanwhile, the second school relies on the detrimental consequences of GMO crops to the natural ecosystem to make the argument. That is, more than 80% of global transgenic crops (e.g. soybean, canola, cotton, maize) have been engineered for herbicide resistance (Duke & Powles, 2009), which has then significantly driven the agricultural use of toxic herbicide, such as glyphosate ingredient that can cause cancers (Kustin, 2015). In addition, GMO crops are also the reason leading to the booming of “superweeds” and “superbugs” that can only be controlled by poisoning materials which pose negative threats to the environmental quality (Mortensen et al., 2012). Taken together, it can be deduced that whether GMO crops are friendly or harmful to the ecological dimension of sustainability’s triple bottom line is still inconclusive and debating. That being said, does that mean rejecting GMO foods is an ethical and socially responsible behavior? The answer here might be NOT. For instance, the attack of species causes foods to be imperfect and suboptimal with atypical appearance. Large amounts of such vegetables and fruits are aesthetically misshapen, abnormally sized and oddly colored, which are strongly not preferred by most consumers and lead to increased food waste as a result of these unsold produces (Grewal et al., 2018). This represents a main source of food

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waste ending up in landfills, which is a dire threat to global sustainability (Cooremans & Geuens, 2019). In this regard, GMO crops can actually prevent food waste given the tolerance to fungus or viruses as mentioned above. Furthermore, recent research has proven that GMO crops help to cut down on the production costs for farmers to increase profitability, which is then linked to economic dimension of sustainability’s triple bottom line model as well. From this perspective, rejecting to consume GM foods might be an unethical behavior because it inflates the food waste issue and impedes the economic benefits of farmers.

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Relabeling GMO

So, while consuming GM foods does not result in any personal risky health consequences, refusing to consume GM foods or opposing their use appears to be an unethical behavior that should be reconsidered among consumers and must engage the attention of marketers. In fact, some science-based attempts can be made to change this consumption habit. The cornerstone of changing consumers’ attitude toward GM foods lies in the fact that people in general like “natural” things (i.e. that is why organic foods are highly preferred), and the key reason behind consumers’ opposition to GM foods is that GM foods look “unnatural” (Ahl, 2019). Thus, by labeling and framing GM foods more naturally, which can be done through reframing certain negative features in the packaging (e.g. additives, pollution, human intervention) to attenuate their severity (Rozin et al., 2012), this might accelerate consumers’ willingness to accept GM foods. Consumers are usually more opposed to applications that involve the transfer of DNA between two different species (“transgenic”) than within the same species (“cisgenic”) (Kronberger et al., 2013). This is because consumers tend to consider cisgenics more “natural” and therefore more acceptable than transgenics. This acceptance can be explained by the so-called psychological essentialism, which is defined as the tendency to believe that all organisms and species hold an unobservable and immutable core determining their identity (Blancke et al., 2015). Since DNA is the essence of organisms, modifying DNA reduces this perceived psychological essentialism. As such, labeling GM foods in a way that reframes how negative features are presented to make such foods look more natural could mitigate the fear of DNA transfer to in turn elevate this psychological essentialism and subsequently enhance GM purchases

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(Blancke et al., 2015). In addition, this natural labeling can be combined with using reference point strategy (i.e. benefits to self vs. others). Research in this regard unveils that linking the consumption benefits to the society and the planet (e.g. consuming GM foods can benefit the environment) instead of consumers themselves (e.g. consuming GM foods can offer cost saving for you) might also stimulate consumers’ ethical engagement (Kyu Kim et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020).

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Future of GMO Consumption

Growing population and increasing human needs require significant changes in the agricultural sector. While the availability of land is limited and other natural resources (e.g. water, energy) are also finite, new biotechnologies and scientifically sound methods are urgently necessary to revolutionize this sector. One such technology which continues to gain so much momentum from environmentalists, nutritionists and economists is genetically modified organism (GMO) that can be deemed as a revolutionized solution to address the enormous demand for future food supply (Gyamfi, 2017). Unfortunately, this alternative choice has largely been overlooked and underrated by most consumers. There indeed exists a misleading thought among shoppers who often think that consuming eco-friendly foods is the only way to become ethical consumers. In pursuit of sustainability, many consumers are therefore only preferring organic foods to other such alternatives as GM foods. At individual level, it is scientifically evident that consuming GMO food does not cause any harmful consequences to consumers’ personal health. At public and macro level, the consumption of GM foods can at least economically benefit farmers and reduce food waste although the impact of GM crops on the environment is still an ongoing debate. Taken together, there should be no reasons to “discourage” global consumers to accept GM foods. In short-term, in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic that results in financial hardship, this crisis has added another layer of burden that pressures consumers to change their consumption habit and reduce their expenditure, which makes them more price-sensitive (Abdelnour et al., 2020). GMO foods thus represent a totally safe and affordable nutritional source for millions of consumers who are now struggling to cope with economic meltdown during this unprecedented outbreak. In long-term, this article brings a new perspective on GM foods by encouraging relevant stakeholders, including marketers, advertisers, policy

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makers and retailers, to work together so as to alter the status quo for GM foods consumption. Promoting the widespread acceptance of GM foods in public is one promising solution to respond to the rising global food security in the twenty-first century. And labeling GM foods more naturally is one recommendation to make such substantial changes.

References AAAS. (2013, June 12). Statement by the AAAS board of directors on labeling of genetically modified foods. AAAS. Retrieved from https://www.aaas.org/ news/statement-aaas-board-directors-labeling-genetically-modified-foods. Abdelnour, A., Babbitz, T., & Moss, S. (2020, May 1). Pricing in a pandemic: Navigating the COVID-19 crisis. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey. com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/pricing-in-a-pan demic-navigating-the-covid-19-crisis. Ahl, J. (2019, January 27). Study: People opposed to GMOs don’t know as much about science as they think. Retrieved from https://www.harvestpublicmedia. org/post/study-people-opposed-gmos-don-t-know-much-aboutscience-theythink. Baca-Motes, K., Brown, A., Gneezy, A., Keenan, E. A., & Nelson, L. D. (2013). Commitment and behavior change: Evidence from the field. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(5), 1070–1084. Berry, D. (2021, January 2021). Preparing for GMO labeling in 2022. Retrieved from https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/17559-preparing-for-gmolabeling-in-2022. Blancke, S., Van Breusegem, F., De Jaeger, G., Braeckman, J., & Van Montagu, M. (2015). Fatal attraction: the intuitive appeal of GMO opposition. Trends in Plant Science, 20(7), 414–418. Cooremans, K., & Geuens, M. (2019). Same but different: Using anthropomorphism in the battle against food waste. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 38(2), 232–245. Dangelico, R. M., & Pontrandolfo, P. (2013). Being “green and competitive”: The impact of environmental actions and collaborations on firm performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(6), 413–430. Doxzen, K. (2018, April 6). Make a sustainable choice: Buy GMO food. Retrieved from https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Make-a-sustai nable-choice-Buy-GMO-food-12812834.php. Duke, S. O., & Powles, S. B. (2009). Glyphosate-resistant crops and weeds: Now and in the future. AgBioForum, 12(3–4), 346–357. Economidis, I., Cichocka, D., & Hoegel, J. (2010). A Decade of EU-funded GMO research (2001–2010). Publications Office of the European Union.

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Millet and Money Promoting Sustainable Consumption in Southern Orissa Namrata Ghosh and D. V. Ramana

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Introduction

The agricultural sector is one of a country’s major economic and food security sectors (Stephens et al. 2018) as it provides livelihoods for 40% of the total population in the world. In both rural and urban areas, rapid urbanization, globalization, industrial growth, and western influence have modified diets and reduced nutrition consciousness (Mason et al. 2015). Malnutrition persists in rural areas and urban slums in many developing countries due to a severe scarcity of healthy food. On the other hand, middle-income groups are eating more high-calorie items due to time limitations and convenience. As a result, resolving the issue is vital for a sustainable future. India faces a unique challenge in lifting millions of people out of poverty while conserving the natural resources necessary for long-term development. To meet the increased demand for high-quality

N. Ghosh (B) Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, India e-mail: [email protected] D. V. Ramana (B) Xavier Institute of Management (XIM) University, Bhubaneshwar, India e-mail: [email protected]

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food in the near future, we must change to more sustainable consumption patterns, such as millets and legumes, which need fewer resources to grow but offer several health benefits. Achieving sustainable consumption is a priority for food security and responsible production (SDGs) for the Indian Government’s SDG, yet Cohen (2005) contends that sustainable consumption is the most challenging task for the SDGs owing to its multifaceted characteristics, which require farmer coordination on a trans-local and trans-regional scale while taking climatic diversity and regional capabilities into account (Hajimirzajan et al. 2021). The term “sustainable consumption” is believed to have originated in the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, and it has since become a critical policy component in national sustainable development initiatives. There is currently no agreement on defining sustainable consumption, and it is widely recognized as a contentious issue that includes “competing narratives” (Hobson 2002). Several definitions of sustainable consumption are similar to conventional definitions of sustainable development. According to UNEP (2015), sustainable consumption is “the use of services and related products that respond to basic human needs and provide a good quality of life while significantly reducing the use of natural resources and toxic substances, as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle so as to not adversely affect the needs of future generations.” Dolan (2002) declares that existing definitions of sustainable consumption are prescriptive in the sense that they describe what consumption should be rather than what it is, and Schaefer and Crane (2005) have urged for a re-examination of present sustainable consumption conceptual frameworks to reflect the sociocultural components that consumption satisfies. In India, the primary SDGs are SDG 2 (hunger, food security, improved nutrition, and sustainable agriculture), and SDG 12 is concerned with sustainable consumption and production patterns. Indicators of poverty and nutritional status in India signify that these issues must be addressed quickly. According to various sources, rural areas have higher poverty rates than cities. Similar data suggests alarmingly high rates of malnutrition in India (which account for approximately one-fifth of the population), especially among children (almost half have stunted growth) and women (more than 35% have BMIs below normal). Human well-being, nutrition, poverty, and economic growth are all intertwined. The economic growth of India has not addressed the issues of malnutrition and hunger leading. Ending hunger and malnutrition is a significant objective for India, as the country’s rapid economic boom has

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not necessarily led to reduced hunger and malnutrition. The contemporary definition by United Nations states that food security is achieved “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2006). Food security now encompasses nutrition as well as the availability and accessibility of “just” food. However, stagnant growth in irrigated rice and wheat output, the backbone of India’s food system, jeopardizes the country’s accomplishment of food security. Despite significant progress in spreading irrigation, approximately 60% of Indian agriculture is still rainfed, accounting for 40% of the country’s food supply. Thus, improving food and agriculture can substantially impact attaining the other 16 Sustainable Development Goals. It can help fight against climate change, boost economic growth, and contribute to global peace and stability. India’s agriculture sector employs over 40% of the country’s workforce. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, on the other hand, account for only 15.5% of GDP value-added. According to the FAO’s “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2019” report, 194.6 million people in India are malnourished, representing 14.5% of the total population (Satpathi et al. 2019). Physical and administrative constraints prohibit the indefinite expansion of irrigated systems, ensuring immediate food security by increasing output on vast swaths of rainfed land to which millets belong. Increasing millet consumption in the food chain over time will result in higher grain availability, both in quantity and nutrition. However, millets are currently undervalued, and productivity in many countries is decreasing due to multiple reasons: absence of production support in terms of price incentives, inadequate irrigation support, and marketing support, lack of well-organized seed distribution mechanisms to meet farmers’ needs for high-quality seeds for small millet crops, absence of appropriate postharvest processing technologies for small millets, a shift in consumers food habits and the inability to implement policy actions are hampered by a lack of awareness of the potential benefits of millets. Despite underlying limitations that have impacted and continue to restrict millet production and consumption, these crops have many potentials to solve food and nutrition security challenges, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions. To achieve the goals set out in SDG 2 and SDG 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, India launched a campaign to make Millet the focus of attention and declare an International Year of

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Millets in the year 2023. India believes that increasing consumer awareness of millets’ nutritional and health benefits and promoting smallholder production processes, particularly in identifying suitable cultivars, will enhance millet production. In addition, there should be efforts to advocate for national public initiatives on millets, create opportunities for farmers to engage them with value chains and markets, and encourage research and development policies. The proposal of International Year of Millets would promote global production, sustainable consumption, better utilization of crop rotations, and promote millets to be an essential part of food systems, promoting sustainable food and nutritional security through climate-resilient agriculture. In 2018, the Department of Agriculture and the NITI Aayog took a number of initiatives to incorporate millets into the SDGs and the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to launch the National Millet Mission. The program is anticipated to focus on intensive monitoring and merging of measures targeted at improving nutrition across several state line departments. Furthermore, there are no explicit norms about how a state should develop and implement a “Millet Mission.” India’s other state governments were inspired to learn from the Odisha Millet Mission model when the National Millet Mission was launched.

2

Millets: What and Why?

Millet is a collective name for several different small-grained cereal leaves of grass commonly produced as grain crops in temperate dry and subtropical climates. They are an agronomic group of grasses widely cultivated for food and feed for livestock, making it strong economic sense in a mixed farming system. The most commonly grown Millet is pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) which grows in Africa. In contrast, finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a cultivated cereal of African origin that moved to Asia prehistory. On the other hand, the origin of the little millet crop is unknown, despite the fact that it is indigenous to India and has a name in every regional language. The secondary groups of millets like Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and common millet (or broomcorn/proso millet; Panicum miliaceum) are some of the most important old cultivated crops in the world. They were a staple food in East Asia’s semi-arid regions (India, China, Russia, Japan, and Korea). The Japanese barnyard millet (Echinochloa crusgalli) is native to temperate Eurasia cultivated around 4000 years ago in Japan (Annor et al. 2014).

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Millets have long been utilized in agriculture and culinary culture in different parts of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The local market is absorbing most of them. India is one of the largest producers of these crops in the world (McDonough et al. 2000). Africa contributes 55% of global production, followed by Asia with 41%, then Europe accounts for 3% of the global market while America represents 1% of millet production (FASOSTAT 2018). Millets are a very nutritious, non-glutinous, non-acid-forming, and readily digestible crop which is one of the world’s oldest staple crops. Saleh et al. (2013) reviewed those millets are nutritionally superior because their grains contain a high concentration of proteins, vital amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. Millets are primarily grown to feed people in tropical countries, but their use in wealthier countries has been limited to animal feed. Millets are a good source of protein, minerals, and phytochemicals and are nutritionally equivalent to main cereals in carbohydrates/energy. Millets are high in iron, zinc, calcium, and other nutrients that aid in the fight against malnutrition in India. Millets mature quickly, essential for rain-fed crops, and require minimal inputs compared to significant grains. Several studies have found that millet consumption can help improve nutritional security and livelihoods (Cordelino et al. 2019; Durairaj et al. 2019; Marak et al. 2019). 2.1

Is Millet Cultivation Promoting Sustainable Growth?

Millets have come for our redemption in an era where climate change has gone unnoticed, and weather patterns have been disturbed. Millets are considered an approach for sustainable agriculture because they adapt to harsh environments such as dry regions, clay soil, wet lowlands, or in alluvial lands where external agricultural inputs lack or not existed (Chivenge et al. May 2015). It has a significantly greater yield success rate than other crops since it is a low-maintenance crop with a short growing season of about 65 days, allowing it to be used in various cropping systems in rain-fed and irrigated areas. Due to their short growing season, Millets are critical to meeting food demand, particularly in densely populated areas. Millets have important attributes for sustainable production systems, such as conservation agriculture, and can help to promote the adoption of climate-smart crop production. Millets have a low water footprint compared to other crops because of their strong root system. So, it requires little irrigation, and this characteristic explains that millets

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are drought tolerant as well as high resilience to climate change as it reduces the carbon emission because millets are carbon sequestrating crops (Hariprasanna et al. 2014). For example, Pearl and finger millet can survive on only 28% of the rainfall required by paddy. Millets have physiological mechanisms that allow them to rebound from abiotic challenges such as drought and heat quickly. In terms of climate change risk, they are one of the most prospective food sources. Millets do not require synthetic fertilizers or pesticides because they are less susceptible to illnesses and pests and are cultivated primarily with organic inputs. As a result, millets have a relative advantage over other crops, allowing the crop production of lands which would otherwise be unsuitable for other crops. As a result, measures must be taken to enhance farmers’ farming techniques, as well as to comprehend the strategic choice of crop associations and rotations within production processes. In addition to the agronomic benefits, millets can provide high resilient in adapting to different ecological conditions, nutritional and income augmenting opportunities in marginal geographical regions. Millets’ multifaceted benefits can tackle problems such as improving health, food system security, and farmer welfare (refer Table 1). Table 1 2021)

Benefits of Millet (Source Millets: Superfood, The Indian Express

Millets: a strategy for sustainable agriculture Food Security: In a changing climate, a sustainable food source is needed to alleviate hunger. Climate tolerance, pests, and disease resistance.

Nutritional Security Rich in micronutrients like calcium, iron, zinc, iodine, bioactive compounds, amino acid profile

Safety from diseases Gluten free: it issubstitute for wheat in celiac diseases. Low GI: A food for diabetic pesons. Can help to combat cardiovascular diseases, anemia, calcium deficiency etc.

Economic security Climate resilient crop Farmers will have a reliable source of revenue in the future. Less investment required for production Addition to value can lead to economic gains.

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Millets in India: Production and Consumption

India ranks in the top ten leading producers of millets, including Sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet, and nearly 60 million acres of land in India are under millet cultivation. Millets are served as the staple food in the southern part of India, such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Millets are also included in making everyday foods such as multigrain and gluten-free options. Despite these significant advantages of Millet, total millet production in India has increased in recent decades, from 7.7 million tonnes in 1961 to 10.7 million tonnes in 2012, but the area devoted to minor millets has decreased. For instance, the area dedicated to finger millet decreased from 2.3 million ha in 1951–1955 to 1.35 million ha in 2006–2010, while the area dedicated to other minor millets decreased even faster, from 5.29 million ha to 0.97 million ha during the same period of time (Padulosi et al. 2015). The major states which have the maximum area for millet production are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. The following table shows the main millets crops cultivated in various states of India (Table 2). 3.1

Declining Consumption of Millet Led to National Millet Mission

The importance of Millet as a staple food has been declining due to various factors like low profitable value in comparison to other competing Table 2

Main millet crops in India

Types of millet crops

Major growing states

Finger millet

Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, North East Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra, North East

Little Millet Kodo millet Barnyard millet Foxtail millet Proso millet Source Seetharam et al. (1986)

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crops, rising incomes, growing urbanization, lack of government subsidies, incentives schemes, and public distribution system (PDS), and a shift in consumer taste preferences. During Green Revolution in 1970, the government promoted wheat and rice, which pushed the minor millets into marginal areas, which led to malnutrition. Policymakers and government policies have also excluded millets from both official research and development and productivity and income agreements, contributing to their lack of importance as they do not offer profit for agrochemical corporations, large food companies, etc. This prolonged neglect accelerates the decline of genetic diversity as well as conventional knowledge of millet cultivation, production, and use. Thus, millets started to be considered crops for poor people (Amadou et al. 2013). Millet production is inefficient due to the absence of appropriate higher-yielding varieties, low seed quality, and undeveloped land cultivation techniques. Traditional production procedures require women to perform laborious tasks to prepare millets. Furthermore, there is an absence of interesting recipes for value addition, insufficient knowledge of millets’ nutritional benefits, poorly integrated structural reforms, and generally unfavorable environmental policy, all of which have resulted in a reduction in millet consumption. Millets’ social apathy contributed to a switch in dietary habits toward rice due to highly subsidized rice schemes. The following Fig. 1 shows a decline in the area (million hectares) for sorghum production despite increased productivity (yield in kg/ha). Figures 2 and 3 shows a decline in the area (million hectares) for pearl millet production despite increased productivity (yield in kg/ha).

Fig. 1 Total area and yield of Sorghum from 1970–2019 (Source Bodh et al. [2019])

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Fig. 2 Total area and yield of Pearl Millet from 1970–2019 (Source Bodh et al. [2019])

Fig. 3 Total consumption of Millet in Urban–Rural India (Source Bhat et al. [2018])

The reduction in production may also be related to a 75% decline in annual per capita consumption of Sorghum in urban regions and an 87% decrease in rural areas. As modern urban consumers dislike Millet, more than half its production is now diverted to alternative uses. In the last few decades, both supplies led factors and demand-led factors have resulted in a significant gap in the production and consumption of millets in India. On-demand side, the consumption of Millet has declined due to negligence of government policy compared to other crops, changing view of Millet as food for the poor, and preferences due to rising per capita income. The other factors on the demand side include low profitability, which leads to the high price of millets, making consumers prefer other cheaper grains readily available due to efficient PDS and lack of awareness of the nutritional value. On the supply side,

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there is low crop productivity with high labor intensity, a less number of processing units in proximity of millets field, and a lack of incentives for millet production or any promotion from the government (Bhat et al. 2018). However, the awareness about the nutritional benefits of millets is spreading among urban and semi-urban users, becoming an impelling force for the prospects of millets. Buoyed by all of this demand, India’s government recently took significant steps to highlight the importance of millets for farmers, consumers, and the environment, declaring 2018 the year of millets. The government launched India’s Millet Mission to popularize millets through communication, quality seeds through millet seed hubs, awareness generation, minimum support price, and inclusion in PDS to benefit future generations of farmers and consumers. It also includes policy and incentive support for farmer enterprises, farm gate warehouses, and processing in village clusters, integrating farmers to the supply chain of both Nutri-grains and Nutri-fodder, and enabling farmers to grow more millets using effective and sustainable techniques. This would allow the country to produce cost-effective and environmentally friendly food and provide nutritional security.

4

Odisha: The Leader in the Millet Mission

Odisha, a state in the eastern part of India bordered on the north by West Bengal and Jharkhand, on the west by Chhattisgarh, on the south by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and on the east by a long coastline along the Bay of Bengal, continues to have one of the high rates of malnutrition in the country. Odisha’s state government was a pioneer in restoring millet farming and consumption, initiating the “Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas,” also known as the Odisha Millet Mission (OMM).1 Odisha Millets Mission is a flagship initiative of the Odisha Government’s Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment. The Odisha Government introduced the Odisha Millets Mission (Special Program for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas of Odisha) 1 Odisha Millet Mission (OMM)—The Odisha Millets Mission (OMM), also known as the Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Odisha’s Tribal Areas, is a flagship program of the Odisha Government’s Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment that was launched in 2017 to restore millets to farms and plates. Millets were also included in the public distribution system (PDS) and other government nutrition activities to alleviate malnutrition. The mission’s key goals are production, consumption (urban and rural), processing, and marketing.

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in 2017. It is the first agriculture initiative of its sort in Odisha, with a focus on enhancing consumption. The program’s initial phase focused on seven of Odisha’s districts with the biggest tribal population and a history of growing and consuming millets. It currently encompasses 14 districts, 72 blocks, and 31,099 farmers. The program expects to cover at least 4000 households in a block through production, consumption, processing, and FPO promotion activities. The Odisha Millets Mission aims to highlight millet consumption from both the supply and demand sides. The program will enhance millet farming methods, review household millet consumption to improve food and nutritional security, develop millet enterprises and farmer organizations, and focus on ensuring that millets are included in existing food and nutrition schemes like the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the Public Distribution System (PDS). The intervention is distinct in that it brings together a diverse range of farm and tribal platforms, including community-based organizations, grassroots non-governmental organizations, and technical experts. 4.1

Salient Features of Odisha Millet Mission

The Odisha Millets Mission salient features include: . Production and processing: The initiative involves various activities, including weeding, harvesting, threshing, and dehulling, but it should focus on such infrastructure development. It should boost labor productivity, especially at crucial points in the production process where the workforce is limited. It supports millet farmers utilize drying and threshing yards built under existing general agricultural schemes. Small-scale millets farmers (primarily for home consumption) who use ecologically sound or sustainable farming practices and sustain on-farm biodiversity should receive financial assistance. . Improving Consumption: The program was intended to encourage household consumption by promoting millets-based ready-to-eat meals such as murky mixes, biscuits, and various other items through culinary competitions and food festivals. The agenda behind this was to boost the nutritional value of millets to different stakeholders. The mission also includes millets in the state nutrition programs such

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as Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, Public Distribution System (PDS), and mid-day meals (MDM). . Outcome & Impact: As a result of the mission, the number of farmers growing millets has increased from 7,014 in 2016–17 to 8,596 in 2017–18, and the area under millets cultivation also increased from 2949 to 5182 Ha and the yield by 120% between 2016–17 to 2017– 18.

5

Methodology

For the present study, we used a qualitative methodology incorporating semi-structured interviews to learn more about how community-based organizations are working toward the success of OMM in Odisha. Semiarticulated interviews were selected as the research method for this study because, as stated previously, Tracy (2013) notes, the process of conducting an interview causes both the interviewer and the interviewee to reflect, and reflection was one of the module’s learning outcomes. A short conversation (see Annexure 1) with the project coordinator of HT, who in charge of the millets project. We gathered information from three millet farmers who worked under the supervision of the Harsha Trust to better understand their experiences and the impact on individual farmers. The questions were limited to a minimum. The Harsha Trust coordinator’s responses were thoroughly studied to address the semi-structured interview’s flaws, as mentioned by Tracy (2013) that set questions to result in fewer impromptu and unexpected answers. The respondents received provided their informed consent to have their interviews audio-recorded. We then translated the tapes verbatim and analyzed the data. We highlighted (Graneheim and Lundman 2004) that qualitative data analysis is interpretative, with various alternative interpretations confined to the data. The data gathered from discussions is mutually generated by the interviewer and the interviewee and is relevant at the time. The interview questions and responses are presented in the Annexure.

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Harsha Trust: A Commitment to Eradicate Poverty

Harsha Trust is a registered trust operating since 2002 in southern Odisha joined hands with the Government of Odisha with a bold mission of eliminating hunger and malnutrition in the backward districts of the state by collaborating with the farmers in various projects. HT has initially supported more than 85,000 households and made a significant contribution toward improving farmer’s livelihood while remaining responsive to changing environmental conditions. Harsha Trust joined hands under the OMM and aggressively working toward increasing cultivation and promoting consumption of millets. According to the OMM mandate, the HT was entrusted with the responsibility of developing millets cultivation in 1,000 hectares over five years in two blocks: Boriguma and Jharigaon. HT has met the target of growing millets in Jharigaon and Borigumma block in Koraput district of Odisha in 600 ha over three years. In the first year, the HT planted Millet on 123 of the 200 hectares available. HT planted Millet on 242 ha in the second year instead of the 200 hectares planned. In the Borigumma Block, rice farming takes priority over millet farming. Harsha Trust’s advocacy efforts with the District Collectors’ Office and coordinating with the officials of LAMPCS and Tribal Development Co-operative Corporation of Odisha (TDCC) resulted in establishing two additional new Mandis for the Borigumma Block. The Harsha Trust promoted the OMM-recommended line sowing method, encouraging more than 26% of households to use it. The method change led to increased output and additional income for millets farmers. Despite this, a large percentage of households continue to cultivate Millet using broadcasting techniques and manual weeding. Millet cultivation takes more time for them because of the broadcasting method. The involvement of HT as a facilitator is key to the smooth functioning of the OMM in the southern part of Odisha (Fig. 4). Millets were farmed as a subsistence crop and sold for less than the MSP (INR 12 or 14/kilo) prior to the Harsha Trust initiative. Millets are sold at MSP (INR 28.93) due to the OMM’s revival and the establishment of government Mandis, and even middlemen are forced to charge higher prices of Rs. 23–25 per kg. Harsha Trust has made several efforts to enhance production, productivity, and consumption. In terms of production and productivity, HT has improved the practices for production enhancement using multiple technological interventions,

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Fig. 4 Number of farmers and area for millet production (2017–2020) (Source HarshaTrust [2021])

seed treatment, availability of improved seed, improved techniques such as seedbed, LT, and SMI methods, using agro-machinery like cycle weeder, harvesting, and milling machines. HT has also helped farmers replace their land with ragi were very low economic crops like kulthi. In terms of consumption, HT has made extensive promotional activities like poster/leaflet, campaigning, training, exposure of millets usage in a variety of recipes like cake, upma/halwa, biryani, mudik, laddu, etc., and also helped in institutional linkage with Anganwadi for low-cost nutritional meals from millets. However, millets are not widely used in rural areas due to the effort and monotony required to transform harvested grain into processed foods. HT assists farmer families, particularly women, in learning how to employ small-scale, easy-to-use mechanical grain processing technology to maximize millet production and establish a millet value chain. Women who have received value addition training have strengthened their abilities to prepare ready-made millet mixtures, which generates additional money. HT acknowledges women’s contributions to legal and social empowerment by offering an equal platform for skill training, organization and market engagement, decision-making, and sustainable development.

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The Road Ahead

A large section of the population of India is so underprivileged that even the most basic balanced diets are beyond their reach (Gulati 2010). According to NITIAayog 2019, India’s progress in relation to UNmandated goals has improved marginally, but it has declined in critical areas such as food security, livelihood, and standard of living. If we go by the SDG index, India needs more aggressive missions like the Millets Mission, driven by the Centre and each and every state of our country. Despite several pockets of successful experiments, Odisha’s performance toward SDG 2 (Ending hunger by 2030) and SDG 12 (Sustainable consumption) were poor where its score fell to 34 in 2019 from 46 in 2018 (NITI Aayog 2019). The majority of India’s smallholder farmers are net food purchasers, meaning that boosting their disposable income is an essential component of improving nutrition. This chapter introduces a real-life case of CBO, the Harsha Trust, where the focus is on the narrative around sustainable consumption and trade point of view associated with millets by rebranding millets as nutri-cereals. The CBO is working on expanding the consumption of these underutilized crops to increase food security while simultaneously assisting disadvantaged people through the OMM. The collective effort from the government, NGO partners, and other corporations will enable them to increase the postharvest value of their millets through efficient processing with all associated positive environmental benefits. Millets can be a wonder crop, providing food, nutrition, and livelihood security while combating the adverse effects of climate change in urban and rural areas. Improved nutrition and sustainable consumption will lead to economic growth. All they need is a balanced approach and willingness from policymakers to focus on millets to solve food issues in India. This scenario provides an illustrative promotion of sustainable consumption that leads to multidimensional benefits to rural livelihoods. Thus, this case is a good example of the promotion of sustainable consumption in the scope of sustainable agriculture.

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8

Additional Content 8.1

FAO HT ICDS LAMPCS MDM MSP NGO NFSM NITI Aayog OMM PDS SDG TDCC UNEP

Abbreviations

—Food and Agricultural Organization —Harsha Trust —Integrated Child Development Scheme —Large And Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society —Mid-day Meals —Minimum Support Price —Non-Governmental Organizations —National Food Security Mission —National Institution for Transforming India —Odisha Millet Mission —Public Distribution System —Sustainable Development Goals —Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation —United Nations Environment Programme

Credit Author Statement Conceptualization—DV Ramana, Namrata Ghosh; Methodology—DV Ramana; Resources—DV Ramana; Writing—Original Draft—Namrata Ghosh; Writing—Review & Editing—Namrata Ghosh; Visualization—Namrata Ghosh Declaration The paper has been prepared using the information available from different secondary sources and interviews of the personnel at the Harsha Trust. We have used the annual reports of the Harsha Trust, Millets Mission of India, and Odisha Millet Mission extensively.

Annexure Interview with Project Coordinator of Harsha Trust 1. Why did we start supporting Millet? We started promoting Millet because it is a traditional crop and it’s declining in both production and consumption with the help of the government of Odisha, who’s the main stakeholder of Odisha Millet

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Mission to boost the commercial sell of the crop along with consumer awareness of the benefits of it. 2. What are the financial benefits to the farmers? The farmers have a 50% increment as the rate of Millet comes under Minimum Support Price (MSP), the price determined by Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The rate is to safeguard the farmers to a profit for the harvest. The traditional market price is Rs. 22 to 25/kg, which increases the price to Rs. 32.95/kg. Small-scale millets cultivators (mainly for home consumption) who use environmentally friendly or sustainable agricultural practices and maintain on-farm biodiversity receive financial support. 3. What type of marketing support was given to the farmers? The marketing initiatives aim to provide millets farmers with a higher income share for their products, such as value chain integration, establishing production centers, regulated markets, and other initiatives. During the harvesting season, the farmers get assistance from the procurement facilities in all Millet cultivating districts of Odisha based on relevant intervention price (MSP), and then it’s distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. In addition, the Millet Procurement system is simplified through an online platform in which farmers are benefited through online transfer of money after Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation (TDCC) and Large and Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (LAMPCS) buys the same from the farmers. 4. Do the farmers use the Millet for their consumption, or do they sell in the market? Yes, the farmers use Millet for 60% of consumption and 40% sold in the market.

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5. Do you have any data for other (non-financial) benefits that millets farmers get? HT has made extensive promotional activities like poster/leaflet, campaigning, training, and exposure of millets usage in various recipes like cake, upma/halwa, biryani, mudik, laddu, etc., helped in institutional linkage with Anganwadi. Responses of Farmers Involve Millet Production . Banamali Chalan: Hard work always pays Banamali Chalan under Borigumma Block is 43 years old, a progressive farmer living in a joint family with his son and parents, maintaining their livelihood primarily through agriculture (Figs. 5 and 6). He is a small farmer with a total land of 3.40 acres used to cultivate paddy and finger millet during Kharif season in the conventional method. As learned by his forefathers, he was getting 1.5 to 2 quintals of Ragi from his 1 acre of existing land. After the involvement of Harsha Trust through the OMM project in 2018, he received technical support through different training and field demonstrations. He learned a new methodology of Finger millet farming, like the selection of seed, seed treatment, proper seedbed preparation fertilizer application, varietal selection, and pest and diseases management. But he was disappointed with the output as he got only two qntl of Finger Millet despite putting in lots of hard work. But Banamali continued his work under the supervision of the HT team. The efforts paid dividends when he got four quintals and then six quintals from the same land in the subsequent year. As per MSP, his income was Rs 16,475 from 5 quintals, whereas he stored one quintal for home consumption. He and his family are happy and served as role models to the fellow farmers in his village. . Kameni and Champa: Happy Ragi Farmers

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Fig. 5 Harsha Trust organized a Food Festival to promote millets in collaborative efforts with women farmers from one of their Community-Based Organizations (CBO) in Koraput Block (Source HarshaTrust [2021])

Tarakanadi and Dengaguda are two small villages in the dense forests of the Jharigaon Block under the district of Nabarangpur. All the villagers belong to tribal communities and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Kameni Bhatra and Champa Bhatra are two progressive farmers of Tarakanadi and Dengaguda village, respectively. They used to cultivate maize in their up-land. However, after interaction with the Harsh Trust team, they started cultivating Ragi using all the innovative techniques under the supervision of the HT team members. As a result, they emerged as efficient farmers farming multi crops like paddy, millets, vegetables, and pulses.

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Fig. 6 Few women were trained to make millet-based soup with the help of outside trainers. To highlight the value-added products from millets, the Food Festival also held demonstrations for various millet recipes (Source HarshaTrust [2021])

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Kameni got 5.2 quintals of Ragi from 1.5 acres. She sold 3.5 quintals Ragi at mandi facilitated by Harsha Trust at a better price of Rs 3295/— per quintal. She repaired her house with her extra income. She also stored 1.7 quintals for her family, further seed purposes, and distribution among the relatives. Champa got five quintals of Ragi from 1.5 acres of land. She sold four quintals at mandi with the help of HT at Rs. 3295 per quintal. Like Kameni, she also stored 1.7 quintals for her family, further seed purpose and distribution among the relatives. Kameni and Champa are very happy to work with the HT team as Ragi farmers.

References E. C. Stephens, A. D. Jones, and D. Parsons, “Agricultural systems research and global food security in the 21st century: An overview and roadmap for future opportunities,” Agric. Syst., vol. 163, pp. 1–6, 2018, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.agsy.2017.01.011. N. Mason, H. Flores, J. R. Villalobos, and O. Ahumada, “Planning the Planting, Harvest, and Distribution of Fresh Horticultural Products,” in Handbook of Operations Research in Agriculture and the Agri-Food Industry, Internatio., vol. 224, New York: Springer, New York, NY, 2015, pp. 163–177. M. Cohen, “Sustainable consumption in national context: an introduction to the special issue,” Sustain. Sci. Pract. Policy, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 22–28, 2005, https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2005.11907962. A. Hajimirzajan, M. Vahdat, A. Sadegheih, E. Shadkam, and H. El Bilali, “An integrated strategic framework for large-scale crop planning: sustainable climate-smart crop planning and agri-food supply chain management,” Sustain. Prod. Consum., vol. 26, pp. 709–732, April 2021, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.spc.2020.12.016. K. Hobson, “Competing discourses of sustainable consumption: Does the ‘rationalisation of lifestyles’ make sense?,” Env. Polit., vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 95– 120, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1080/714000601. UNEP, Sustainable Consumption and Production: A Handbook for Policymakers, Global Edi. 2015. P. Dolan, “The Sustainability of ‘Sustainable Consumption,’” J. Macromarketing, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 170–181, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1177/027614670 2238220. A. Schaefer and A. Crane, “Addressing sustainability and consumption,” J. Macromarketing, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 76–92, 2005, https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0276146705274987. FAO, “Food Security,” 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2010.12.007.

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S. Satpathi, A. Saha, and S. Basu, “Millets as a Policy Response to the Food and Nutrition Crisis—Special Reference to the Odisha Millets Mission,” 2019. G. A. Annor, M. Marcone, E. Bertoft, and K. Seetharaman, “Physical and Molecular Characterization of Millet Starches; Physical and Molecular Characterization of Millet Starches,” Cereal Chem., vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 286–292, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1094/CCHEM-08-13-0155-R. C. M. McDonough, L. W. Rooney, and S. O. S. Saldivar, “The Millets,” in Handbook of Cereal Science and Technology, Revised and Expanded, Food Scien., C. P. B. Raton, Ed. USA, 2000, pp. 177–210. FASOSTAT, “Food Supply - Crops Primary Equivalent,” 2018. http://www.fao. org/faostat/en/#data/CC (Accessed April 17, 2021). A. S. M. Saleh, Q. Zhang, J. Chen, and Q. Shen, “Millet Grains: Nutritional Quality, Processing, and Potential Health Benefits,” Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf., vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 281–295, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1111/ 1541-4337.12012. I. G. Cordelino, C. Tyl, L. Inamdar, and Z. Vickers, “Cooking quality, digestibility, and sensory properties of proso millet pasta as impacted by amylose content and prolamin profile,” LWT- Food Sci. Technol., vol. 99, pp. 1–7, 2019. M. Durairaj, G. Gurumurthy, V. Nachimuthu, K. Muniappan, and | Subbulakshmi Balasubramanian, “Dehulled small millets: The promising nutricereals for improving the nutrition of children,” Matern. Child Nutr., vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1–5, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12791. N. R. Marak, C. C. Malemnganbi, C. R. Marak, and L. K. Mishra, “Functional and antioxidant properties of cookies incorporated with foxtail millet and ginger powder,” J. Food Sci. Technol., vol. 56, no. 11, pp. 5087–5096, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-019-03981-6. P. Chivenge, T. Mabhaudhi, A. T. Modi, and P. Mafongoya, “The Potential Role of Neglected and Underutilised Crop Species as Future Crops under Water Scarce Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 12, pp. 5685–5711, May 2015, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph 120605685. K. Hariprasanna, S. Gomashe, K. N. Ganapathy, and J. V. Patil, “Millets for Ensuring Nutritional Security,” Pop. Kheti, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 170–175, 2014. “Millets: Superfood,” The Indian Express. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-upd ates/daily-news-editorials/millets-superfood (Accessed December 09, 2021). S. Padulosi, B. Mal, O. I. King, and E. Gotor, “Minor millets as a central element for sustainably enhanced incomes, empowerment, and nutrition in rural India,” Sustainability, vol. 7, no. 7, pp. 8904–8933, 2015, https://doi. org/10.3390/su7078904.

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A. Seetharam, K. W. Riley, and G. Harinarayana, “Small Millets in Global Agriculture,” in Proceedings of the First International Small Millets Workshop, 1986. I. Amadou, M. E. Gounga, and G. W. Le, “Millets: Nutritional composition, some health benefits and processing - A review,” Emirates J. Food Agric., vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 501–508, 2013, https://doi.org/10.9755/ejfa.v25i7.12045. P. C. Bodh et al., “Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2019,” 2019. [Online]. Available: http://agricoop.nic.in/agristatistics.htm. B. V. Bhat, B. D. Rao, and V. A. Tonapi, “The Story of Millets: Millets were the first crops Millets are the future crops,” Bengaluru, 2018. S. J. Tracy, Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact, vol. 43, no. 1. John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2013. U. H. Graneheim and B. Lundman, “Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness,” Nurse Educ. Today, vol. 24, pp. 105–112, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.nedt.2003.10.001. HarshaTrust, “Harsha Trust.” http://www.harshatrust.org/ (Accessed June 09, 2021). J. K. Gulati, “Child malnutrition: Trends and issues,” Anthropol., vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 131–140, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2010.11891143. NITIAayog, “SDG India Index and Dashboard 2019,” p. 181, 2019, [Online]. Available: https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2019-12/SDGIndia-Index-2.0_27-Dec.pdf.

An Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility Ads from a Critical Perspective: A Critical Discourse Analysis of The Finish Water of Tomorrow Advertising Campaign Kenan Demirci

1

Introduction

Every corporation needs economic, natural, and social capital in order to ensure its sustainability. Because of this multidimensional nature of corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility has had to be considered as a necessity since the 1960s (Dyllick and Hockerts 2002, 133–134). Thus, corporate social responsibility is indeed a positive activity in terms of mandatory objectives that corporations achieve to maintain the conditions that create them. However, the thesis emphasized by critical scholars that things may not always be as they seem also intercedes here. Because, it is possible that activities carried out under the social responsibility umbrella may contain deeper contradictions (Kuhn and Deetz 2009, 174). In some cases, corporate social responsibility activities may occur

K. Demirci (B) Faculty of Communication, Fırat University, Elazı˘g, Turkey e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_14

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not as independent actions aiming at benefiting the society, but as a part of public relations efforts to improve the corporation’s image. However, it is certain that there is a tension between the opinion that public relations serves the public through corporate social responsibility and the opinion that it actually protects its own interests (Somerville and Wood 2008, 139–140). The idea that, through social responsibility activities, the corporation can focus on protecting its own interests rather than the interests of the society, gives rise to the idea that the content of the concept can be changed for the benefit of the institution (Jones et al. 2009; Calveras and Ganuza 2016). To put it more clearly, companies can actually operate for the benefit of society through corporate social responsibility, as well as use it for marketing purposes (Salazar and Husted 2009). Based on this, the research question of this study is that some companies may approach social responsibility from a perspective that emphasizes their marketing objectives, and this may create social problems. In the study, the “Tomorrow’s Water” (YarınınSuyu) campaign by Finish, a social responsibility campaign focusing on the water problem, was discussed as an example. It can be said that mixing social responsibility and marketing objectives can have serious negative consequences, especially in matters that are effective in social life such as the protection of water resources. Therefore, it is important to address this issue. Water is the main source of life, and scientific studies state that clean, drinkable water resources are decreasing globally and Turkey is also affected by this process (Akın and Akın 2007; Yılmaz 2015; Mente¸se 2017). It is thought that in a complex global issue such as the water problem that requires the combined use of different measures, clouding the solutions and suggesting individual solutions based on household consumption as the only way may lead to overlooking the real solutions of the issue. The main problem here is to present limited information structured in the interests of the company instead of actual and extensive information on the subject. It can be said that corporate social responsibility advertisements are an important tool in sharing messages about social responsibility activities with society. This is because companies share their campaign content and activities related to corporate social responsibility with the society in different ways such as corporate websites, corporate reports, and public relations activities. However, corporate social responsibility advertisements actually reveal the official perspective of the corporation by creating structured communication between corporation

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and consumers (Farache and Perks 2010, 235). In other words, corporate social responsibility advertisements show a social example and share it with the society (Perks et al. 2013). Studies focusing on corporate social responsibility advertisements generally focus on the perceptions created by the advertisements in the consumer, and here the contribution of advertisements to the consumer’s positive perception of the company is investigated (Rahman et al. 2017; Bachnik and Nowacki 2018). In this study, the focus is on the content of corporate social responsibility advertisements. For this reason, the aim of this study was to analyze the advertisements of the Finish Tomorrow’s Water campaign through critical discourse analysis. Below, first, the concept of corporate social responsibility, then the relationship between social responsibility and advertising was discussed. Afterward, six commercials shot within the scope of Tomorrow’s Water campaign were analyzed with the critical discourse analysis.

2 The Dual Meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility The origins of corporate social responsibility go back to the 1950s. The concept of social responsibility means that the corporation supports broader social interests rather than its own interests (Somerville and Wood 2008, 131). In the 1960s, Milton Friedman argued on the idea that individually, the market could not be interpreted in terms of responsibilities and stated that making profit, not responsibilities, should be demonstrated as the main task of companies. Therefore, in this view, the sole purpose of social responsibility activities is for the company to make a profit (Friedman 1982; 1970). Friedman’s theoretical approach is recognized as the most important theory in the literature on corporate social responsibility today (Salazar and Husted 2009, 152). Particularly after the 1980s, the academic interest in the subject has increased. However, in the first studies, the focus was on the extent to which corporations could achieve success in terms of their economic interests rather than the efforts to understand what their real social responsibility is (Hans and Heugens 2009, 201–202). Although corporate social responsibility was one of the important topics studied in the field in the 1990s, theoretical contribution has been very small. Perhaps the most important of these contributions is Archie B. Carroll’s (1999, 289) definition of the pyramid. According to the pyramid approach,

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corporate social responsibility consists of economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic levels. The author explains this model as follows: “The company engaged in corporate social responsibility should make a profit, obey the law, be ethical, and be a good corporate citizen” (Carroll 1999, 289). As a result of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility approach, today, corporate social responsibility is an umbrella concept that includes many concepts within a similar framework such as corporate citizenship, sustainability, and corporate accountability (Siltaoja 2006, 93). Two different definitions of corporate social responsibility brought along two incompatible approaches. While the approach that can be referred to as Friedmanian looks at corporate social responsibility from a profit-oriented perspective, the other approach looks at corporate social responsibility from a more ethical perspective and expects a more indirect benefit, such as improving the society’s trust in the corporation (Moir 2001, 17). The approach that looks at corporate social responsibility from a more profit-oriented perspective has been widely recognized. So much so that most of the studies focusing on the outcomes of corporate social responsibility activities focus on revealing the economic positive outcomes on the subject (Hans and Heugens 2009, 212). The main criticism of the views that approach corporate social responsibility from a more ethical framework (Kuhn and Deetz 2009; Salazar and Husted 2009) is that the action is carried out with a purely profit-oriented perspective. So much so that in the process of social responsibility, putting profits at the center and excluding ethical responsibilities is explained with the concept of “corporate social irresponsibility” by Jones et al. (2009: 304). This study is based on the group of studies that believe in the absolute necessity of adding an ethical perspective to the understanding of corporate social responsibility. No matter which approach is adopted, today it is seen that many companies have the tendency to turn to social responsibility campaigns. Companies may feel the desire to carry out a social responsibility campaign with various motivations such as the need to preserve the resources necessary for the production of the corporation (Salazar and Husted 2009) and the effort to respond to the tendency of consumers and other stakeholders to prefer companies that behave corporate socially responsible (Aguilera 2007; McWilliams and Siegel 2001; Taylor 2014). The efforts of companies to improve their brand/product images are also considered as an important source of motivation (Pomering and Johnson 2009). The necessity of different perspectives on corporate social

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advertisements, which is the main subject of this study, emerges at this point. Alan Pomering and Lester W. Johnson (2009) state that social responsibility activities can be used as a tool to break the skepticism that consumers are expected to have against companies. At this point, corporate social responsibility advertisements are also an important tool for companies. In other words, companies try to break consumer skepticism about company activities through corporate image advertisements, messages that provide information on social issues and claim to have an impact (107). The resulting trend is that corporate social responsibility advertisements are getting increasingly closer to product/brand advertisements (Mögele and Troop 2010, 175). Therefore, in terms of studies on corporate social responsibility, the analysis of corporate social responsibility advertisements is very important.

3

Corporate Social Responsibility Activities and Advertising

Companies that carry out corporate social responsibility activities feel the need to share the process and outcomes of their actions with the society. While various tools from websites to corporate reports are used for this purpose, it is known that corporate social responsibility advertisements stand out as an important tool. The main reason behind this is that corporate social responsibility advertisements are important tools in determining how the communication between the company and the customer will be established (Taylor 2014, 11). Companies can establish a structured relationship with society and reflect their perspectives on corporate communication by using corporate social responsibility advertisements (Farache and Perks 2010, 235). Advertising is seen as a good tool to avoid unexpected social reactions and customer skepticism. This is because when interpreting the efficacy of companies related to social events, customers think with two opposing basic motivations: perceiving these activities as external, commercially oriented activities, and on the contrary, perceiving them as altruistic activities that consider the public interest (Del Mar Garcia De- Los Salmones and Perez 2018, 195). It is known that customers develop a negative attitude toward corporate social responsibility messages that they perceive as commercially oriented rather than value-oriented (Siltaoja 2006). It has also been demonstrated that when it is believed that the company is serving the

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public interest through advertisements about corporate social responsibility, people transform this into positive emotions such as interest, sympathy, and curiosity toward the corporation (Del Mar Garcia De-Los Salmonesve Perez 2018, 203–204). Based on this, it can be claimed that in corporate social responsibility advertisements, there may be a tendency to hide commercial purposes and emphasize the image of a company that exhibits socially responsible behavior. It may not always be possible for the customer to interpret the advertising content structured by the company. Therefore, it is the company’s responsibility to convey accurate information. Considering the disequilibrium in the power relations between the company and individuals that make up the society, the need of companies to accurately convey information about their corporate social responsibility activities will become evident. Within the social responsibility framework, the company’s goal of increasing the positive status of a product or service in the market may not be known to the customer, here, there is a relationship based on trust. There is an asymmetric process between the company and its customers in terms of accessing information about company activities. In short, the quality of the information provided through corporate social responsibility advertisements should be discussed, because here it is possible for companies to choose manipulation for various purposes such as making a profit or hiding the product advertisement. The potential manipulative attitudes of companies in conveying information were revealed in various studies focusing on the relations between social responsibility and advertising (Stadler 2004; Bird et al. 2007; Lyon and Maxwell 2011; Štumberger and Golob 2016). Similar to the dual perspective on the concept of corporate social responsibility, academic studies focusing on the relationships between corporate social responsibility campaigns and communication have two main focuses. The first of these is to question the extent to which the companies can achieve the competitive advantages they have or are trying to achieve through socially responsible communication. The extent to which the forms of communication established through corporate social responsibility are successful in increasing the value of the company is a basic theme of these studies. In this context, within the scope of corporate social responsibility activities, evaluation of the annual reports and (Idowu and Towler 2004; Gao 2011; Lock and Seele 2016; Wang et al. 2018) the websites of companies, in particular, (Fukukawa and Moon 2004; Hetze

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and Winistörfer 2016) are important fields of study. While content analysis is mostly utilized in these studies, it is seen that techniques such as discourse analysis are also used (Pollach 2003; Bielenia-Grajewska 2014; Aiezza 2015; Nwagbara and Belal 2019). The effects of social responsibility communication established through advertising on the company are also addressed in this context. The common point of emphasis in the studies is that direct positive effects on the company should not be expected through advertising (Del Mar Garcia De losSalmones and Perez 2018; Bachnik and Nowacki 2018). It is seen that the survey technique is generally prominent and the face-to-face interview method is also used in these studies. The second group of work is the approaches that focus on the content of communication established within the scope of corporate social responsibility. In these studies, particularly the idea that the line between corporate social responsibility and marketing becomes blurry stands out. Corporate social responsibility advertisements are an important analysis tool in this field. In some of these studies, content analysis of the campaign communication materials and advertisements of the companies is performed (Rocha et al. 2020; Mögele and Troop 2010). The results of the studies indicate that the intersection with the corporate/product advertisements increases more and more in the advertisements within the scope of social responsibility activities of the companies. On the other hand, some studies focus on the content of corporate social responsibility advertisements by turning to qualitative methods, especially semiotics and critical discourse analysis (Pomoring and Johnson 2009; Farache and Perks 2010). In these studies, it is seen that especially companies focus on the discourses generated via corporate social responsibility advertisements. When looked closely at the studies focusing on the content of corporate social responsibility advertisements, it is seen that they reveal important information about the structuring of corporate social responsibility advertisements toward marketing objectives. An important study focusing on the content of corporate social responsibility advertisements was carried out by Alan Pomering and Lester W. Johnson (2009). In the qualitative analysis, they conducted by analyzing various independently chosen campaigns, the researchers stated that the companies put forward two basic strategies for reducing customer skepticism toward the corporation in their advertising content. The first of these is message strategies. According to this, first of all, rather than providing general information about corporate social responsibility in advertisements, corporations

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present their own brands or products as part of the solution. Another message strategy is that if the company is a part of the problem that the social responsibility campaign was organized for, rhetorically, the company identifies a specific field for itself and almost confines the problem to that field. In another strategy, which is the strategy of being involved, the aim is to get ahead of the rivals in the eyes of the customers by emphasizing the points where the product or the brand differentiates from its rivals and intervenes in the problem. In their study where they used semiotics, Francisca Farache and Keith J. Perks (2010) focused on the social responsibility campaigns of Chevron and Banko Real companies and they revealed that, through advertisements, both companies created a legitimation strategy by diverting the issue from the real problem. On the other hand, as a result of their critical discourse analysis of the Bank of the Planet social responsibility campaign advertisements carried out by The Bradesco, one of the important banks of Brazil, in 2012, Edson Roberto Scharf and JosaineFernandes (2013) concluded that the perception intended to be created by the campaign was that a life without banks is not possible and that the activities in the market should be regarded as a service provided to the world rather than from a perspective of commercial purposes. This study follows the line of qualitative studies focusing on the content of corporate social responsibility advertisements. Among the studies focusing on the subject, it is seen that the discourse analysis technique has a limited area of use. In this context, in this study, a critical discourse analysis of the advertisements of the Tomorrow’s Water social responsibility campaign by Finish Turkey was carried out. In this way, it is expected to make a contribution to the literature.

4

Method and Scope of the Study

The usability of the advertisements in building trust in the consumer also allows the company to manipulate the information conveyed to the customer in the context of corporate social responsibility (Calveras and Ganuza 2016, 994). The possibility of manipulating information makes it even more important to analyze the corporate social responsibility advertisements in terms of their content. This is because advertising is probably one of the communication products that can spread most rapidly and most extensively in the public space (Dyer 1982; Ciarlo 2011). Advertising, however, resists detailed analysis due to its nature originating

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from its production (Lucas Freitas 2013, 438). For this reason, critical discourse analysis is used as an analysis tool in order to interpret the spontaneity created by the advertisement, the power relations it hides or normalizes, and other messages. As there are different approaches on discourse, there are also different definitions and conceptualizations of discourse analysis (Schiffrin et al. 2015, 1). Critical discourse analysis focuses on the relations between language, power, and ideology and establishes its theoretical framework on these (Fairclough 1998, 23). In terms of critical discourse analysis, language emerges as a process based on social interaction (Van Dijk 1997, 2). Language has a nature that is shaped in this interaction and at the same time that shapes this interaction, and in this respect, it has a constitutive nature and establishes identities and the relations between individuals and groups (Fairclough and Wodak 1997, 258). Therefore, the aim of critical discourse studies is to try to reveal the ideological interventions embedded in language and visual structures within a socio-cultural context (Xu and Tan 2020, 177). The fact that critical discourse analysis defines discourse as an ideological struggle tool and approaches discourse almost as an effort of conceptual control (Fairclough 1996, 1998; Fairclough and Wodak 1997; Gastil 1992) enables critical discourse analysis to be used in advertising studies as well. With the use of critical discourse analysis, specific texts of advertisements can be analyzed and the broader social functions of advertisements can be resolved (Liu 2015, 70). This study is based on the emphasis of critical discourse analysis on the constitutive nature of language but proceeds from the importance of the contextual features of advertising as an essential element in the formation of discourse (Cook 2001, 3). This led to the idea of a comprehensive analysis of advertising discourse. What is meant here is that the analysis is carried out by including the widest possible range of elements (Freitas 2013, 432). This is because, according to Guy Cook, the language in the advertisement is related to other elements and a change in one element will affect other elements (Cook 2001, 6). In this context, the analysis in the study was carried out at two levels. First, in order to analyze the ideological intervention in the analyzed advertisements, the advertising contents were subjected to a categorical classification. In this context, advertisements were analyzed in three main categories under the headings of defining the problem, the solution offers to the problem, and defining the actors. In the study, advertising contents

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were analyzed under the categorical headings mentioned. Since the advertising text is the communication product in which rhetorical elements are used the most both linguistically and visually (Freitas 2008, 47), it is necessary to be inclusive in discourse analysis. Therefore, in the study, analysis content (Cook, 2001, 3–6) was followed and was organized to cover text, context, and discourse categories. Linguistic forms were analyzed in the part of the advertising content analysis which focuses on text. These consist of elements such as grammar and sentence structures. Contextual analysis of advertising content includes the analysis of music, images, and other elements of non-verbal communication. With the analysis, the aim is to shed some light on what is left unexpressed as well as what is expressed in the advertising discourse. Thus, the content of the messages in a sample advertising campaign on corporate social responsibility will be determined. In the case of the social sciences, analysis of one or more examples does not lead to inductive conclusions. However, this analysis can give an idea about the potential purposes of utilization of advertising, as well as serve as an example in terms of developing opinions about the direction corporate social responsibility advertisements should take. In this context, 6 commercials uploaded to the YouTube channel by Finish Turkey and shared with the hashtag “tomorrowswater” were analyzed.

5 Review of Finish Tomorrow’s Water Campaign Advertisements In cooperation with Finish Turkey and National Geographic, Tomorrow’s Water corporate social responsibility campaign was launched in 2019 against the risk of Turkey becoming water-poor in the near future. The main issue of focus of the campaign, which was organized at the national level in Turkey, was that Turkey is at risk of becoming water-poor in the future and that is heading toward a risky period when a person must be allocated daily 25 L of water. Within the scope of the campaign, in accordance with this theme, a documentary was made, called 25 min (25 Dakika), starring musician GökhanÖzo˘guz and actress Özge Özpirinççi. Also, the webpage yarininsuyu.com was launched to draw attention to the water problem. In order to draw attention to the issue, the message that Turkey will become a water-poor country in 2040 was given by Finish in the TV series Miracle Doctor (MucizeDoktor) and Anne (Mother) (Uçar 2019). Miracle

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Doctor TV series actor TanerÖlmez also took part in the company’s social responsibility campaign commercials. At the same time, TV show host MügeAnlı was one of the names who appeared in the corporate social responsibility advertisements within the scope of the campaign. Below, six commercials shot within the scope of the Tomorrow’s Water social responsibility campaign were analyzed using the critical discourse analysis technique. 5.1

Information on the Content of the Commercials

In this study, which is based on the critical discourse analysis of the commercials of the Finish Turkey Tomorrow’s Water social responsibility campaign, 6 commercials shot within the scope of the campaign were included. In accordance with the logic of the advertising campaign, a similar atmosphere was generally used in the advertisements. It is seen that this similarity is established through the atmosphere created in the advertisements and the use of music (Table 1). When looked closely, it can be seen that the location that both causes the water problem and pointed as the solution to this problem is the kitchen in all of the commercials. In terms of visualizing the problems caused by the water problem, it is seen that Lake Kuyucuk in Kars and Lake Burdur were used together with the kitchen in some of the commercials. An important element common to all commercials is the use of the visual of hitting a water glass that has a Finish logo on it with a clean fork at the beginning of the commercial. Similarly, all commercials end with the Finish dishwasher detergent on the kitchen counter shown from various angles and with the sound logo of the Finish brand. When the textual features in commercials are analyzed, certain common features can be identified. After underlining the water problem in Turkey in the commercials, it is seen that by vocalizing a similar text, the message of breaking the habit of rinsing the dishes in the kitchen as a solution is conveyed to the audience. In three of the commercials, the problem of water poverty in Turkey and the role of the Finish brand in the solution of this problem are told by a female voice-over. In three commercials starring Taner Ölmez and Müge Anlı, a similar text is vocalized by the actors. The only exception here is in the commercial starring Taner Ölmez (3rd Commercial), in which the problem is conveyed through a well-known folk song, which is changed to deliver the message and sung

A woman, a man, and a girl Kitchen without public recognition

Famous actor TanerÖlmez

Famous actor TanerÖlmez

Famous TV Host MügeAnlı Lake Burdur, Kitchen

Famous TV Host MügeAnlı Kitchen

2nd Commercial

3rd Commercial

4th Commercial

5th Commercial

6th Commercial

Kitchen

Lake Kuyucuk (Kars), Kitchen

Kitchen, Lake Burdur

Two adults and children without public recognition

1st Commercial

Locations Used in the Commercial

Actors

No voice-over was used

No voice-over was used

No voice-over was used

Female voice-over

Female voice-over

Female voice-over

Voice-over Used in the Commercial

General information on Finish Tomorrow’s Water campaign commercials

The Commercial

Table 1

https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=o7E2d6 gIOdo https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=jXrioy 0ChGU https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=LVx oHd-c0sY https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=hf2tF6 yqsZ0 https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=iDccy3 FjWi0 https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=jUjojo saN3g

Youtube Address of the Commercial

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by the actor. Afterward, the responsibility of the consumer in solving the problem is emphasized once more in the vocalized text. There are also several similarities in the visual text. While the water problem in Turkey is described in all commercials, it is seen that a gloomy stage environment is created. In some commercials, this environment is depicted with the image of a dried-up lake bed and a boat sitting on it. Although only the kitchen is shown in some commercials, it is seen that this gloomy atmosphere is recreated through elements such as sad people and still music. Breaking the habit of rinsing the dishes under water before placing them in the machine is portrayed as the solution to the water problem, and after that, the gloomy atmosphere in the commercial disappears and a happy atmosphere was created with elements such as cheerful music and smiling expressions. Detailed analysis of the content of the commercials is carried out below. 5.2

Defining the Problem in Commercials

Corporate social responsibility advertisements provide information about the activities and actions of companies toward the problems of society. In this respect, it can be expected that general perspectives on the subject, solution proposals, and the company’s and customers’ role in the solution will be defined in the commercials. It is seen that this is the process followed in Finish advertisements. When the advertisements analyzed within the scope of the study are examined in general, it is understood that the main strategy is to show the consumer in the center of the problem while the company excludes itself from the definition of the problem. Thus, the discourse on the water problem in Turkey takes on a consumer-oriented nature and the company can exclude itself from the problem. When we look at the actual nature of the water problem, it can be seen that the messages given by the company through advertisements are based on limited and structured information. In this way, the company’s role can be excluded from the problem. 5.2.1 Positioning of the Company Outside the Problem In the commercials analyzed, the problem was clearly portrayed as the danger of drought in Turkey. The aforementioned problem is visually emphasized in the commercials we examined by the wide-angle images of the cracked dry earth in Burdur and Kuyucuk lake beds. Lake Burdur is located in the Mediterranean Region, and Lake Kuyucuk is located in

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Kars, that is, in the Eastern Anatolia Region. The examples selected from the far ends of Turkey are important in terms of showing the extent of the subject across Turkey. Discursively, when saying “Turkey’s water,” the use of the phrase “Turkey’s water is running out” to indicate the third person singular possessive suffix has a similar purpose. In advertisements, while defining the problem, extensive problems in natural areas are emphasized, and the individuals’ use of water in the household is indicated as the cause of the problem. This is reinforced by the sentence “We waste 57 L of water in every wash,” which is common to all advertisements, and the contextually accompanying image of water flowing from the faucet with great pressure. Here, the flowing faucet visual accompanies the discourse and strengthens the meaning, as well as showing that the company frames the problem by household consumption alone. In commercials, Turkey’s danger of becoming a water-poor country was based on household water consumption, and in that, the acceptance that a dishwasher is used. However, in reality, it is known that only a very small portion of the global water problem is due to household consumption and that the problem is largely caused by the senseless use of water in agriculture and heavy use of water in industry (Postel 2000; Akın and Akın 2007). Moreover, although daily consumption poses little risk in terms of drought, the main problem is the exploitation of the underground resources that clean the water (Postel 2000). Increasing demand in parallel with rapid population growth and pollution of water resources are two important problems causing the decline of potable water resources (Mente¸se 2017, 385). It is not possible for Turkey to remain unaffected by the global water problem. Looking closely at the two causes that lead to the global decline of freshwater resources, it can be seen that the major area of excessive water consumption in Turkey is agriculture (76% of total water), followed by potable water provided by municipalities (14% of total water) and industry (10% of total water) (Akın and Akın 2007, 108). Therefore, excessive water consumption in Turkey is a problem that needs to be addressed from multiple perspectives. It has been revealed that water pollution continues to increase in Turkey. Although there are many factors that cause this problem, it is known that the consumption of chemicals such as detergents is one of these factors, and it is seen that pollution reached a significant level in different wetlands in Turkey (Minareci et al. 2009; Balcıo˘glu 2014). Since detergents are unnatural and synthetic, they can disrupt the ecological

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balance of water as a result of the chemical effects they generate and make the aquatic environment increasingly unusable (Balcıo˘glu 2014, 2). Therefore, not only the consumption of water resources, but also the pollution of water resources is an important factor in the decline of freshwater resources. Considering the role of detergents in water pollution, it can be expected that the company will at least emphasize that the advertised detergent contains ingredients that do not pollute the water. However, no such information is given in advertisements for the social responsibility campaign for water conservation. Considering the extent of the water problem in Turkey, Finish’s reporting of the water problem in Turkey only within the framework of household consumption demonstrates that the company provides limited information. In other words, by defining a problem that is enframed and confined in the advertisements, the company excludes itself from the problem, as well as detracts the problem from its actual nature. The source of the problem is pointed as consumers. 5.2.2 Presenting the Consumer as the Source of the Problem Although the consequences of the loss of freshwater resources are reflected in the commercials with a wide emphasis on natural destruction, both visually and discursively, the source of the problem is portrayed as household water consumption from a very limited point of view. In fact, this consumption is shown to be further narrowed to rinsing the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. Within the scope of social responsibility campaigns, through a consumer-oriented discourse, holding the individuals accountable for the water problem, which is a very extensive problem, can be associated with the companies’ changing role in social responsibility campaigns. Dirk Matten and Jeremy Moon (2008, 410–411) discuss a dual distinction in social responsibility campaigns, called implicit and explicit campaigns. According to this, in the implicit campaign, the company shares its corporate role with the wider corporate structure and public interest, while in the explicit campaign, the company is the actor that makes sacrifices for the public interest. In explicit campaign, the company is almost irresponsible and the responsibilities are conveyed within the framework of an individualistic approach. The explicit campaign approach is also compatible with neoliberalism, which shows the consumer as the sovereign of the market (Manzerolle and Smeltzer 2011). In this approach, the consumer has the right

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to free choice, therefore the consumer bears all the responsibilities of consumption and non-consumption. It is seen that this approach is clearly maintained in the advertisements. In commercials, rinsing the dishes is shown as the origin of wasting water. When saying “We waste 57 L of water in each wash by rinsing the dishes,” it can be seen that the subject “we” is used. Here, consumers are pictured as wasters, because wasting water is not caused by washing the dishes but by rinsing them. However, those who are addressed as subjects in this problem are only dishwasher users. Else, the dishes are not only rinsed before placing them in the dishwasher, alternatively they can also be washed by hand. In the commercial, this probability is neither verbally nor visually addressed. This is because, in the commercial, rinsing the dirty dishes and then placing them in the dishwasher is used as a fundamental image. With the phrase “every year we waste water as much as a lake by rinsing the dishes,” the meaning is reinforced. In this way, what the word “we” that is used as the subject corresponds to is also demonstrated. By not seeing any possibility of washing and wasting water other than the use of dishwasher, commercials, besides identifying the problem with household consumption, actually reduce the frame of the problem for a second time. The limited understanding of the company in defining the problem may actually raise doubts about the company’s view of corporate social responsibility. This is because a problem with very deep roots is limited only to household consumption, and here, with the use of dishwasher alone, it is subjected to a second reduction. 5.3

Solution Suggestions for the Problem in Advertisements

The narrow perspective in the advertisements in defining the problem can also be seen regarding the solution of the problem. The main strategy in defining the problem is to assign responsibility to the consumer, while the company automatically assigns itself the role of problem solver. In this context, when we look closely at the advertisements of the Finish Tomorrow’s Water social responsibility project, we see that the solutions to Turkey’s water poverty are confined to a narrow framework. In terms of corporate social advertising, diverting attention from the real problem by focusing on an aspect that is not directly related to the problem is an important strategy (Farache and Perks 2010, 237). Here, the issue is reduced to two simple solutions, and in fact, the issue is detracted from its actual nature.

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5.3.1 Consumer’s Duties for Solving the Problem The first solution offered in advertisements is breaking the habit of rinsing the dishes before each wash. This is emphasized by the sentence “We waste 57 L of water in every rinse” vocalized in every advertisement. This meaning is reinforced by using the sentence “Give promise” after the image of a clean and bright dish in each commercial. In fact, the link between the solution of the problem and the next generation is clearly presented by making a small child say the sentence “give promise” in the 2nd commercial. The reward for breaking up the habit of rinsing the dishes is emphasized in commercials with the phrases “saving a lake-full of water,” “saving water 40 times as much as lake Kuyucuk.“ The emphasis here is also supported by images. The wide-angle display of dried lake beds in all commercials is intended to make the comparison conveyed to the consumer more realistic. When the faucet is turned off, the problems of nature end, and people in the atmosphere of the commercial smile. A second solution to the problem is the use of Finish brand dishwashing liquid. While emphasizing saving water in advertisements, “we” is used as the null subject. However, when Finish and consumer are used together, these are addressed as “we” and “you,” respectively. In the phrases clearly stated in the second commercial, which are “We give promise that we will clean even the dried dirt without rinsing and provide excellent shine. Do you promise that you will stop rinsing?”, this is clearly evident. Although this phrase is emphasized in one commercial, it is also retained as the Finish Quantum package appears in all commercials almost as if it is an actor. Advertising is one of the communication products in which intertextual emphasis is used most intensively (Danesi, 2015, p. 3) and here, an important intertextual quality stands out. In other words, “We give promise to make your dishes spotlessly clean,” which is verbally emphasized in one commercial, is visually emphasized in the other commercial series. 5.3.2 Natural Solution Tool: Finish The Finish brand, on the other hand, presents itself as a natural part of the solution in advertisements. The clean water glass used in advertisements can be considered an important indicator. Advertising can make anything an indicator in order to give meaning to the product (Williamson 2001, 31). Here, the clean water glass is used as the embodiment of the fact that Finish will provide cleanliness. In fact, all six commercials begin with the sound of a fork hitting a clean and shiny water glass with the

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Finish logo. Then, at the end of the commercial, the actor either examines this clean water glass or drinks water from it. However, none of the commercials show that the water glass is put into the dishwasher in a dirty state. In all commercials, the dirty dish is the plate. Here, a distinction is made between dirty and clean, and the fact that Finish achieves absolute cleanliness is identified with the image of a clean water glass. It is up to consumers to provide a solution to the water problem, as the mastery of Finish detergent in cleaning unrinsed dishes is clearly demonstrated in the commercials. Since the immaculate cleanliness of the dishes and the use of a dishwasher come across as an unquestionable reality in the commercials, an important duty of the consumer is to turn off the faucet and purchase and use Finish Quantum dishwashing detergent. If the consumer fails to do so, the consumer will waste 57 L of water and therefore harm his/her children’s future. A solution proposal that is not based on information but only on a consumption practice may carry the danger of keeping the magnitude of the problem out of sight or covering the actual problems of people and making them irrelevant on this subject. 5.4

Identification of Actors: Problem Solver Company, Limited Consumer

The problem that is intended to be solved via social responsibility activities may concern the wider society, or it may be related to the life of smaller, specific groups. On the other hand, the Tomorrow’s Water campaign analyzed in this study should be covering the whole society as it aims at saving water, which is the basic need of every human being. However, this coverage is limited when defining the consumer in advertisements. It is seen that the consumer conceptualization in the analyzed advertisements is compatible with the new marketing approach. As known, in this approach, people are targeted as consumers, not customers. Consumers, on the other hand, are considered as individual centers in the wide market area and divided into various segments by different approaches such as their interests and tendencies (Esper et al. 2020, 288). Here, using similar logic, it is seen that the target audience of the commercial is limited to two stages, as women who use dishwashers and urban consumer mothers. Therefore, in the commercials, consumers seem to be subject to both a consumption-oriented limitation as women who use dishwashers and a more gender-based limitation by limiting women to the role of mothers.

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5.4.1 Sex-Oriented Approach in Limiting Consumers Although the analyzed commercials are within the scope of the social responsibility project, it has been discussed above that the people identified in the commercials are positioned as consumers rather than responsible citizens. However, it is important to have a more clear understanding of the consumer mentioned in Finish’s Tomorrow’s Water commercials. The consumers identified in the commercials are women. Everyone depicted as placing the dishes into the dishwasher without rinsing, which is the main argument of Finish advertisements for saving water, is a woman. While the main protagonist in the four commercials analyzed is a woman, actor TanerÖlmez plays in two commercials. However, in the commercials with Ölmez, when it comes to rinsing the dishes and placing them in the dishwasher, the actress is a woman. Indeed, in the commercial (3rd commercial), there is a separate mise-en-scène in a separate kitchen for the dish rinsing scene. The only exception here is the 4th commercial, which we can consider as a short version of the commercial starring TanerÖlmez. However, in that commercial too, TanerÖlmez cleans the dishes without water, and the image of rinsing the dishes was not used. In addition, in the commercial with Anlı, which was shot in a similar format (6th commercial) placement of the dishes in the dishwasher, placement of the detergent, and the washing process are shown without any vocalization. On the other hand, TanerÖlmez says “I scrape the dishes” while brushing the plate and “Quantum takes care of the rest” while placing the detergent. There is no phrase like “Quantum takes care of the rest” in any of the commercials with the women placing the detergent. However, in six commercials, the male actor uses the phrase “Quantum takes care of the rest” only once while placing the detergent into the dishwasher. The fact that the actor addresses the detergent by its name makes it easier to think of the detergent as the main doer of the job. Considering all of these, it can be thought that TanerÖlmez represents a narrator rather than a person who is already present in the kitchen. Therefore, tasks such as collecting dishes and placing them in the dishwasher, which is an important activity in the kitchen, are assigned to women in commercials. Studies focusing on the relations between advertising and gender reveal that the representation of women in advertisements can still be within certain stereotypes. In this context, in various studies, it is emphasized that women are generally portrayed as mothers and housewives in advertisements (Plous and Neptune 1997; Reichert and Carpenter 2016). The

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portrayal of the woman in the commercials of Finish as the person in the kitchen and placing the dishes creates the impression that it is a conscious choice. Because in all commercials, women place dishes in the kitchen, and this does not change when the woman in the commercial is an important media Fig. (5th and 6th commercials). Therefore, depicting the woman as the person responsible for the kitchen and dishes in the commercials analyzed can be considered as a conscious choice based on gender positioning. Conveying sexist messages in advertisements is not always done explicitly. The selection of voice-over, which is an important tool in advertisements, is also an important data in this sense (Cook 2001, 27). In the commercials of the Finish Tomorrow’s Water campaign, the voice-over is always a female voice. It is the female voice that identifies the problem and proposes the solution. A male figure was used only in the commercials with TanerÖlmez. However, he only sang at the beginning of the commercial (3rd commercial) to convey the message while standing on the dried lake bed, and when he went to the kitchen at the end of the song, a female voice-over was used again. In another commercial starring TanerÖlmez (4th commercial), the male actor almost assumed the role of a narrator giving information about the use of dishwasher detergent. The voice-over describing the product is again a female voice. In other words, if there is a scene of rinsing the dishes and stopping this habit to save water, the voice-over is still female, even though the actor is male. The aim of the social responsibility campaign organized within the scope of Tomorrow’s Water campaign is to prevent wasting water in Turkey. The messages conveyed in this context should also be expected to apply to the general public. However, the fact that the problem is associated with water consumption in the kitchen alone, and pointing the woman who is portrayed as in charge of the kitchen as someone who is responsible for this problem, makes these commercials very problematic. However, narrowing the consumers in the commercials is not limited to the woman who is positioned inside the house. 5.4.2 Urban Mother as a Consumer The consumer defined in the analyzed commercials is clearly female. However, the specific thing about this woman is that she lives in the city. In the commercials, the kitchens are very luxurious and equipped and bring urban life to mind. At the same time, in one of the commercials with TanerÖlmez (3rd commercial), the camera goes through the

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city and enters the kitchen. Considering the intertextuality in advertisements, it can be advanced that all advertisements evoke the kitchens of the houses in the city. Therefore, the citizens that Finish has chosen to save water are women, city dwellers and consumers who are expected to buy dishwashing detergent because they use dishwashers. As stated by Anne Cronin (2005, 2), women are restricted in terms of their public roles in modern society, but a consumer role is assigned to them. Consumption is introduced by the communication industry as the legitimator of women’s existence in the public sphere and is positioned as a part of their identity. Here, presenting the woman’s responsibility in the kitchen as given and natural is gender positioning, but it is important to position women as the main consumer in the kitchen in an advertising campaign where the theme is to save water and to achieve this by using dishwasher detergent. Because not everyone uses a dishwasher. Therefore, the message conveyed in the commercials is that the urban woman using the dishwasher is the main actor in the water problem and the solution. It is an important problem that women alone are portrayed as responsible for a general social and environmental problem. The portrayal of women as the sole person in charge of the kitchen work, which is the common area of the household, includes a gendered approach. However, the categorical limitation of women in advertisements is not limited to this. The woman portrayed in the advertisements is also clearly associated with the motherhood role. In other words, the woman depicted in the advertisements is a housewife, an urban consumer, and also a mother. In advertisements, the problems caused by the water problem are usually emphasized with the image of children. In the commercials (1st, 2nd, and 3rd commercial), children are shown staring at the water flowing with great pressure, right next to their mother, with a sad expression on their face. Women become unhappy as they are looking at the sad expression on the face of their children. The general atmosphere of the commercial is also extremely gloomy. However, the situation changes when the children or the mother swiftly turn off the faucet. When the mother stops rinsing the dishes and places the dishes in the dishwasher, the unhappy faces of the children change into smiling faces, and the dark, gloomy atmosphere of the commercial changes. It is noteworthy that no dialogue occurs between mother and child in advertisements. Here, the spontaneity of the mother’s role in protecting the future of her child is almost reinforced. The act of the child to swiftly turn off the faucet, on the other hand, suggests an implication that the mother will be

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punished by her child if she does not act with common sense. Therefore, in the commercials, the woman is highlighted in the role of motherhood. However, the irrelevance between solving Turkey’s water problem and motherhood makes us think that the theme carries a gendered restriction. 5.4.3 Finish as Part of the Solution, not the Problem Combining corporate social responsibility advertising with image advertising is an important strategy used in these advertisements. The technique used here is to show the areas where the product/brand is involved in the solution of the problem subject to social responsibility in order to distinguish the product/brand from its counterparts in the market (Pomering and Lester 2009). In this sense, in the water problem which is defined by the Finish brand itself in an extremely narrow framework, the brand positions itself as the problem solver. In all commercials of the company, the various versions of “Turkey’s first, most popular. Finish” slogan are used, and the brand emphasizes that it is the best dishwasher detergent in the industry. The company positions itself as the most important solution-generating actor within the narrow framework in which it defines the water problem. “What’s the point of rinsing when you have Finish Quantum?” is an important outcome of the brand’s efforts to position itself as the solution provider. It is known that what is left unsaid is as important as what is said when it comes to discourse. In terms of this sentence, the sentence that comes to mind as an unspoken allusion is “If there is no Finish Quantum, rinsing is necessary.” In fact, Finish positions itself in this way with the clean glass taken out of the dishwasher in every commercial. In this context, Finish has an important social function as the actor in preventing the dishes from being rinsed, which is an important barrier to becoming water-poor. In other words, when the commercials are analyzed, using Finish Quantum can actually be considered to some extent as an important way of acting socially responsible.

6

Conclusion and Discussion

In this study, social responsibility campaign advertisements, which are an important element in terms of the communication stage of social responsibility activities, were analyzed. Within the scope of the study, six commercials of Finish brand’s Tomorrow’s Water social responsibility campaign were analyzed through critical discourse analysis. It is

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known that advertising, which is an important communication tool used by companies to announce their corporate social responsibility activities to the public, can be used as image advertising by moving away from the nature of the subject (Pomering and Johnson 2009). The important difference between corporate social responsibility advertising and image advertising is whether sufficient information is provided to society. Although corporate social responsibility advertisements must contain a certain amount of information, they still have to carry important characteristics of the genre. Therefore, it can be considered normal that social responsibility advertisements create unique normalizations, as is the case in every advertisement. However, this has its limits. When Finish brand’s Tomorrow’s Water advertisements are analyzed, it appears that the subject emphasizes the company’s efforts to consolidate its product rather than to raise social awareness. This is because advertisements provide a limited amount of information that is structured and framed in each of the stages of problem, solution, and actor identification. In the advertisements, in defining the problem, it is seen that the company narrows the problem by using limited information in order to exclude its role from the problem of drought in Turkey. In this context, the company places the consumer at the center of the problem and distances itself from the source of the problem. Again, while the company offers solutions to the water problem, it portrays itself as a natural element in the solution of the problem and the consumer as the responsible for the problem. To put it more clearly, the Finish brand presents itself as a natural problem solver with its ability to clean unrinsed dishes and makes the consumer in charge to solve the problem by assigning the consumer the responsibility of using the detergent. When identifying the actors, the company almost turns to a strategy of separating itself from its other competitors, by limiting the problem with the actors narrowed down to those who can use the Finish brand. It is an important strategy for the brand to show women who are city dwellers, consumers, and mothers as actors in advertisements. In this way, the company almost points out the people expected to be their target consumers. In conclusion, it is found that although the analyzed advertisements address a very important issue such as the water problem in Turkey, they gravitate toward image advertising due to the strategies of restricted use of information and highlighting the product/brand. Achieving the purposes of social responsibility campaigns depends on accurately communicating with the public and conveying sufficient information. Therefore, it is

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important to continue the analysis of this subject in detail in future studies.

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Extending CSR Accreditation Brands It May Not Always Work Michael Jay Polonsky , Jonathan Robertson , Adam Karg , and Joshua Newton

1

Introduction

There is ongoing interest in firms becoming more socially responsible, by undertaking actions that make them more accountable to stakeholders by addressing social issues (Gatti et al. 2019). Firms, in turn seek to leverage these good corporate actions through various positioning and marketing communications activities (del Mar García-De los Salmones and Perez 2018). Research has found that consumers tend to view firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims more positively when these claims are endorsed by accrediting organizations (Beldad et al. 2019; Rohit and Panda 2018). As such the number of accrediting organizations

M. J. Polonsky (B) · J. Robertson · J. Newton Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia e-mail: [email protected] A. Karg Sport Innovation Research Group, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_15

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endorsers has seemed to grow covering a range of issues related to environmental protection (e.g., rainforest alliance [https://www.rainforestalliance.org/]), no animal cruelty (e.g., PeTA [https://www.peta.org/]) and fair wages and working conditions (Fair Trade [https://www.fairtr ade.net/]), just to name a few. Research is equivocal regarding the impact of different types of CSR claims and CSR accreditation (Baghi and Gabrielli 2013; Zasuwa 2017). Some research, for example, has found that CSR issues should be linked to the firm’s activities (e.g., high fit) (Becker-Olsen and Hill 2006; Zasuwa 2017) or that CSR issues should be related to societal impacts of the firm (Gu and Morrison 2009). Other work has found that firms linking to social issues unrelated to the firm could be seen as more philanthropic (Ricks 2005). Research has also found that the benefit of fit depends on the firm’s existing reputation and whether consumers are skeptical of the CSR activities (Kim and Ferguson 2019; Zasuwa 2017). While research has focused on the activities of for profits in developing CSR related branding, the question of whether highly credible CSR accreditation organizations can easily extend their claims beyond their core domain has not been extensively examined. Research on “brand extensions” within the for-profit domain has suggested that these should be closely related to the firms core focus (Aaker 1990). Thus, one might assume that this too would apply for CSR accreditation organizations, even though it has not been extensively explored from the CSR branding perspective. This chapter seeks to explore the extension of CSR organization accreditation (as brands) to goods focal to the accreditation organizations social issue, but not to the product sector. In particular, we examine the potential effectiveness of an extension of Fairtrade labeling to sports shoes. The sector was selected because the sport shoe sector has experienced working condition controversies in the past (Yu 2008) and thus is aligned with the Fairtrade objectives. We next describe the theoretical background of the work and hypotheses development, focusing on the role of CSR claims and accreditation on brands using these. We then discuss the methodology used, which involved three studies. We then provide discussion, implications and a conclusion to the work.

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Corporate Social Responsibility Accreditation and Claims

Firms have increasingly been seeking to become more socially responsible (Barnett et al. 2020; Windsor 2001), which has been identified as benefiting the firm and its brands in a number of ways. For example, literature has discussed the strategic benefits of building a CSR-linked brand (Vishwanathan, et al. 2020), in regards to reputation (Werther Jr and Chandler 2005); employee engagement (Glavas and Kelley 2014); financial performance (Beck Frost and Jones 2018; Luo and Bhattacharya 2006) and local community connections (Lähdesmäki and Suutari 2012). In most case it is suggested that firms and brands that promote themselves as more responsible increase their reputation in the market (Sánchez-Torné et al. 2020). Other works suggest that increased levels of social responsibility increases consumers; purchase intentions (Sen and Bhattacharya 2001), attitudes toward the brand and firm (Becker-Olsen and Hill 2006; Kim and Ferguson 2019), and the premium consumers would pay for goods with links to CSR (Diallo et al. 2021; Lai et al. 2010). Accredited products may also have improved product quality, as Balineau (2013) found that the act of having Fairtrade accreditation increased the objective quality of the accredited producers, although he did not evaluate consumers’ assessments. Research however suggests that the types of CSR organization accreditation and co-branding activities undertaken do matter (Burton et al. 2017; Geylani et al. 2008; Rohit and Panda 2018). For example, how aligned the social issue is to the firm or the product (Kim and Ferguson 2019; Maklan and Knox 2009). However, Menon and Kahn (2003) found that firms that link CSR-related activities to a firm’s activities might sometimes even be perceived as being self-serving and thus these actions could be discounted by consumers, whereas CSR-related activities unrelated to the firm’s core activities might be seen as more altruistic. This was seen to be even more problematic when firms had poor reputations and thus, consumers were even more skeptical of CSR in these contexts (Kim and Ferguson 2019). The CSR links have also been found to be less effective in regards to more controversial causes (Vahdati and Voss 2019). While some firms have sought to use CSR in response to corporate crisis, this too is less effective than other CSR initiatives (Singh and Crisafulli 2020).

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There are other instances where CSR related activities or links do not generate a positive consumer response. Such as when the CSR activity is not seen as focal to the good (Gershoff and Frels 2015), or the claim itself somehow diminishes the products functional attributes (Brough et al. 2016). Other work by Swait et al. (1993) suggests that for-profit brand extensions into other product categories relate to the power of the associated brands, thus not all brands can extend to related categories. This has potential implications for CSR organization accreditation brands as well. This highlights the importance of alignment when firms seek to use external organization accreditation to promote the firm’s level of social responsibility. This is aligned with the brand alliance and co-branding domain that identified the positive impacts of brands working together (Huertas-García, Lengler, and Consolación-Segura 2017). For example Barone, Miyazaki and Taylor (2000) found “that a company’s support of social causes can influence consumer choice, thus providing validation for CRM campaigns intended to generate sales for the sponsoring company” (p. 258). While most works identified the benefits to for-profit brands, others identified that there could be both positive and negative impacts on the non-profit brands (i.e. accreditation organization) as well (Polonsky and Wood 2001). For example, Baghi and Gabrielli (2013) find that non-profit brands benefit from working with well recognized for-profit brands, whereas Polonsky and Wood (2001) suggested that non-profit and accreditation organizations expanding into too many relationships could in fact reduce the value of CSR type co-branding on the nonprofits (i.e. accrediting brand). As such, accreditation and the associated organizations are brands in their own right and like corporate brands need to invest in developing and managing their value. This can create potential issues, as accreditation organizations can seek to “grow” the business by targeting more firms, which could dilute their brand (Polonsky and Wood 2001). However, via expanding they may also be moving out of their core sector, in terms of issues represented or in terms of brand categories that they accredit. Thus, accreditation organizations also face similar challenges to the forprofit brands who seek to extend their brand and need to maintain their core values (Aaker 1990). This research examines whether one accreditation organization, Fairtrade, can effectively extend beyond their core domain (agricultural and primary products) into other sectors (i.e., sports shoes), by evaluating

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the impact on consumer assessment of a new partner firm. Based on the literature we propose that: H1a: Consumers will assess sports shoes that are accredited by Fairtrade as being more socially responsible than shoes that are not accredited by Fairtrade. H1b: Consumers will have higher purchase intentions for sports shoes that are accredited by Fairtrade than shoes that are not accredited by Fairtrade. And, H2a: Consumers will assess sports shoes that are accredited by Fairtrade highlighting labor issues as being more socially responsible than shoes that are accredited by Fairtrade without the link to labor issues. H2b: Consumers will have higher purchase intentions sports shoes that are accredited by Fairtrade highlighting labor issues than shoes that are accredited by Fairtrade without links to labor issues.

3

Study Context

This research undertakes three studies to examine how Fairtrade accreditation for sports shoes impacts consumers’ perceptions and intentions. Fairtrade was selected as the CSR accreditation organization, as working conditions have been a salient area of concern within the sports shoe industry. Fairtrade is a global non-profit that was established in 1992 and seeks to ensure that workers and farmers are treated more fairly within supply chains (Castaldo et al. 2009). Their mission is “a world in which all producers can enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods, fulfil their potential and decide on their future. (Fairtrade, n.d. c)”. They presently accredit 15 product categories, and while most of these are in agricultural or primary products (e.g., bananas, cocoa, coffee, flowers, sugar, cotton, fruit juices, herbs/spices, honey, nuts/oils, quinoa, rice, vegetables, wine, and gold), they also accredit other areas such as textiles, sports balls, composites, and carbon credits (Fairtrade, n.d., b). Firms that wish to be accredited by Fairtrade need to meet a number of criteria related to child labor, climate change, decent livelihoods, environmental impact, forced labor, gender equity, and human rights (Fairtrade, n.d., a). Accreditation criteria are adapted to the specifics of the given product category and are externally validated. Firms seeking to be accredited pay a fee for accreditation and then have the right to market goods with the Fairtrade logo.

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Within this research, sports shoes were selected for two reasons. First, they are a good purchased by a wide cross section of consumers, both to participate in sports and as a more general fashion product. Second, in the past some sports shoe manufactures have been criticized for not paying workers fair wages (i.e., DeTienne and Lewis 2005; Lund-Thomsen and Coe 2015) and CSR initiatives have been used to address social problems within shoe supply chains (Distelhorst et al. 2017). 3.1

Study Overview

After receiving ethical approval, we undertook three studies to examine the issues around the extension of CSR accreditation logos. Study 1 involves two focus groups with a student population undertaking sport management where we discuss Fairtrade accreditation and its applicability to sports shoes. As we are focusing on sports shoes, we wanted to have a focus group of consumers who were likely to purchase these products. Research also suggested that younger people are more socially aware (Raj 2018) and often discuss social responsibility as part of their formative schooling (Macready 2009). Thus, we assumed university students would be more aware of social issues, such as those related to Fairtrade. We also test alternative taglines that are then used in Study 3. Study 2 undertakes a 2 by 2 experiment with real Australian consumers, using a real brand and where we manipulate the type of sports shoes and whether these have or do not have Fairtrade accreditation. Study 3 undertakes a 2 by 3 experiment with real Australian consumers, using a different brand of shoes to Study 2. In Study 3 we manipulate whether there is a tagline for the shoe brand or not, and two alternative taglines for the Fairtrade logo, with a control. These taglines are used to heighten the relevance of the accreditation to labor issues. Using samples of average consumers who actually do shopping enhances the external validity of the research (Bianchi and Biffignandi 2017). To get a wide cross section of respondents from across demographic categories, as well as geographic distribution, we used an Australian commercial online panel organization to recruit respondents (Blom et al. 2017). Commercial panels are increasingly used in research and are a well-accepted recruitment tool (Chandler et al. 2019).

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Study 1

In Study 1, we undertook two focus groups to identify what potential respondents might know about Fairtrade accreditation and their views about social issues and sports shoes, as well as test stimuli, including alternative images and taglines for later studies. Given the exploratory nature of these focus groups we undertake a broad thematic analysis of the responses (Paul and Criado 2020), rather than in-depth constructivist assessment. The two focus groups comprised six students in each. The participants were studying sports management and they were compensated with gift vouchers for their participation. They were recruited through announcements made in sports management classes, in an Australian university. Respondents identified some general social issues for sports shoes. For example, one male respondent suggested. I’m not sure that Nike has the best reputation for producing their shoes, it is all offshore and in the poorer countries, so I guess socially responsibly they may not be as strong,.. (G1M1)1

Another female respondent however did not recall any social issue problems with shoe companies: I haven’t really heard much about social responsibility in terms of creation of the shoe and how that company works. Maybe I haven’t done much research into it but yeah, I haven’t heard much in terms of that stuff. (G2F1)

Other respondents identified that the importance of the specific issue and its importance to the consumer that would matter: You know, some people are against animal cruelty and all the other stuff, if you are like that, obviously you are going to resist the brand, but if it is not such a sensitive issue for you, you are going to purchase it anyway. (G1M2)

1 Respondent coding—Group 1 or 2 (G1/G2); Respondent identification Male or Female (M/F); respondent identification M/F1–M/F6.

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I don’t Want to Be Wearing Shoes that Are Being Made by Some Poor People in India, or Something that aren’t Even Being Paid. That is just Something, a Consideration that I’d Personally Make. (G1F1)

This view was supported by others who suggested: Yeah I think definitely if a company is using slave labour and children to make their products and paying them poor rate, it’s definitely a turn off. That would really hinder a reputation of a brand, and I think a lot of people would be turned off by that. (G2F2)

Although another suggested that people would not evaluate shoes’ social performance when selecting alternatives, as it was more about how they look: I think it’s great if they’re socially responsible, but at the end of the day, the consumer’s only buying the shoe because of what they need, because of the shoe. Because if I see someone wearing a nice pair of shoes, I don’t really think about, oh, is that brand being socially responsible? I just think, oh that shoe looks good. (G2M1)

Without prompting at least one respondent suggested having accreditation and information on shoes’ social responsibility would be valuable: ….if There Was an Option that Was Marking Itself as 100% like All Good, then I Might Be More Inclined to Go with that One. (G1M3)

Others suggested they preferred independent bodies to provide any CSR information: “I’d definitely take the word of an independent body over the word of the actual manufacturer (G1F1).” With others simply suggesting it would be valuable “Having some sort of certification. (G2M2)” When evaluating Fairtrade most respondents suggested this accreditation was more related to chocolate and coffee. Although there were respondents, who knew it was focused on broader working condition issues “The workers are looked after. (G2F2)” and “…not using, you know real young kids and paying them tiny, tiny amounts. (G2M2)”. When discussing the taglines for inclusion in Study 3, the majority view that “Performing on and off the field” made sense as the tagline to go with the company brand, although there was some disagreement about whether this communicated any valuable information. In regards

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to the taglines for Fairtrade, respondents felt that “Ensuring workers are paid fairly” and the tagline “Ensuring firms are more socially responsible” were the most appropriate for the Fairtrade brand. Based on the results of the focus groups we were confident that there was a good link between CSR accreditation of Fairtrade and sports shoes, although there was not a clear link for all consumers. In the focus groups, some respondents mentioned past worker rights issues with Nike, and as such, the Nike brand was not used in the experiments. When discussing the images and taglines, respondents felt those presented were generally appropriate. They identified issues with all potential taglines for the companies and while there was some disagreement, a large proportion felt “Performs on and off the field” best fit the brand and a social message. Even though some on and off the field related to being a sports and fashion shoe. Thus, the focus group assisted in identifying the potential links, verification that the images to be used were appropriate and also assisted in developing taglines to be used, in Study three. 3.3

Study 2

In Study 2 we undertook to assess whether the use of Fairtrade branding impacts on consumers assessment of the social responsibility or purchase intent of sports shoes. We used real images of two Addis products, a casual sports shoe and a soccer shoe. In both cases, the shoes were black and cost the same amount, and in the market they were similarly priced in reality. The Fairtrade logo was placed in advertisement with other product information, which also was consistent across the stimuli to minimize any potential confounding effects. Study 2 was a 2 (no Fairtrade accreditation/Fairtrade accreditation) by 2 (casual/soccer) experiment. We controlled for respondents level of knowledge about fair trade using 3 items that had α = 0.95 (De Pelsmacker and Janssens 2007) and consumers level of social responsibility using 10 items that had α = 0.94 (Sudbury-Riley and Kohlbacher 2016). The dependent measures were consumers purchase intention, 3 items with an acceptable reliability (α = 0.89) and their perception of Adidas’ level of social responsibility for the goods using 12 items with an acceptable reliability (α = 0.98) (Öberseder et al. 2014). The sample of 216 US respondents (average consumers) was sourced through a commercial online panel operator. Respondents were distributed across ages with a mean age in the 35–44 age category. The

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sample was 48% male, with 28% completing high school or less and 35% with a degree or postgraduate degree. The average income category was $50,000 to $59,999. The results of the ANOVA for consumers’ assessment of the shoe brands level of social responsibility, based on variations in accreditation and the shoe type, indicated that these were insignificant both as direct effects—accreditation F (1, 210) = 0.789, p = 0.375, ŋp 2 = 0.004; and shoe type F (1, 210) = 1.270, p = 0.261, ŋp 2 = 0.006. The interaction between these two independent variables F (1, 210) = 0.007, p = 0.929, ŋp 2 = 0.000 was also insignificant, while the two controls were significant. The results of the ANOVA for consumers’ purchase intention, based on variations in accreditation (yes/no) and the shoe type (casual/soccer), indicated that these were insignificant both as direct effects—accreditation F (1, 210) = 3.615, p = 0.059, ŋp 2 = 0.018; and shoe type F (1, 210) = 0.190, p = 0.664, ŋp 2 = 0.001. The interaction between these two independent variables F (1, 210) = 0.510, p = 0.476, ŋp 2 = 0.003 was also insignificant, while only the control for social orientation was significant. The result that accreditation does not have an impact on consumer’s assessment of the shoe firms’ level of CSR or consumers purchase intentions is inconsistent with the literature. These results suggests that the use of the Fairtrade accreditation does not impact consumers assessments. To explore this further Study 3 seeks to enhance the activation the CSR association by adding taglines to both the accreditation and the shoe brand. 3.4

Study 3

In Study 3 we assessed whether adding CSR related taglines to the Fairtrade brand or to the shoe brand impacts on consumer’s assessment of the social responsibility of the shoe or purchase intent for the sports shoes. Taglines were used as it is suggested that taglines can enhance brand image (Freeman 2005). In Study 3, we used real images of Asics casual sports. The shoes were once again plain black and cost the same price as the shoes in Study 2. The Fairtrade logo was placed in advertisement with same information as in Study 2, and included either no tagline, the tagline “Ensuring workers are paid fairly” or the tagline “Ensuring firms are more

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socially responsible”. We included two alternative CSR related taglines to ensure that any effect was not related to the specific phraseology. We also included conditions where there was no tagline on the Asics brand and the tagline “Performing on and off the field”. The additional of taglines was designed to enhance the links to the firm and Fair trade being social responsible, and thus activate the hypothesized effects, thus Study 3 was a 2 × 3 study. We used the same measures as in Study 2, all of which were found to be reliable in Study 3—knowledge about Fairtrade α = 0.95; consumers level of social responsibility α = 0.93; purchase intention, α = 0.92) and their perception of Asics social responsibility (α = 0.97). In Study 3 the sample of 307 US respondents was sourced through an online commercial panel operator. Respondents were distributed across ages with a median age in the 35–44 category. The sample was 53.7% male, with 22.5% completing high school or less and 48.2% with a degree or postgraduate degree. The median income category was between $60,000 and $69,000. The results of the ANOVA for consumers’ assessment of the shoe brands level of social responsibility, based on added taglines to the accreditation and on the shoe brand, indicated that these were insignificant both as direct effects—accreditation taglines F (2, 299) = 0.231, p = 0.794, ŋp 2 = 0.002; and shoe tagline F (1, 299) = 0.880, p = 0.349, ŋp 2 = 0.003. The interaction between these two independent variables F (2, 299) = 0.659, p = 0.518, ŋp 2 = 0.004 was also insignificant, while the two controls were significant. The results of the ANOVA for consumers’ assessment of the shoe brands level of purchase intention, based on added taglines to the accreditation and shoe brand, indicated that both as direct effects were insignificant—accreditation tagline F (2, 299) = 1.696, p = 0.185, ŋp 2 = 0.011; and shoe tagline F (1, 299) = 01.704, p = 0.193, ŋp 2 = 0.006. The interaction between these two independent variables F (2, 299) = 0.938, p = 0.392, ŋp 2 = 0.006 was also insignificant, while the only the control for Fairtrade knowledge was significant. These results suggest that even when the link to CSR are highlighted for the accreditation and brands’ logos, that this did not improve consumers consumer’s assessment of the firms’ level of CSR or consumers’ purchase intentions. These results are again inconsistent with the literature, highlighting that seeking to extend the use of the Fairtrade accreditation to the sports shoe category does not appear to be effective.

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4

Lessons Learned

We identified that while some consumers see Fairtrade accreditation as being related to sport shoe employee issues, there was not a positive impact on sports shoes’ perceived level of CSR, nor was there an increase in purchase intention when accreditation was present. Thus, the research highlights that while Fairtrade does seek to improve and accredit firms’ social performance in regards to treating workers more equitably, this does not impact consumers within the sports shoe category. Based on the literature this could arise for a number of reasons. Given that the shoe sector has faced past negative publicity, this may mean that consumers are skeptical of corporations using the Fairtrade accreditation (Kim and Ferguson 2019). Past research has also found that using CSR to deal with crises does not necessarily work, but given that the negative publicity over shoes occurred years earlier it is unlikely that this is the cause (Singh and Crisafulli 2020). Although many sporting apparel manufacturers have a poor CSR reputation, research does suggest that the firm’s reputation is important in regards to product reputation (White et al. 2017). The past work has however not sought to disaggregate reputation into product reputation and CSR reputation (Zasuwa 2017). The fit literature would suggest that there is an alignment between Fairtrade and sport shoes. Thus, it may be that the Fairtrade brand has done such a good job aligning their brand with primary products that consumers do not see the link to supply chain issues within the sporting apparel sector. In other cases where the CSR issue transcends products, the accreditation may have greater impact on consumers. For example, vegan fashion (Seo and Suh 2019), where the concern around using animal products seems to have a more focal impact on all aspects of consumers’ decision-making. Thus, Fairtrade (i.e., workers’ rights) issues may not have the same primacy in decision making for consumers and thus not be something that is considered in as wide a set of decisions. 4.1

Implications for Accreditation Brands

The results raise a number of issues for practitioners. From the perspective of the managers of accreditation organization brands, this may mean that they will have difficulty expanding their accreditation to a wider range of product categories (Swait et al. 1993). Developing strong CSR accreditation organization brands around a well-defined set of issues is indeed

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important, but when these issues are linked to different product categories this may be problematic, especially when the accreditation covers a broad set of issues, as in the case of Fairtrade Unfortunately, in almost all cases these sorts of issue and category links are focused on when developing accreditation brands. It is unclear if accreditation brands can transcend categories. Although as in the vegan case, this may work when the issue is highly salient to consumers (Seo and Suh 2019). It would appear problematic if targeted CSR brands are needed, as this would result in multiple types of accreditations, enhancing consumer confusion as to what each accreditation brand means. While there are some broad-based accreditation brands, for example those within the International Standards Office, these tend to focus on firms rather than consumers. While investing in increased consumer awareness of the accreditation brands may be an option, it is unclear if these brands would have sufficient resources to undertake such knowledge building campaigns, nor whether this would result in increased impact across product categories. For firms seeking to gain a CSR focused reputation, it also appears that they too need to be careful as to who they work with when trying to develop this reputation. While the literature suggests that fit between brands is important, it is unclear if this relates more to accreditation within a product category or with an issue. Thus, commercial brands working with a recognized accreditation organization brand may not always result in the intended benefit to the commercial brand. Fit within the accreditation area thus appears to be as complex, as is the discussion of fit within other domains. 4.2

Implications for Marketers

From a marketing and branding perspective future research needs to be undertaken on the approaches and boundaries of extending CSR organizational accreditation, as these accreditation organizations, have the potential to positively influence social issues across domains. The issue of fit does appear to be important, as the focal issues and the corporate brands need to be aligned (Zasuwa 2017). The fact sports manufacturers are significant brands in their own right, may make identifying appropriate accreditation more difficult. If consumers see these actions as being cynical attempts to promote CSR then they will be less effective (Kim and Ferguson 2019). Organizations will also have difficulty trying to use CSR

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accreditation to change their image in response to past failings (Singh and Crisafulli 2020). This means that there will need to be sustained longterm changes in behavior, so that corporate actions reflect the images they wish to portray.

5

Conclusion

In terms of actions for accreditation bodies, they need to ensure that they do not unintentionally develop criteria that are perceived to be too narrow, and which cannot be expanded to a broader cross section of products. Expansion also requires that these accreditation brands then do not become too broad and lose appeal within the market. Most of the marketing of these accreditation agencies appears to be targeted at manufactures who may sign up with particular accreditation bodies. Given that the value to the accreditation to companies lies in what it does for the consumers of the brand, it should be in both parties interest to market these schemes to the wider public to increase the value and salience of the relationship. For firms, the issue of fit is clearly important. The results however also suggest that having good issue fit does not necessarily result in increased consumer responses. Potentially because consumers perceive accreditation cynically or see accreditation as an attempt to address past criticism of poor CSR performance. Corporations wishing to use accreditation need to recognize that this is a long-term strategy that needs to be grounded in having underlying good practices. In these cases, CSR accreditation is more likely to be seen to be consistent with the brand identity, rather than a strategic or tactical tool.

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The Effects of Different Dimensions of CSR Orientation on Success and Willingness to Pay for New Products: Evidence from Kickstarter! Mohammad Hossein Tajvarpour

1

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility has been an important issue investigated by scholars of different fields since mid-1970s (Secchi 2007). Societal aspects of business need to be considered in marketing (Takas 1974) and companies are under increased pressure to integrate environmentally and socially responsible behavior into their strategies and practices. Researchers have long tried to provide a definition of corporate social responsibility that incorporates all aspects of it. The pyramid of CSR has different levels of philanthropic, economic, legal, and ethical (Carroll 1991) activities. A very broad definition contemplates CSR as referring to voluntary activities indicating the consideration of social and environmental concerns in company operations and in its relations with stakeholders (Marrewijk 2013).

M. H. Tajvarpour (B) State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_16

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Many studies have investigated the role CSR on different business outcomes, such as sales and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP). Although extant literature tried to investigate the role of CSR in general, there are very limited studies that investigated and differentiated distinct aspects of CSR orientation (Tully and Winer 2014). Past studies have considered CSR as a unidimensional construct, while it is in fact a multidimensional concept (Pencle and M˘al˘aescu 2016). CSR activities could be related to (1) Nature, (2) Employees, (3) Human Rights, and (4) Local Community (Pencle and M˘al˘aescu 2016). To the best of my knowledge no study has compared the effects of these aspects of CSR orientation among multiple product categories. Based on Stakeholder Theory (Freeman 1984), managers need to consider a societal perspective considering the well-being of humans, and nature in their decisions (Laczniak and Murphy 2012). Particularly companies that work in global markets are ever more required to act responsibly and balance the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of their business (Morimoto et al. 2005; Pujari et al. 2003). Some studies propose that green capital is a source of competitive advantage for companies (Chen 2013). Engagement in CSR activities can create competitive advantage through product differentiation, enhancing reputation (McWilliams et al. 2006; Fombrun and Shanley 1990) and enabling creators to charge price premiums (Porter and Linde 1995). Scholars argue that buyers are willing to pay high premiums for environmentally friendly products (Porter and Linde 1995) although empirical proof for such behavior is erratic and constrained to a few cases. Crowdfunding as a new open-source medium (Mollick 2014) of marketing and financing for new products has been growing rapidly in the past years (Massolution 2015). Crowdfunding creates a transparent context that enables researchers to study many theoretical research questions. There are limited studies on the role of CSR in crowdfunding and their results are inconclusive (Calic and Mosakowski 2016; Berns et al. 2020; Hörisch 2015). Studies on the role of CSR orientation in crowdfunding also suffer from the issue of considering CSR as a unidimensional measure while it is a multidimensional construct. The motivation of this study is to address the gap in the literature by considering the multidimensional nature of the CSR orientation. This investigation is among the first attempts to study the different effects of the different dimensions of CSR orientation on marketing outcomes.

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Crowdfunding creates a unique context to tackle this gap in the literature and to investigate the role of each dimension of CSR orientation on success and WTP for new products among multiple categories. At the same time, studying the role of CSR orientation for success of crowdfunding campaigns is another important gap in the literature that this study fills.

2

Crowdfunding and CSR

Crowdfunding provides an alternative source of collecting capital for businesses (Mollick and Robb 2016). Although it is commonly expected that crowdfunding backers favor CSR oriented ventures, studies on crowdfunding do not provide consistent results regarding effect of CSR orientation on crowdfunding performance (Calic and Mosakowski 2016; Hörisch 2015; Cumming et al. 2017). While some investigations find no effect for environmental focus on the success of crowdfunding campaigns (Hörisch 2015), other studies show that a sustainable mission increases the performance of crowdfunding campaigns (Bento et al. 2019). Studies that found a positive association between CSR orientation and crowdfunding success have also found that this association is affected by contextual factors such as culture or economic trends such as oil prices (Cumming et al. 2017). Attempts in this area show that quality signals are of utmost importance for the success of reward-based and lending-based environmental campaigns such as renewable energy sector since such projects are considered to be risky (Berns et al. 2020; Ben Slimane and Rousseau 2020). Some studies argue that from a rational point of view, people are less supportive of campaigns with social missions (Hörisch 2015), while others posit that CSR orientation is favored by younger and more educated generations (Tenner and Hörisch 2021) and campaigns of higher CSR orientation can be more successful than regular projects (Calic and Mosakowski 2016). While the majority of CSR research centers on huge publicly traded companies such as Fortune 500 firms (Lee 2008), crowdfunding provides a chance to understand CSR orientation at the level of very early-stage businesses (Drover et al. 2017). Reward-based Crowdfunding setting provides a unique context to investigate the role of CSR orientation on marketing outcomes among multiple product categories.

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3

Dimensions of CSR

For this study, I consider four dimensions for CSR orientation: Environment, Employees, Human Rights, and the Local Community (Pencle and M˘al˘aescu 2016). Role of beneficiary is an important factor in CSR products affecting marketing outcomes such as WTP for such products (Tully and Winer 2014). None of the previous studies have compared all dimensions of CSR in one model, and majority of studies were limited to one dimension of CSR such as environmental aspect of CSR (Cumming et al. 2017) neglecting the other dimensions or used an aggregate measure of all CSR dimensions (Defazio et al. 2020) without considering the different effects that different components may have. Previous studies suggest that WTP is higher for CSR goods (compared to conventional ones) and the CSR effect is larger for products where the CSR aspect benefits humans (e.g., workers) compared to those that benefit the environment (Tully and Winer 2014). Previous studies in marketing and entrepreneurship tried to investigate this issue (i.e., the effect of CSR orientation and its beneficiary on WTP for new products) but were limited to certain products such as coffee, apparel (Tully and Winer 2014), technology, and video (Calic and Mosakowski 2016). To the best of my knowledge this study is the first and the most comprehensive attempt to address this question. Previous studies mainly focused of one type of beneficiary in their analyses (Cumming et al. 2017; Bento et al. 2019; Ben Slimane and Rousseau 2020; Vasileiadou et al. 2016; De Crescenzo et al. 2020), thus it is unclear which dimension of CSR is effective on product success and which dimension is not (Tully and Winer 2014). To the best of my knowledge the current study, by investigating the four dimensions of CSR in 151,279 crowdfunding projects of 15 different product categories including Journalism, Food, Crafts, Publishing, Design, Games, Fashion, Technology, Photography, Music, Art, Comics, Theater, Film & Video, and Dance, is the most comprehensive study on the effects of CSR dimensions on marketing outcomes.

4

Research Question

Past crowdfunding studies have considered one element of CSR oriented in a very niche category, such as environmental orientation (Hörisch 2019) in renewable energy sector (Cumming et al. 2017; Bento et al.

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2019; Ben Slimane and Rousseau 2020; Vasileiadou et al. 2016; Crescenzo et al. 2020). Although CSR is undoubtedly an important issue, there remain questions regarding the economic outcomes of such activities by companies. From a utilitarian economic perspective (Secchi 2007), does CSR orientation result in higher sales or more WTP by consumers? It is an important question that has been the topic of inquiry by scholars. Investigating the relationship between CSR and performance is of crucial prominence to the management literature (McWilliams et al. 2006). A more challenging question to address is the role of different aspects of CSR on business outcomes. It is crucial for companies to know which CSR activities to engage and invest in (McWilliams et al. 2006). I attempt to address this question by testing the role of CSR orientation and more specifically by investigating the effect of four dimensions of CSR including Environment, Human Rights, Employees, and Community (Pencle and M˘al˘aescu 2016) on crowdfunding performance and WTP for crowdfunded products. Since different dimensions of CSR have different audience and each have their proponents and opponents their effects on performance must be different. In this study, I hypothesize that, the four elements of CSR including Environment, Employees, Human Rights, and the Local Community do not have similar effects on marketing outcomes as these dimensions have different beneficiaries with different levels of support in the society.

5

Methodology

In the twenty-first century, with the phenomenal surge in computing power and with the popularity of Internet search engines that require textual analysis techniques, the application of content analysis has spread out and is being used in numerous fields (Loughran and Mcdonald 2016; Tang and Guo 2015). This study uses the text analysis to capture the level of each CSR dimension in a crowdfunding campaign project. Studies on demand or WTP for sustainable products mostly used experimental or survey data (Tully and Winer 2014; Andorfer and Liebe 2012) which relies on consumers’ self-reported opinions and thus suffers from social desirability bias (Fisher 1993; Fisher and Katz 2000). Experimental analysis done in lab settings (unlike field or natural experiments) also lacks generalizability of empirical studies (Andorfer and Liebe 2012). Only a few empirical studies used scanner data to investigate CSR oriented products, but those investigations were limited to one product type and

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one CSR dimension (Cailleba and Casteran 2010). Previous studies in crowdfunding have used survey to measure the CSR level (Calic and Mosakowski 2016) or used text analysis to capture the CSR orientation (Berns et al. 2020; Cumming et al. 2017). In contrast to the survey method which effusively relies on individual level data, text analysis provides researchers with a way to measure constructs at the business and firm level (Zachary et al. 2011; Short et al. 2009). One of the main merits of content analysis is the capability for researchers to reach the “perceptions and beliefs” (D’Aveni and MacMillan 1990) of the writers of a textual content (Zachary et al. 2011; Short and Palmer 2003), which is not possible through self-reported surveys. Using text analysis the researcher can access both intended and unintended facts conveyed in the textual content (Loughran and Mcdonald 2016). Considering the benefits of content analysis and due to the huge sample size in my study, using survey to measure level of CSR orientation in projects is financially and timewise infeasible. Accordingly, following previous studies in this field (Cumming et al. 2017), I use text analysis method to investigate the role of CSR orientation and its dimensions on success of crowdfunding campaigns.

6

Data and Sample

I chose Kickstarter because it is one of the top crowdfunding platforms (Massolution 2015) and because based on its stated mission it is not a donation or charity-based setting. Kickstarter explicitly rules against using its platform for charity (Calic and Mosakowski 2016). Since Kickstarter explicitly prohibits donation/charity campaigns I can safely assume that products on Kickstarter have commercial objectives and have heterogeneous levels of sustainability orientation (Calic and Mosakowski 2016). For this study, I used a sample of Kickstarter projects that have goals of between $5,000 (Mollick 2014; Cumming et al. 2017) and $1000,000 as suggested by past studies in crowdfunding (Mollick 2014). Although the results are robust to this restriction, I excluded the projects that collected no money (zero dollars) as those projects were not serious campaigns. In my model, I have a total of 151,279 observations from 2009 to 2018.

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7

285

Scales and Measures 7.1

Dependent Variables

To measure marketing outcomes of a crowdfunding campaign, I considered three dependent variables. Percentage of goal achieved: This variable captures the ratio of the amount that is actually collected by the campaign divided by the initial goal of the campaign (Moradi and Badrinarayanan 2021; Xiao and Yue 2018). For example, if a projected had a goal of $10,000 and ended up collecting $8,000 the percentage of goal achieved is 80%. Success: One of the most common used variable for crowdfunding performance is its achievement of the target goal (Mollick 2014). This dummy variable is 1 if project reached its goal and is 0 if the project failed to reach its goal. WTP (Pledge per backer): The next dependent variable is pledge per backer as a measure of WTP for products. Magnitude of this variable would reveal the amount of money that a typical backer paid for the crowdfunded product (Chan and Parhankangas 2017). 7.2

Explanatory Variables

Duration: Total number of hours that a project was live on Kickstarter. Goal: The target amount that was set by the creators at the time of launching the campaign (all amounts were exchanged to USD from their original currency). Video: This dichotomous variable is 1 if the campaign creators provided a video pitch in their campaign page and zero otherwise. Endorsement: This dichotomous variable is 1 if the project is endorsed by Kickstarter staff and is zero otherwise. Past success: The total number of past successful campaigns by the same creator (Courtney et al. 2017). This variable captures the experience of the creators. Spelling error: A dichotomous variable that shows the existence of one of the top 100 common English spelling errors (Dictionary 2019) in the project description (Mollick 2014; Chan et al. 2020). US made: US made campaigns have been found to be more successful on Kickstarter. I added a dichotomous variable controlling for this effect (Parhankangas and Renko 2017). This variable is coded as 1 if the project is made in USA and 0 otherwise.

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Main category: This variable controls for the product category. 14 dichotomous variables were created to control for the effect of 15 main categories. Year: I controlled for the year that project was launched in. In this analysis, I have ten years of data from 2009 to 2018. CSR-orientation dimensions: Using the CSR-orientation dictionary (Pencle and M˘al˘aescu 2016), I measured the ratio of number of words representing each dimension of CSR (Environment, Human Rights, Employee, and Community) to the total number of words in the campaign description.

8

Analysis and Results

Following previous studies and to correct for the right skewed continuous variables I used inverse hyperbolic sine transformation (Anglin et al. 2018). This transformation is very pertinent and helpful when the continuous variables have a value of zero in their range (Raab et al. 2020). ) ( arsinh (x) = log xi + (xi2 + 1)1/2 OLS was used to test the effect of CSR orientation on the continuous dependent variables which are percentage of goal achieved and WTP (i.e., pledge per backer). Logistic regression was used for testing the effect of CSR-orientation dimensions on success likelihood of crowdfunding projects, since success is a dichotomous variable. 8.1

Results for Percentage of Goal Achieved

In model 1, I test the effect of different CSR-orientation dimensions on the percentage of goal achieved. As shown in Table 1, Employee dimension of CSR, which is related to the internal people in the company, is positively associated with crowdfunding performance (β = 0.060, p < 0.01). This shows that campaigns that are considerate of internal employees are more successful in their journey toward achieving their goal. The Environment dimension of CSR is also positively associated with crowdfunding performance (β = 0.011, p < 0.01). This finding also

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Table 1

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Model 1, percentage of goal achievement

Percentage Funded Dependent variable: Percentage Funded (1)

(2)

Endorsement Video Duration Goal (USD) Word count Spell error US campaign Past success Employee CSR Environment CSR Human rights CSR Community CSR Constant

0.422*** 0.507*** −0.022*** −0.123*** 0.197*** −0.070*** 0.021*** 0.059***

(0.005) (0.003) (0.005) (0.001) (0.002) (0.009) (0.004) (0.003)

−0.027 (0.047)

0.418*** (0.005) 0.498*** (0.003) −0.020*** (0.005) −0.120*** (0.001) 0.189*** (0.002) −0.071*** (0.008) 0.025*** (0.004) 0.057*** (0.003) 0.060*** (0.002) 0.011*** (0.002) −0.057*** (0.003) −0.052*** (0.002) 0.041 (0.047)

Observations R2 Adjusted R 2 Residual Std. Error F Statistic

151,279 0.384 0.384 0.526 (df = 151247) 3,037.805*** (df = 31; 151247)

151,279 0.391 0.391 0.523 (df = 151243) 2,776.928*** (df = 35; 151243)

Note *p < 0.1; **p < 0.05; ***p < 0.01

supports the idea that the crowdfunding campaigns that consider the wellbeing of the nature in their activities perform better than others. This finding acclaims that the environmental orientation can be a competitive advantage (Porter and Linde 1995; Hart 1995). The Human Rights dimension of CSR orientation is negatively associated with crowdfunding performance (β = −0.057, p < 0.01). This is interesting to see that not all dimensions of CSR can be considered as sources of positive differentiation. Interestingly campaigns that are focused on Human Rights factors are less successful in collecting funds. One reason could be that human rights issues such as homosexual rights are generally very polarized (Wood and Bartkowski 2004). This polarized opinion of general public affects the level of support that campaigns with such considerations receive. When a company takes an active stand in a

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controversial issue, it faces greatly decreased attitudes among the opponents of that stand while it does not receive higher support from the proponents of that active position (Mukherjee and Althuizen 2020). The Community dimension of CSR orientation is also negatively associated with crowdfunding performance (β = −0.052, p < 0.01). This is also very interesting that when the focus of CSR orientation is on local community the crowdfunding performance suffers. It is probably happening because such projects have limited audience. When a project is limited to a specific community, then the total audience for that campaign is very limited and this reduces campaign’s performance in collecting funds toward its goal. In my model, adding the sustainability orientation dimensions increases the R 2 and adds statistically significant improvement compared to original model with control variables only. 8.2

Logistic Regression Results for Campaign Success

Many crowdfunding websites including Kickstarter use an All-or-Nothing method which means the creators will receive funds only and only if they reach their target goal. If a project fails to reach its target, then the funds will be returned to the backers. For this reason, I tested the effect of different dimensions of CSR orientation on the dichotomous measure of success or failure of the campaigns. Table 2 presents the results of the logistic regression with regard to success in reaching the goal or failing to achieve it. It is the most popular measure of crowdfunding performance (Mollick 2014; Courtney et al. 2017). As the results show, my findings are robust and consistent with regard to changing the dependent variable. The logistic regression results show that Employee and Environmental dimensions positively (respectively, β = 0.377, p < 0.01; β = 0.031, p < 0.01) and Human Rights and Community dimensions negatively (respectively, β = −0.305, p < 0.01; β = −0.197, p < 0.01) affect the likelihood of success. 8.3

Willingness to Pay

A long-lasting research question in marketing is about consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainable products (Tully and Winer 2014). Past

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF CSR …

Table 2

289

Model 2, Logit model of success

Logit Dependent variable: Success Dichotomous (1)

(2)

Endorsement Video Duration Goal (USD) Word count Spell error US campaign Past success Employee CSR Environment CSR Human rights CSR Community CSR Constant

1.799*** (0.022) 4.047*** (0.033) −0.371*** (0.027) −0.744*** (0.009) 0.947*** (0.013) −0.490*** (0.048) 0.026 (0.018) 0.562*** (0.043)

−0.244 (0.343)

1.802*** (0.022) 4.034*** (0.033) −0.369*** (0.027) −0.742*** (0.009) 0.936*** (0.013) −0.498*** (0.048) 0.035* (0.018) 0.544*** (0.043) 0.377*** (0.013) 0.031*** (0.010) −0.305*** (0.017) −0.197*** (0.012) −0.121 (0.344)

Observations Log Likelihood Akaike Inf. Crit

151,279 −57,572.620 115,209.200

151,279 −56,995.590 114,063.200

Note *p < 0.1; **p < 0.05; ***p < 0.01

studies on CSR orientation were restricted to one specific CSR dimension, and limited product types, so it is not clear from past studies which aspect of CSR orientation is more effective on consumer willingness to pay for sustainable products. Considering the great context of crowdfunding, this study can tackle this research question by comparing the effects of different elements of CSR orientation on WTP among a wide variety of products. As mentioned in the scales and measurement section, I used pledge per backer as a proxy for WTP of consumers. This measure shows the amount of money paid for a crowdfunded product by a typical backer (Chan and Parhankangas 2017). Table 3 presents the analysis results for the effects of different dimensions of CSR on backers’ WTP for crowdfunded products. It is very interesting to see that similar to the measures of crowdfunding performance, WTP also increases with Environmental and Employee dimensions and decreases with Human Rights and Community dimensions. The coefficient for employee aspect of CSR orientation

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Table 3

Model 3, WTP for crowdfunded products

WTP Dependent variable: WTP (1)

(2)

Endorsement Video Duration Goal (USD) Word count Spell error US campaign Past success Employee CSR Environment CSR Human rights CSR Community CSR Constant

0.116*** 0.589*** −0.069*** 0.064*** 0.391*** −0.165*** −0.021*** 0.005***

(0.006) (0.007) (0.010) (0.004) (0.005) (0.019) (0.007) (0.001)

Observations R2 Adjusted R 2 Residual Std. Error F Statistic

151,279 0.163 0.163 1.072 (df = 151247) 949.903*** (df = 31; 151247)

1.588*** (0.109)

0.110*** (0.006) 0.576*** (0.007) −0.067*** (0.010) 0.066*** (0.004) 0.384*** (0.005) −0.166*** (0.019) −0.016** (0.007) 0.004*** (0.001) 0.083*** (0.005) 0.041*** (0.004) −0.116*** (0.007) −0.038*** (0.005) 1.615*** (0.109) 151,279 0.167 0.167 1.069 (df = 151243) 867.777*** (df = 35; 151243)

Note *p < 0.1; **p < 0.05; ***p < 0.01

is positive and statistically significant (β = 0.083, p < 0.01), which shows that a typical backer is willing to pay more as the focus of project on well-being of employees increases. Backers’ willingness to pay for a crowdfunded product also increases as the emphasis on the environmental sustainability of the product increases (β = 0.041, p < 0.01). On the other hand, as focus on human rights and community aspects increases the consumers’ willingness to pay for that campaign decreases (respectively, β = −0.116, p < 0.01; β = −0.038, p < 0.01). It confirms the findings of the two previous models.

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF CSR …

9

291

Discussions and Implications

Results consistently show that environmental and employee aspects of CSR orientation increase the percentage of goal funded, the amount of pledge per backer (willingness to pay), and the success likelihood. On the other hand, Human Rights and Community dimensions of CSR orientation negatively influence the percentage of goal achieved, the amount of pledge per backer (willingness to pay), and the success likelihood. The effect of pro-social orientation on performance of products in modern open source marketing and financing systems such as crowdfunding is a burgeoning topic with limited studies and inconclusive findings (Berns et al. 2020; Defazio et al. 2020). The effect of different aspects of CSR orientation on consumers’ WTP for those products is also an important research question that needs to be addressed (Tully and Winer 2014). In this chapter, I attempted to answer both of these gaps in the literature. Findings of this study show that not all aspects of CSR orientation increase the marketing outcomes such as willingness to pay, and success of new products. Indeed, aspects that are highly polarized such as human rights or aspects that have limited audience such as community-related CSR reduce the chances of success and WTP for crowdfunded products. On the other hand, the CSR dimensions that consider employee well-being and preserving the nature (which are ethical aspects that have broader audience with more general agreement on their importance) increase the chances of success and WTP for new products. Robustness of the results with regard to different outcomes adds to the reliability of my findings. Past studies on the role of CSR orientation considered the aggregate effect of all CSR aspects (Defazio et al. 2020) while this study shows that different dimensions of CSR orientation may have different effects on marketing performance and WTP for products. These different effects of CSR-orientation elements may even be in different directions. This very interesting finding supports the multidimensionality of CSR orientation and suggests future studies to consider multiple elements of CSR orientation in their investigations.

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Limitations and Future Research Directions

Although the current study used a very comprehensive context to investigate the role of CSR-orientation dimensions on success of crowdfunding campaigns and on WTP for crowdfunded products, it has its own limitations. This study focused on reward-based crowdfunding while there are other methods such as lending-based crowdfunding (Burtch et al. 2014) and even equity-based crowdfunding (Drover et al. 2017). Future investigations can expand the findings of this study to those investment-based types of crowdfunding. Investors and stockholders view on CSR activities have significant influence on firm CSR decisions (Bento et al. 2017). While this study considered consumers’ response to CSR dimensions, future studies on investment-based crowdfunding can reveal the investors’ reactions to different CSR aspects. Future studies can also investigate the effect of CSR dimensions using experimental design to add to the internal validity of the findings. Although the current study uses field data with high external validity, experimental design with high internal validity can investigate the effect of CSR dimensions of on consumers’ response to new products.

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Teaching Case Studies

Sustainable Branding in Global Fast-Fashion: Consumers’ and Distant Supply Chain Stakeholders’ Solidarity via Social Media Selcen Ozturkcan

Learning Objectives . Describe sustainable branding, and compare it with green branding . Devise an integrated perspective of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in action . Determine the different roles that social media can have for global brands . Assess a concerned consumer’s reflections when a brand fails to keep up with its sustainability promises . Develop a holistic approach toward the facilitation of sustainable branding that involves distant stakeholders

S. Ozturkcan (B) School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Sabanci Business School, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Turkey

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_17

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. Transform and empower socially responsible consumers for better practice.

1

Introduction

Various distant stakeholders of a global fast-fashion brand (Zara) came together to collectively tackle an accountability challenge that the parent brand (Inditex) encountered in its sustainable branding efforts due to a failing supplier (Bravo Tekstil). The unpaid workers of Bravo launched an awareness campaign demanding consumers support for pressuring global brands (Inditex, Mango, and Next) to keep up with their announced code of conduct for manufacturers and suppliers (e.g., Inditex 2021a). The campaign took place by workers attaching tags that read “I made this item you’re going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it!” to the displayed merchandise at the retail stores to demand the consumers’ solidarity, street protests to raise awareness, the petition calls to collect signatures, and other multilanguage content released on social media. As a result, workers eventually got their partial rights from the global fast-fashion brands.

2

Sustainable Branding

A balanced integration of sensitive business approaches concerning social, economic, and environmental matters is essential for sustainable branding (Fig. 1). Consumers increasingly tend to expect contemporary brands to do much more than just being environmentally conscious, although it is still considered a good start. In this regard, social and economic issues also demand careful reflection from brands. As a response, consumers prefer to show their support toward the brands that share their values in the form of buycotting as much as they do with boycotting (Kam and Deichert 2020; Novo Vázquez and García-Espejo 2021). Thus, companies have even more the reason to establish sustainable branding for ensuring better practice.

3

Sustainable Fast-Fashion Branding

There is no one-fits-all formula for brands to become sustainable, yet it is also known that some industries present more challenges than others.

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Fashion, particularly fast-fashion, is one such industry where reports indicate it is “clear that the development of the fashion industry has a significant impact on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ” (UNECE 2018). Providing workers with decent work (SDG 8) along the various tiers of the globally stretched out supply chain to ensure responsible production (SDG 12) with partnership toward the sustainable development goals (SDG 17) presents worldwide known fast-fashion brands with extra challenges (Fig. 2).

4 The Challenge Between a Global Fast-Fashion Brand and a Failing Supplier 4.1

Inditex

Inditex defined who it was as “one of the world’s largest fashion retailers, with eight brands (Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe –some also available in Fig. 3) selling in 216 markets through its online platform or its 6,829 stores in 96 markets. Started out as a small family business in a workshop making women’s clothing in 1963,” the company claimed to have “stayed the same – the customer is at the center of everything they did” (Inditex 2021c). As of the year 2017, renowned as the most prominent fast-fashion retailer, Inditex had 7,292 stores worldwide. Its previous year’s revenue and profits were $27billion and $5 billion, respectively (Inditex 2017), and the annual report stated that “Inditex makes a commitment to play a conscientious role in promoting Human Rights, working proactively in this area. The Group also undertakes to avoid or mitigate the negative consequences on human rights of its own activities ” (Segran 2017b). Still to this day, Inditex informed on its web pages that when it is about suppliers, the priority was on people—on protecting workers’ human rights across all the suppliers and manufacturers making its garments (Inditex 2021b). Accordingly, Inditex’s code of conduct for manufacturers and suppliers (Inditex 2021a) outlined the general principles for ethical behavior. According to the Inditex web pages, its famous Zara also “remained faithful to its core values, expressed simply in the same four keywords that define all our stores and online platforms: beauty, clarity, functionality and sustainability” (Inditex 2021d).

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4.2

Bravo Tekstil

According to the written statement to the press (Segran 2017b) by Inditex, Bravo Tekstil company, which was based in Turkey with its 155 workers, manufactured various items as its supplier. Before its owner vanished in Summer 2016, Bravo Tekstil was a renowned supplier for several fast-fashion brands that not included Zara—an Inditex-owned brand, but also others such as Mango and Next. However, when the Bravo factory’s owner vanished, he took all the money paid by the fashion companies that the factory manufactured as a supplier. However, the workers, who had already made the garments, were left unpaid. The fashion companies claimed that they met all their contractual obligations to Bravo Tekstil; however, obligations to the workers who produced the garments that went to sales in stores remained a blurry line. Profits were made from the sales of these clothing items, where the outsourced factory used unpaid labor. On the other hand, article 7 of Inditex’s code of conduct for manufacturers and suppliers (Inditex 2021a) covered the involved wages: Manufacturers and suppliers shall ensure that wages paid meet at least the minimum legal or collective bargain agreement, should this latter be higher. In any event, wages should always be enough to meet at least the basic needs of workers and their families and any other which might be considered as reasonable additional needs. Manufacturers and suppliers shall not make any withholdings and/or deductions from wages for disciplinary purposes, nor for any reasons other than those provided in the applicable regulations, without the express authorization of workers. Likewise, they shall provide all workers with: written and understandable information about their wages conditions upon their recruitment, and detailed information about the particulars of their wages every time that these are paid. Manufacturers and suppliers shall also ensure that wages and any other allowances or benefits are paid on time and are rendered in full compliance with all applicable laws and specifically, that payments are made in the manner that best suits the workers*. *Aspects related to payment of wages will be governed by ILO Conventions 26 and 131.

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Bravo Tekstil Workers’ Call for Social Media Solidarity

Following a desperate, empty-handed, 16-months-long wait for Inditex to create a “hardship fund” together with Mango and Next to cover unpaid wages, notice indemnity, unused vacation, and severance payments of workers that were employed at the time of the sudden shutdown of their factory, the workers decided that they needed to take the matter into their own hands. 5.1

Change.Org

Almost a year and a half after the factory’s closure, workers decided to seek backing from the end customers that their manufacturing served as a member of the supply chain. They created a petition on Change.Org instead of continuing to wait, hands tied for their payments to be made. Along with the petition, they considered alternative ways to divert the shoppers’ attention to their problem. The tagged notes placed in garments in-store displays were placed by the workers that went into those stores in-person. Workers had a more extended explanation in their petition for the interested public: We are textile workers in Turkey who have been working for years to make profits for brands such as Inditex (Zara), Next, and Mango. We produced their products under close surveillance by the brands and saw the power the brands wield to ensure their working standards are followed by their supplier factories. By July of 2016, our boss refused to pay a huge portion of the wages we had earned making each brands’ clothing. Creditors came to our factory and seized all machines and valuables. Meanwhile, our boss disappeared, taking our wages with him. We have yet to receive our wages or any form of severance payment. In today’s global production chains, supplier companies like our former employer produce for multinational brands. Global brands gain most of the profits from this production and they have been proven time and again to be the real bosses in the industry, determining the conditions on the shop floor. As the public grew aware of this power dynamic, brands were forced to accept that they are responsible for ensuring that their products are produced fairly. Zara/Inditex, for example, has signed a Global Framework Agreement with IndustriAll Global Union and accepted responsibility for the basic rights of the workers in its supplier factories.

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Since August 2016, our union representative, DiSK Tekstil, with the support of Clean Clothes Campaign and IndustriAll Global Union, has been negotiating with those brands on our behalf. For 12 months, we waited for the conclusion of these negotiations with patience and hope. To prevent any disruptions to the negotiations, we endured them in silence. However, after an entire year, the brands declared that they will only pay just over a quarter of our claim. In other words, the brands accepted their liability, but they thought we deserve no more than their scraps. We have all labored for Zara/Inditex, Next, and Mango for years. We made these brands’ products with our own hands, earning huge profits for them. We demand now that these brands give us the basic respect to compensate us for our labor. We demand no more than our basic rights! We call on the international community to support our struggle, sign and share to support our campaign! Signed, 140 Bravo Factory Textile Workers. (CCC-Turkey 2017)

The petition was launched with the support of the Clean Clothes Campaign, an international alliance devoted to improving working conditions in the global garment industry. It was titled “Tell Zara, Next, and Mango: Pay Your Workers the Wages They Earned!” (CCC-Turkey 2017). The petition page also included a short video released by the trade union that consisted of interviews with a few workers on the hardships that they were exposed upon the delayed payments of their earned wages (DISK 2017). Before closing, this petition had 306,529 supporters (CCC-Turkey 2017). 5.2

YouTube

YouTube was used as a platform to give voice to the workers. In this regard, DISK Tekstil Merter Sendika, the trade union that represented the workers, released several videos (for videos see, DiSK Tekstil Merter Sendika 2017a, b, c). Through this released content on social media, workers were given a decent voice about their suffering that enabled them to call for solidarity from a wider public. Formed in 1989, the Clean Clothes Campaign consisted of “a global network dedicated to improving working conditions and empowering workers in the global garment and sportswear industries ” and was driven “to ensure that the fundamental rights of workers are respected” (CCC 2010). Clean Clothes Campaign supported the campaign by releasing

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some YouTube videos of the protests taking place in front of the shops in Istanbul (for videos see, Temiz Giysi Kampanyası 2017a, b). 5.3

Twitter

Many posts were shared on Twitter with the #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet (Justice for Bravo workers); a representative selection is presented in Table 1. Estimates indicated that the Twitter campaign might have reached 100 million individuals around the globe.

6 A Typical Sample Consumer Journey That the Campaign Reached Zeynep, a 21-years-old university student, decided to explore some of her favorite fast-fashion shops in a close-by high street on a warm Autumn Day in Istanbul. She picked a couple of cardigans and headed to the changing rooms to try them in a Zara Store. As she placed the hangers, a different piece of tag (Fig. 4) attached to one of the cardigans took her attention. It started with a catchy sentence, “I made this item you’re going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it!”. Interested in finding more, Zeynep decided to Google the phrase and quickly realized that she was not alone in her discovery. Many other garment shoppers visiting the stores of fast-fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Mango, and Next across Istanbul shared that they found some unexpected tags on the various items (AP 2017; Segran 2017a). Either needled on or hidden in the pockets of the clothing items, she learned that workers from a local manufacturing supplier left these tagged notes carrying precisely the same message: “I made this item you’re going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it! We are the Bravo factory’s workers. We manufactured for Zara for years. Our factory was closed overnight; we are not paid our three-month worth of wages and severance. Please tell Zara to pay our money! You can support us by signing the petition at www.change.org/ p/bravoiscileri/. You can also take a photo of this tag and share it on social media together with #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet (Justice for Bravo workers) (Fig. 4).” As an amid human-rights activist, Zeynep was intrigued to learn more about what was going on behind the closed doors of her favorite clothing brands. She decided to expand her research when she returned to her student housing that she shared with her roommates. Having heard about

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Table 1

Some tweets shared on twitter with the #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet

Profile

Tweet

@elespinozo

@ZARA Pay the wages owed to those workers. They have contributed to your success #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet ˙ ˙ #BravoIscileri IcinAdalet just pay them if you want to be seen as a respectable brand, rather than a money-grabbing one @ZARA As a large corporation, you’re responsible for your whole supply chain. Pay the people who make your clothes! #JusticeForBravoWorkers #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet Pay the workers! #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet Zara/Inditex shouldn’t have to “launch” a reparation fund, betcha they made a lot of profit off free labour… Face with rolling eyes #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet #JustInTimeForChristmas @ZARA Why won’t you pay the workers in turkey? #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet @ZARA BOOOOOO Zara! Not shopping at your stores anymore! #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet ˙ ˙ #BravoIscileri IcinAdalet until you will give rights to your workers forget me #zara No one thinks you didn’t know about #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet, Zara #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet Slave labor Support justice for stiffed garment workers in Turkey. #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet @womensmarch @Zara! pay these worker’s salaries and inseminations right now!! ˙ sçileriIçinAdalet ˙ #BravoI¸ Time to boycott expensive high street retailers @nextofficial @zaraofficialtr @Mango Bring textile manufacturing home #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet #Zara parent company #Inditex owns 7,405 stores & employs 162,450 ppl, they can compensate 153 workers who worked 3 months w/out pay. #JusticeForBravoWorkers #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet Tell #Zara, #Next, and #Mango: Pay Your Workers the Wages ˙ sçileriIçinAdalet ˙ They Earned! #JusticeForBravoWorkers #BravoI¸ ˙ sçileriIçinAdalet ˙ #BravoI¸ We are a UK based fashion Magazine. Could you please send us your full story and photos DM? We will support you Dear @ZARA, I will never buy your clothes again & make it my goal to make sure my friends don’t either #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet #humanrights #laborrights

@DelboyBrit @bitofkit

@sma_junior @ali_boulanger

@ndb_85 @ChloeLoopdeloop @karadeniz @DavidElmy @bigdog0059 @chrisuu @borabozgeyik @AdamVShattock

@PaxHolt

@aykutersoy @FabUKmagazine

@mungbeancollins

(continued)

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Table 1

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(continued)

Profile

Tweet

@1AngelForever1

#zara #next #mango I had stopped shopping from your stores ˙ pay the employees’ money #BravoIscileriIcinAdalet #bravoemployers

the tag from Zeynep, her roommates also got interested in this note that she found. Together they formed a small team to conduct some desktop research to understand better what was going on. Their find was not a pleasant one because as they started to discover that their shopping choices resulted in consequences that they would rather wish to avoid. It turned out that workers, who did not receive their several months’ worth of wages and severance upon the outsourced manufacturer’s sudden bankruptcy, demanded their favorite fast-fashion brands to compensate their losses (Girit 2017) in the way that these global brands had promised at a worldwide campaign that they announced several years ago. When the bankrupted manufacturer’s workers felt that the global brands were sitting on the fence as they were trying to keep the wolf from the door, they decided to take the matter to the end-consumers attention to demand solidarity. The tag that Zeynep found turned out to be one of the many similar tags that were carefully placed with displayed merchandise while especially paying attention not to damage any goods. Zeynep was among these end-consumers that workers were trying to reach for help, and it was time for Zeynep to respond with solidarity. As an informed and concerned individual, Zeynep was left with many questions on what she should do as a consumer. She certainly loved fast-fashion, and she liked the Zara brand. After all, all her past experiences were mostly happy ones. Yet, she did not want her consumption choices to have any unwanted consequences for the workers involved in the production processes of her favorite brands.

7

The Emerging Global Support and the Result

Local (Hurriyet 2017) and international media coverage (Segran 2017b; BoF 2017; Mortimer 2017; Girit 2017; Keegan 2017) also initiated global support for the workers’ campaign. A Reuters piece referred that the campaign was only “just the tip of the iceberg ” while there was a “need

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for mechanisms to address concerns about labor conditions ” (Wulfhorst 2017). The worker’s campaign received huge solidarity and support, resulting in them eventually getting their rights—at least partially (CCC 2018). The campaign also indirectly helped the global fast-fashion brand in discovering the extra mile that it needed to cover for achieving sustainable branding by its concern on social, economic, and environmental matters. Lastly, the campaign also reminded the many consumers of the power they had via boycotting or buycotting for a sustainable change that they can demand from the brands.

8

Conclusion---Lessons Learned

This case presented a unique example of the power of social media in raising global awareness among the stakeholders about a local supplier’s failure in keeping up with the global fast-fashion brand’s sustainability promises. It showed that social media could contribute to the facilitation of sustainable branding in global fast-fashion by initiating solidarity among different stakeholders living in different parts of the world that may then demand collective accountability. In this sense, social media did not serve as a marketing tool from the retailer to the consumers in this context but rather as a platform where failing supplier’s workers reached the end consumers such as Zeynep, which then showed solidarity in putting pressure on the brand demanding it to keep up with its sustainable branding promises. Finally, United Nation’s three Sustainable Development Goals— namely SDG 8: decent work and economic growth, SDG 12: responsible consumption and production, and SDG 17: partnership for the goals (Fig. 2)—were brought into an integrated perspective with the presented case.

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Discussion Questions

. What is sustainable branding? How is it different than green branding? . What are some of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals that you can relate to the presented case? Explain why. . What are the different roles that social media can have for global brands? . How is a concerned consumer likely to reflect when a favorite brand fails to keep up with its sustainability promises? . What are some of the ways to involve distant stakeholders in the supply chain for a global fast-fashion company to pursue sustainable branding? . How can socially responsible consumers be empowered for improved sustainable branding?

10

Project/Activity-Based Assignment/Exercise

Consider some fashion item you have bought recently—an item of fastfashion perhaps. Think through why, how, where, and when you bought it. Was sustainability a factor of concern among the many things that you have considered during the purchase? Why?

Appendix See Fig. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

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social

economic

environmental

Fig. 1 The three pillars to integrate for sustainable branding

Fig. 2 United Nation’s sustainable development goals (UN, 2020)

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Fig. 3 Some of the Inditex owned global fast fashion brands (Neerman, 2018)

Fig. 4 Tag attached to a clothing item at the display (AbiMcQuater94 2017)

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References AbiMcQuater94. 2017. “I made this item you’re going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it!”: The secret messages from the Bravo TekstilI’d workers expose a darker truth behind retailer Zara. Join the petition for their compensation #Istanbul #Zara #Next #Mango http://bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-419 81509. In: TWITTER (ed.) 3:31 PM ed. AP. 2017. Zara clothes in Istanbul tagged to highlight labor dispute [Online]. Associated Press. Available: https://apnews.com/article/e41d4976b67f461 6be772b118a9cb947 [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. BOF. 2017. Unpaid Turkish Garment Workers Tag Zara Items to Seek Help [Online]. Available: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-ana lysis/unpaid-turkish-garment-workers-tag-zara-items-to-seek-help [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. CCC. 2010. Improving conditions in the global garment industry [Online]. Available: https://cleanclothes.org/ [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. CCC. 2018. Bravo workers forced to take partial payments from Zara, Mango, Next [Online]. Clean Clothes Organization. Available: https://cleanclot hes.org/news/2018/04/12/bravo-workers-forced-to-take-partial-paymentsfrom-zara-mango-next [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. CCC-Turkey. 2017. Petition: Justice for Bravo Workers [Online]. Change.Org. Available: https://www.change.org/p/justiceforbravoworkers [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. DISK. 2017. Bravo i¸sçileri Zara, Next ve Mango’dan hakkını istiyor - 3 [Online]. Available: https://youtu.be/ZlAKMAooFKI [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. DiSK Tekstil Merter Sendika. 2017a. Bravo i¸sçileri Zara, Next ve Mango’dan hakkını istiyor - 1 [Video]. Available: https://youtu.be/LPUOe5wcsqI. DiSK Tekstil Merter Sendika. 2017b. [Video]. Available: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=jWMQjRNG-AU. DiSK Tekstil Merter Sendika. 2017c. Bravo i¸sçileri Zara, Next ve Mango’dan hakkını istiyor - 3 [Video]. Available: https://youtu.be/ZlAKMAooFKI. Girit, S. 2017. Turkey: Zara shoppers find labour complaints inside clothes [Online]. Available: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41981509 [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. ˙ sçiler Zara ürünlerine etiket asarak destek istedi: Alaca˘gınız Hurriyet. 2017. I¸ ürünü ben yaptım ama paramı alamadım [Online]. Available: https://www. hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/isciler-zara-urunlerine-etiket-asarak-destek-istedialacaginiz-urunu-ben-yaptim-ama-parami-alamadim-40628377 [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. Inditex. 2017. Annual report [Online]. Available: https://www.inditex.com/ documents/10279/319575/Inditex+Annual+Report+2016/6f8a6f55-ed5b41f4-b043-6c104a305035 [Accessed 15 Jul 2021].

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Inditex. 2021a. Code of conduct for manufacturers and suppliers [Online]. Available: https://www.inditex.com/documents/10279/241035/Inditex+ Code+of+Conduct+for+Manufacturers+and+Suppliers/e23dde6a-4b0e-4e16a2aa-68911d3032e7 [Accessed 10 Jul 2021]. Inditex. 2021b. How we do business [Online]. Available: https://www.inditex. com/en/our-commitment-to-people/our-suppliers [Accessed 15 Jul 2021]. Inditex. 2021c. Who we are [Online]. Available: https://www.inditex.com/ about-us/who-we-are [Accessed 15 Jul 2021]. Inditex. 2021d. ZARA [Online]. Available: https://www.inditex.com/aboutus/our-brands/zara [Accessed 15 Jul 2021]. Kam, C. D., and Deichert, M. 2020. Boycotting, buycotting, and the psychology of political consumerism. The Journal of Politics, 82, 72–88. Keegan, N. 2017. Zara shoppers ‘find notes from workers begging to be paid on clothes tags’ [Online]. [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. Mortimer, C. 2017. Unpaid labourers who ‘slipped pleas for help into Zara clothes’ have not received their back wages’ [Online]. Available: https://www.indepe ndent.co.uk/news/business/news/zara-workers-unpaid-help-notes-clothesback-wages-turkish-workers-bravo-tekstil-clean-clothes-campaign-a8073136. html [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. Neerman, P. 2018. Inditex wants online presence in every country by 2020 [Online]. RetailDetail.eu. Available: https://www.retaildetail.eu/en/news/ fashion/inditex-wants-online-presence-every-country-2020 [Accessed 15 Jul 2021]. Novo Vázquez, A., and García-Espejo, I. 2021. Boycotting and buycotting food: New forms of political activism in Spain. British Food Journal, ahead-of-print. Segran, E. 2017a. “I didn’t get paid for it”—Zara workers put desperate messages in garments [Online]. FastCompany. Available: https://www.fastcompany. com/40491438/i-didnt-get-paid-for-it-zara-workers-put-desperate-messagesin-garments [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. Segran, E. 2017b. The real story behind those desperate notes that Zara workers left in clothes [Online]. FastCompany. Available: https://www.fastcompany. com/40492215/the-real-story-behind-those-desperate-notes-that-zara-wor kers-left-in-clothes [Accessed 17 Mar 2021]. ˙ sçileri Eylemi #1 [Video]. Available: Temiz Giysi Kampanyası. 2017a. Bravo I¸ https://youtu.be/w9OH7kUuFSI. ˙ sçileri Eylemi #2 [Video]. Available: Temiz Giysi Kampanyası. 2017b. Bravo I¸ https://youtu.be/rLVYtguhbtI. UN. 2020. Sustainable development goals [Online]. United Nations. Available: https://sdgs.un.org/goals [Accessed 15 Jul 2020]. UNECE. 2018. Fashion and the SDGs: What role for the UN? [Online]. United Nations. Available: https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/RCM_ Website/RFSD_2018_Side_event_sustainable_fashion.pdf [Accessed 15 Jul 2020].

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Wulfhorst, E. 2017. Pleas sewn into clothing by workers in Turkey are ‘tip of iceberg’: Expert [Online]. Available: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sla very-conference-workers/pleas-sewn-into-clothing-by-workers-in-turkey-aretip-of-iceberg-expert-idUSKBN1DF2J9 [Accessed 17 Mar 2021].

Additional Readings/References Foroudi, P. and Palazzo (2021). Sustainable Branding: Ethical, Social and Environmental Cases and Perspectives, Routledge. ISBN 9780367428822. Bravo workers demand their rights from Zara, Next, and Mango (1): https://youtu.be/LPUOe5wcsqI Bravo workers demand their rights from Zara, Next, and Mango (2): https://youtu.be/jWMQjRNG-AU Bravo workers demand their rights from Zara, Next, and Mango (3): https://youtu.be/ZlAKMAooFKI Street Protest (1) https://youtu.be/w9OH7kUuFSI Street Protest (2) https://youtu.be/rLVYtguhbtI

How an Environmental Attitude That Generates an Engagement Strategy: The Case of Dobra Manoela Lawall Radtke , Stefânia Ordovás Almeida , and Lélis Balestrin Espartel

1

Introduction

Is it possible to stimulate sustainable consumption behavior through disposal and still strengthen the relationship with the consumer at this stage of consumption? This case study seeks to answer this question and presents the case of Dobra, a company located in the south of Brazil. Dobra was founded in 2016 in Rio Grande do Sul province, with the idea of selling sustainable and resistant products made of Tyvek, a plastic fiber with the texture of paper that is locally produced and totally on demand.

M. L. Radtke (B) · S. O. Almeida · L. B. Espartel Business School, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul—PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil e-mail: [email protected] S. O. Almeida e-mail: [email protected] L. B. Espartel e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_18

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The Dobra’s project first appeared in 2013, when Guilherme, who was a business student at that time, developed the idea for a college job. However, the main product, the wallet, was a simple prototype and did not yet present a form that was possible to market, remained archived for three years. So, in 2016, Guilherme and two partners agreed that it was time to undertake and rescued the idea of the portfolio, looking for ways to produce it in a more professional way. Thus, from research on the internet, they found a way to adapt a common printer to print on a material with characteristics similar to paper, called Tyvec. From that moment, they work the project in parallel to their usual activities, taking advantage of the free time and the apartment of one of the partners to meet, produce, and send the pieces sold over the internet. However, it is important to highlight that those young entrepreneurs, from the beginning, expressed the desire to create a company that went beyond the commercialization of a product, but that was part of something bigger and could deliver something good to the world. So, the purpose of selling more than a simple wallet has always been present. Nowadays, Dobra has 16 employees and has already expanded its product range. In addition to the traditional portfolio that was initially sold, the company today has the following slow fashion-based products: old classic wallets (glued), new classic wallets (glued), “old is cool” wallets/ID holders (sewn), cardholders (sewn), passport holders (sewn), t-shirts with an exchangeable pocket, printed t-shirts, sneakers, backpacks, bags, cachepots, picture frames, and lamps. The brand has an open and transparent posture and makes its templates readily available. It even has an online page for teaching others how to set up a company just like theirs. One of the outstanding characteristics of the company is its horizontal management model, in which there is no positional hierarchy, and where everyone has the same salary and shares in the company’s profits. In addition to its management, Dobra also stands out because of its social and sustainable actions, one of which is its takeback, recycling program. Started in August 2017, the take-back program allows consumers to recycle wallets, which are sent back via the Post Office. At the time this case study was being written, it is estimated that 7,066 products had already been received through the recycling program. In the same period, the company had sold 146,595 wallets, so 4.8% of all these products have been returned through the take-back program. To participate in the take-back program, consumers must register on the website and wait

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for an email with instructions. An important detail is that consumers are instructed to return their current wallet only when the new wallet arrives, if they have placed an order for a new product. Thus, the consumers are never without their wallet. Dobra’s take-back program helps to solve a global problem: the large generation of waste. According to IPEA (2017), 4.8 million tons of waste are produced in Brazil every month—just in urban environments. But besides the environmental concern, what makes this case study interesting is that in addition to the company enabling consumers to dispose of their items sustainably, this moment also promotes engagement with consumers and solidifies their relationship with the brand. We conduct a study using depth interviews with consumers and a company manager to understand how the company’s actions engage consumers at the disposal stage.

2 Collecting Data to Understand the Disposal of a Slow Fashion Item To develop this exploratory case study with qualitative approach we conducted interviews with nine consumers who had returned their used wallets via Dobra’s recycling program. One of the managers was also interviewed. All research participants were previously indicated by the company itself. The research process ended after the 9th interview with consumers as the interviews reached an information saturation point. Consumer and company photographs, videos, and posts on social media were used as complementary data (the original posts were in Portuguese and here translate to English). Consumers provided us with content from their social media. The interviews were transcribed by the researchers and included in Atlas.ti software, along with the complementary data. The interviews were conducted between October and December 2020, and lasted 41 minutes, on average. Due to the pandemic, they were carried out remotely using the Google Meets app. With regard to demographic characteristics, those taking part in the research ranged from 22 to 36 years old. All participants had completed their higher education or were currently studying at this level.

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3 Sustainable Disposal of a Slow Fashion Item: How I Did It, and Why 3.1

First Contact with the Recycling Program

From data analysis, it was possible to observe that throughout the time the consumers are using the product, they have contact with the brand, which encourages them to correctly dispose of the product. At the time of purchase, the consumer may have already had contact with the recycling program by way of a card they received at the time they bought the wallet. Sofia (23 years old) reports that she liked the initiative at the first contact: “And then I thought it was super-cool, because there was a little card with seeds to plant, and then they said that when I wished to return it, I could send it back to the company, right?”. The card she received is shown in Fig. 1. Another important point to be highlighted here is the possible influence of the product packaging, as the package has another use for the consumer; it becomes another product. Yasmin (24 years old) reports: “With regard to the packaging, it becomes a piggy bank, so it’s less waste to be discarded. The packaging ends up having another use.” In an Instagram post a consumer answered Dobra’s question on social media regarding the best aspect of the company/product experience. According to her, it was the fact that the products and packaging can be reused. The question was:

Fig. 1 Card received by the consumer with her wallet (Source Send by Dobra to the authors [2020])

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What is the coolest part of the experience? And her: “Everything is used. Nothing goes into the trash! Our planet and I love this show of affection.” From Yasmin’s, it appears that reusable packaging can create a perception of less waste generation by the company, which has an impact on consumers’ decisions to dispose of their own products correctly, and also generates less waste. Also, ads and posts on the brand’s official social media commenting on the recycling program are also important stimuli that the brand provides to consumers and shows the brand’s commitment by way of the guidelines it offers on how to recycle. In the ads, an effort is being made by the brand to inform consumers about the possibility of sustainable disposal. Through these actions, the brand has already taken the opportunity to strengthen its relationship with consumers. In its own institutional communication, the brand is already addressing the difficulty of letting go of the wallet. In this sense, it encourages consumers to see this moment as a moment of farewell. So, as we present, we would like to reflect: How can companies better inform their consumers about their disposal strategies and opportunities? How to do it in consonance with their target market goals and profile? After those questions, we would like to present the process of product detachment. 3.2

Product Detachment

Analysis has shown that consumers experience a process of detachment from Dobra’s wallets. Detachment is considered to be mental and emotional separation from the product and is marked by a consumer ritual in relation to the product and the brand. In the brands’ official communication, it addresses the possibility of the consumer sending a message along with the old wallet, thus reinforcing the consumer’s emotional separation from the product. Consumers accordingly send letters and notes with little messages to the brand along with the wallet for disposal. Gloria (23 years old) says that when she returned her wallet to Dobra, she sent a post-it note with a drawing and a letter: “It’s a letter of thanks […] I talked a little about what I went through in the year I spent with the wallet; the wallet accompanied me many times.” Roger (22 years old) also reports that he sent a message with the old wallet: “I sent it [a message]. I wrote on a thank you note and so on … That I really liked the wallet.” These testimonies indicate the influence of disposal in the approach to the brand, since if the return program did not exist, the consumer

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letters/messages for the brand would not exist either. In this sense, consumers have an experience with the brand when they return the used product and express their gratitude for having used it over a certain period of time. Yasmin reports that she sent a note with her wallet to return the gesture she received from the brand: “I’m returning the same gesture I had when I received my wallet, which also came with a message.” It is very important to realize that if there was no possibility of return, the consumer would not have this way of relating to the brand. In this sense, it is possible to see that in the final stage of the consumption process (disposal), the consumer has a possible new and meaningful type of contact with the brand. The moment of detachment is also often marked by an encounter with the new product, since the consumer can only return the old wallet when the new one arrives. Jessica (22 years old) reports the encounter with the new product and the disposal of the old one in a post on Instagram’s Stories. In the video, the consumer reports: “I loved it [the wallet], but it was time to change it, right? As I’m not silly or anything, I’ve already bought my next wallet. […] I’ve put the old wallet here, and tomorrow I’ll post it at the Post Office. Bye bye. It was good while it lasted.” Because there is a connection between the consumer, the brand, and the product, detachment sometimes requires the consumer’s reflection on how to emotionally separate from the product, a process the brand helps using the strategies described. According to what Yasmin said about the product’s packaging, is it true that packaging has an influence on disposal behavior? What else might the packaging be influencing? What other aspects of the brand can a sustainable product policy influence? Besides, how can companies enhance the product sustainable detachment when there is no strong emotional bond to the product? How can the sense of “obligation” to the company and society to correctly dispose be provoked? Those are some questions we can discuss. 3.3

Sustainable Disposal Behavior

Consumers report that sending the product back to the company is a smooth process, which makes it easier for this sustainable disposal. Sofia talks about the process for her: “I sent an email to talk to them to see how it was done, because I’d never done it before. They gave me advice via email… I think I first ordered the new one, and when it arrived, I was able to send

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the old one back by mail.” Jessica says she felt obliged to return the old wallet after the new one arrived: “I thought it was cool […] Like, I trust that you’ll do your job. I’m doing mine as well.” In general, physically disposing of the product was seen as an easy process for consumers, as they explained: “And I also liked the fact that the process was really smooth. I had no problem sending and receiving it. It was super enlightening as well. The people gave clear instructions, you know, that’s what I’d say” (Jessica). After sending the product back to the company, consumers can follow their messages being posted on Dobra’s social media. The consumer feeling of easiness to return the product leads to open managerial questions: If this process were more complicated for the consumer, would he/she do it in the same way? Despite being seen as easy by the consumer, what could the brand do to make it even easier? 3.4

Sustainable and Engaged Disposal

In addition to just posting photos of the messages, the company has a board on its YouTube channel entitled “Recycled [products] of the month,” where company employees display the letters and notes that consumers have sent the company. By way of posts about the recycling program, the brand is involved with, when some consumers receive their new wallet, they also reiterate their interest in returning it. In addition to letters and notes, consumers also send unusual things, as a torn wallet and a photo of the consumer’s dog who ripped it up. In this sense, the brand shows the emotional separation that exists between the consumer and the product through these actions. An example of this is a report made by a consumer that was read out in full in one of the YouTube videos: Life is made up of cycles. This is the end of one of them. These two exquisite wallets give way to new ones, taking experiences and memories with me. Thank you for everything so far. It’s time to recycle and start over. It’s almost like January 1st . Goodbye old wallet and welcome new wallet. Thank you, Dobra team, and congratulations on the amazing work. I wish you a lot of success and inspiration. Warmly welcome these two back with the same warmth with which they were received when they arrived here. We’ll continue with the partnership, because the new “Dobras” have already arrived. Warmest regards.

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Here we can see an emotional testimony, a real farewell to the product. The consumer found time and the opportunity to become poetic during her farewell. Consumers also watch the videos to check whether their own messages have been read out, as a customer report: “my moment arrived! The wallet that appeared at 4:52 was mine! I’m glad it has returned and is being recycled.” Some consumers choose not to send messages at the time of the return, even though it is possible to observe their involvement at that time. Carla reports that she did not send a message but follows the messages sent by other consumers: “I’ve already wasted a lot of my life on their Instagram (Dobras’) seeing this because I think it is very cool.” In this sense, it is possible to see that even the consumer who did not actively participate in the action of sending a ticket, still participates by watching. This leads us to the question: How important can this action be, not only for those who participate, but also for those who watch? From all the explanations and questions raised during the case, we would like to present some lessons learned.

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The Lessons Learned

Several lessons can be learned from this case. First, we found that disposal is mostly related to two other behaviors: purchase, and as a consequence, exchange. In this sense, in addition to the sustainable consumption behavior at the disposal stage that the brand encourages, it also benefits from this strategy when it makes new sale at the same time. It is important to understand that, in addition to an environmental action, the brand benefits financially, since, in most cases, consumers make a new purchase at the time of disposal. We can ask ourselves, therefore: If there were no such action, would the consumer repurchase a Dobra product? Second, we found that there is a very strong detachment process. The brand’s actions encourage consumers to engage in a ritual around the moment of disposal. Dobra consumers, therefore, have a connection with the brand and the product on several levels. In this sense, as already discussed, this moment is no longer merely a physical separation, but also an emotional separation of the consumer from the product. At that moment, the brand can generate interactions that would not exist were it not for this action.

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Third, during disposal the brand reinforces its relationship with consumers, who interacts with the brand, for example, during communication about the recycling program, even before they might have taken the decision to dispose of the product. Consumers can dispose of their product in a sustainable way, not for purely environmental reasons and beliefs, but also because of the connection they have established with the brand and the product itself. What other sustainable actions could the brand encourage consumers to develop, because of their involvement with the brand and the product? As a result of this case study, we have summarized the whole consumption and detachment process in the framework shown in Fig. 2. Through the framework, it is possible to analyze the entire production process of the company, in addition to the disposal process. The

Fig. 2 Dobra’s Sustainable Disposal Framework (Source Elaborated after data collection and analysis of Dobra’s Case [2021])

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product is manufactured in the United States and the importer stores it in Brazil. After, the company buys the raw material and makes the stock. The Dobra’s sale is made by the e-commerce and the products are made daily, by production on demand. After that, post officer or carrier sends the product, and the customer receives and uses it. Regarding the disposal process, the customer sends it back to the company and purchases a new wallet at a discount. The company stores the wallets together with production residues and uses them to produce new products. With regard to managerial and social relevance, we argue that further study about disposal behavior is relevant to the extent that this behavior has the potential to influence sustainable consumption practices. Disposal practices can also have an impact on business models, creating opportunities to rethink and redefine the way businesses create, capture and add value. Dobra’s actions can be extended and developed by other brands and organizations that are seeking to improve their relationships with consumers and generate positive social and environmental results. In addition to being used by other brands, Dobra itself can create other actions, based on the insights gained from the way it currently acts.

Reference IPEA. An IPEA study with data about recycling in Brazil. 2017.

Second-Hand Market Participation as Part of a Firm’s Responsible Marketing Strategy Adrienne Steffen

Learning Objectives Upon completion of the chapter, you … . have received an overview of sustainable consumption practices . understand different forms of second-hand consumption . recognize the potential for a firm in integrating second-hand market exchange into their responsible marketing strategy.

A. Steffen (B) IU International University of Applied Sciences, Erfurt, Germany e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_19

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1 1.1

Introduction

Introduction to Sustainable Consumption

The United Nations Sustainability Development Report from 2020 states that ‘[c]onsumption and production drive the global economy, but also wreak havoc on planetary health through the unsustainable use of natural resources. The global material footprint is increasing faster than population growth and economic output’ (United Nations 2020, p. 48). Many businesses, governments, households and individual consumers spend vast amounts of money on necessary and unnecessary goods each year. Traditional marketers form relationships with people to create loyal customers who then consume continuously without necessarily thinking about the environmental consequences (Martin and Schouten 2014, p. 73). Some of these purchased products are biological needs, like water, which is necessary for survival. Some of these are wants, something that society has taught us which can satisfy the need (Solomon et al. 2016, p. 22). In today’s throwaway, society marketers introduce fast-changing fashiontrends and short-lived styles (Borusiak et al. 2020) and many consumers are aware of the negative impact of their consumption on the eco-system (Lu et al. 2015). Sustainable consumption is defined as ‘the use of goods and services that meets people’s current needs without compromising the ability of other people to meet their needs, either now or in the future’ (Martin and Schouten 2014, p. 72). This definition implies that consumers should not contribute to environmental harm so that other people can consume sustainably in the future. Yet, consumers buy more than they can use and there is still the necessity for more sustainable consumption (Borusiak et al. 2020). It is therefore the responsibility of both marketers and consumers to change their habits and practices (Belz and Peattie 2009, p. 30). Many sources refer to the United Nations Conference in Sweden in the year 1972 as the starting point of sustainability (Emery 2012, p. 20) or the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 which is also referred to as the Brundtland Commission. The Brundtland Commission published a document called Our Common Future which explains that there are three interdependent factors: ‘the natural environment, human social welfare and economic activity’ (Belz and Peattie 2009, p. 11) which need to be in balance to avoid conflicts. Over time, these three factors are referred to as the pillars of sustainable

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development. They are the basis of the framework which John Elkington later called the Triple Bottom Line (TBL): the three main dimensions of sustainability are the environmental, the social and the net economic impact of organizations (Martin and Schouten 2014, p. 29; Emery 2012, p. 21). The environmental dimension relates to the protection of natural resources and the long-term well-being of the natural environment. The social dimension includes broad social considerations like social equity, ethics, community relationships and well-being of individuals (Emery 2012, p. 23). The third dimensions refers to economic well-being of society (Borusiak et al. 2020, p. 3). Some but not all consumers have understood the importance of sustainable consumption and consumption reduction for the future of our earth. The earth’s natural resources are depleting quickly and consumers are increasingly worried about the consequences of an excessive lifestyle (Balderjahn 2013, p. 202). Many consumers in the world have adapted sustainable forms of consumption by e.g., by not consuming at all, by consuming less or by making more responsible consumption choices. The UN sustainability development goals report highlights that the improvements some countries make in using resources more efficiently are offset by the use of resources in other countries. The report proposes that we should ‘reduce our reliance on raw materials and increase recycling and “circular economy” approaches to reduce environmental pressure and impact’ (United Nations 2020, p. 48). Consumers have realized that the methods of production and consumption in the twenty-first century are among the causes of environmental pollution and resource devaluation. Therefore, many people reuse items or buy second-hand items to reduce their ecological footprint (Appelgren and Bohlin 2015). Second-hand consumption has received a lot of attention in the context of sustainable business practices and the second-hand market is supposed to double in market share in the next 10 years (Thredup 2020, p. 22). The following quote shows nicely, why e.g., dresses or wedding gowns should not only been worn once, because ‘giving a dress a second life reduces CO2 emission impact by 79%’ (Thredup 2020, p. 28). Second-hand consumption could potentially be one of many solutions to restrict the environmental impact of consumption and consumers should be encouraged to self-restrict their behaviours (Borusiak et al. 2020). Even several celebrities like Tiffany Haddish, Gwyneth Paltrow or Kate Middleton are ambassadors for reuse or proudly wear their fashion items to several occasions (Thredup 2020,

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p. 19). The aim of this chapter is to discusses how firms can include second-hand consumption into their sustainable marketing strategy. 1.2

Introduction to Second-Hand Consumption

Second-hand consumption has a long history and has traditionally existed in Europe since the fourteenth century. It was often practiced until the industrial revolution, when new products increasingly became available on the market, used products lost their charm and were stigmatized as products for the poor (Borusiak et al. 2020). Second-hand goods are pre-used, pre-owned (Luchs et al. 2011) and have traces of use (Estelami and Raymundo 2012) because they are bought on a second cycle. Second-hand shopping is defined ‘as the acquisition of second-hand objects through methods and places of exchange that are generally distinct from those for new products’ (Guiot and Roux 2010, p. 384). Thus, second-hand consumption is practiced by buyers and sellers through the practice of exchange (Gregson and Crewe, 2003, p. 3) where the ‘goods and spaces of second-hand exchange bring an entirely different context to transactions to first-cycle exchange and that this context is critical to the creation of ‘value’ (p. 4). Kopytoff (2014, p. 65) proposes that commodities can be culturally marked and can have different meanings to people in general. Value can come from the problem the product solves but also from personal meanings. For example, when a consumer sells his first car with which he or she can associate many memories from a road trip, the personal value of the car might be higher than the money the buyer offers. Thus, when products are bought second hand, they can have an unusual character and rare or meaningful origins to both buyer and/or seller. As consumers start to make more sustainable purchase decisions, the acceptance of second-hand consumption has changed over the past decades. Where second-hand consumption was primarily practiced by people of low economic status or with financial difficulties until approximately the year 2000, the stigma has slowly disappeared and people from all socio-economic status, even the rich and well educated, now at least occasionally buy second-hand products in the Western world. The perception of second-hand consumption has changed to the degree that it is increasingly practiced worldwide (Guiot and Roux 2010; Turunen and Leipämaa-Leskinen 2015, p. 18). Many celebrities now look for more sustainable alternatives, purchase or promote second hand. Some

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examples include, the Kardashian family which launched the resale site Kardashian Kloset or Jane Fonda who promised that the red coat she just wore will be the last piece of clothing she will ever buy (Thredup 2020, p. 19). In addition, smarter consumption choices also reduce product disposal. For some consumers, second-hand consumption has even turned into a lifestyle (Steffen 2017). Because second-hand goods are used or worn, they are usually less expensive than new goods (Estelami and Raymundo 2012). In exceptional circumstances, used goods can also be as expensive or be more expensive than new goods, e.g., when special editions or collectors’ items like records are sold. Consumers who buy used goods could also potentially be a very interesting segment for luxury brand retailers. Turunen and Leipämaa-Leskinen (2015) study second-hand luxury consumption among Finnish consumers and found that they can gain access to luxury accessories by buying second hand which they usually would not be able to afford first cycle, but that there are also financial risks and reputational risks when buying pre-owned luxury goods. The choice of a trustworthy second-hand purchase channel can help to reduce these risks. Some consumers do not like to buy pre-used items, but their unwanted products have potential for second use. These consumers might still be motivated to take the time and effort to participate in the second-hand market by e.g., donating items to a charity shop or giving away to ‘less fortunate’ (Gregson and Crewe 2003, p. 123). These small efforts could have an enormous impact in saving natural resources. School and governmental education campaigns could help in changing the negative stigma attached to second-hand consumption and could promote donations. 1.3 The Second-Hand Market: Forms and Channels of Second-Hand Consumption A variety of places for second-hand exchange exist and the exchange follows different consumption practices depending on the outlet chosen. Waight (2013, p. 199) lists the following places: ‘car boot sales, charity shops, auctions, online auctions, seller websites, vintage and other secondhand shops, nearly new sales to bric-a-brac stalls run by charities or non-profit community organizations such as churches and schools’. Other authors take a broader view and add additional places for exchange. These range from private individuals, commercial suppliers, customers and the platforms who offer individual trade and include companies like eBay, but

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also communities or private actors who offer or allow the use of spaces like streets, squares, warehouses or other locations for flea market (Clausen et al. 2011, p. 43). The overall size of the second-hand market is difficult to estimate because of the numerous actors (Turunen et al. 2018, p. 12). Because the second-hand market offers such a variety of outlets and actors, one cannot speak of the second-hand market per se. The places where the exchange takes place is always shaped by buyers and sellers (Gregson and Crewe 2003, p. 3). The market is difficult to grasp because not all the purchases are registered. Individual sales, car boot sales or garage sales, for example, often do not appear in official statistics. Digitalisation has also transformed the retail landscape and new business models emerged. Online second-hand consumption started to get established in the mid-1990’s (Clausen et al. 2011, p. 54). Since then the online second-hand market has also undergone changes and now facilitates second-hand consumption (Clausen et al. 2011, p. 44). There are several advantages of buying and selling used products online e.g., products can be easily described and displayed, customers can use search functions to easily find products, and email can be used to negotiate the conditions of sale (Clausen et al. 2011, p. 54). Digitalisation has thus empowered consumers and made it much easier to become buyer and seller on corresponding online platforms (Clausen et al. 2011, p. 44). Many started as private individual sellers and now sell products on platforms like eBay professionally (Clausen et al. 2011, p. 65). Professional online resellers like Rebuy further facilitate the second-hand buying and selling process. Consumers can enter a book’s ISBN number on the website and to receive an instant price estimate (Rebuy, n.d.). In addition, second-hand retailers like Momoxfashion (Momox, n.d.) or ThredUp (ThredUP, n.d.) emerged which copy traditional retail practice e.g., by offering professional websites, a wide assortment, and by rationalizing the second-hand shopping experience in terms of time and effort (Steffen 2020). Digitalisation even changed traditional flea markets, for which software companies are now offering bar scanners and cash register systems for drop-off flea markets which are sometimes also called number flea markets (Unser Basar, n.d.). Drop-off flea markets like the one of Kindergarten St. Wendelin (St. Wendelin, n.d.) work the following way. Sellers register online and get a seller code. With this code, they enter their items online and print price tag stickers which have bar codes on them. They then

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stick these stickers on the items and bring the items to the flea market organiser at a designated time. The flea market organiser then scans and sorts the items e.g., by product type or size and nicely displays them on tables or in rooms depending on the type of location. Buyers then shop like in a real store, see the price tags and pay at a central cash register. The sellers do not have to stay to sell the items, won‘t have to haggle on prices and just hours later get their money and the items which have not been sold, back. It is a convenient way for people to buy and sell secondhand goods. The flea market organiser receives a registration fee from the sellers and a commission on the price of the products sold. In addition, professional reselling platforms are innovative about the way they operate. With its new offer, eBay local now combines online search and offline transactions. Consumers who rather prefer personal contact but who still want to have the advantages of online search and personal payment, eBay local offers a website on which buyers and sellers can connect locally. They can ‘feel part of the community – buy, sell and connect to people in [their] local area’ and can ‘forget about postage’ (eBay, n.d.). The COVID-19 pandemic might have accelerated the adaption of second-hand consumption practices, particularly online second-hand consumption. It appears that 88% of the people in their sample of US citizens have changed their habits during the COVID-19 lockdown and adapted a thrifty hobby. Forty-four per cent plan to consume more products second hand (Thredup 2020, pp. 9–10). The ThredUP fashion retail market and trend report suggests that the online second-hand trade volume of fashion is going to increase by 69% between 2019 and 2021 while traditional fashion retail is supposed to shrink by 15% at the same time (Thredup 2020, p. 5). Shoppers seem to have found ‘value and entertainment’ in thrift shopping during the COVID-19 lockdown (Thredup 2020, p. 7). According to the firm’s data, traditional thrift and donation is growing 34% and that resale is going to grow 414% in the next five years (Thredup 2020, p. 8). Seventy per cent in a sample of 3500 of women have consumed second hand or are open towards second-hand consumption (Thredup 2020, p. 15). What is clear in all markets is, that the second-hand market is in competition with traditional retail channels (Guiot and Roux 2010). Because digitalization makes it much easier to participate in the second-hand market and because customers are likely to buy more items on the second-hand market in the future to save natural resources and

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to save money, traditional retailers and manufacturers should think about how they can participate in the second-hand market themselves.

2 Second-Hand Consumption as Part of a Firm’s Sustainable Marketing Strategy Organizations need to react to the market changes in the twenty-first century and many turn towards more sustainable business practices. Marketers who practice sustainable marketing sell products in a sustainable way, so that the customer has the ‘knowledge, motivation, and resources to use and dispose of the products in a sustainable matter’ (Martin and Schouten 2014, p. 73). Recycling and second-hand exchange are both ways to support a firm’s sustainable marketing practice. In recent years, several manufacturers started to participate in secondcycle exchange by using recycling materials or by collecting products to recycle themselves. They use recycle PET plastic bottles (rPET) or ocean waste. The post-consumer rPET bottles are crushed, washed and from the plastic chips, new yarn is produced (Recyclebags (a), n.d.). This yarn is then used to produce e.g., clothes (H&M (a), n.d.), bags and backpacks (Recyclebags (b), n.d.) or shoes (Giesswein, n.d.). The clothes retailer H&M for example also takes back clothes and recycles them with their partner I:CO. Clothes which can still be worn is sold on the second-hand market. Clothes which cannot be worn again are used for other purposes e.g., in a re-worn collection or used as a cleaning cloth. The rest of the clothes is recycled (H&M (b), n.d.). Besides recycling, there are other ways for manufacturers and retailers to increase sustainable marketing efforts by participating in the market of second-hand goods exchange. Some traditional retailers have understood that consumers like to sell their products for a second cycle and that they can participate in this transaction. It is thus suggested in this chapter that traditional product life cycle can be adapted by adding second use. Firms should consider adding second-cycle exchange to their marketing planning. A firm which already practices second-cycle exchange actively is Decathlon, an international sporting goods producer and retailer of French origin. The firm already extends the product life cycle as depicted in Fig. 1. Decathlon sells second-hand goods on its website and in its store. Decathlon offers a ‘second-use’ category on its website, where test products, products which have been returned and used products from

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Fig. 1 Extended product life cycle including resale (Own graph, adapted from Belk, 2009, p. 56)

other customers are offered. The product quality is checked and then the item can be bought either online or in the city of the respective store in which the product is located (Decathlon, n.d.). The firm has thus formally integrated second-cycle exchange to their marketing strategy. Zalando also participates in second-cycle exchange and has added a preowned shop in which it sells pre-owned clothes, shoes and accessories to its website (Zalando, n.d.). In the car industry, it is also common to participate in the second-cycle exchange, e.g., because the dealers want to sell returned leasing vehicles. Camping cars and expedition vehicles builders are also among those companies, who already participate in second-cycle exchange. Vantourer sells used vans and links to dealers who offer their used vans (Vantourer, n.d.) as does the van builder CS Reisemobile (CS Reisemobile Used Vehicles, n.d.). It is suggested in this chapter that both companies and consumers should understand sustainable consumption and the product lifecycle beyond the first cycle. Fig. 2. depicts an adapted product lifecycle from Lewis (2014, p. 195). The figure proposes that firms could increase sales by selling their products second hand in a second cycle like Decathlon does. Even if retailers decide that they do not want to pro-actively participate in second-cycle exchange, they could collaborate with professional resellers. Professional resellers like Momoxfashion (formally ubup) (Momox, n.d.) or (ThredUP, n.d.) already facilitate second-hand purchases and have company cooperations. Retail executives have also found interest in resale because they can increase foot traffic, do good to the environment and appeal to younger customers. They can even turn excess inventory into additional revenue. Walmart has collaborated with ThredUP to get ‘a slice

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Fig. 2 Second-hand sale in product life cycle (Own graph, adapted from Lewis 2014, p. 195)

of the action in the resale space, which has been growing rapidly. With second hand, Walmart can attract younger customers who are more planet and cost conscious’ (Globaldata, cited in Thredup, 2020, p. 23).

3

Discussion and Practical Implications

In many countries, re-commerce has low acceptance among consumers and governments, re-commerce platforms and traditional retailers could make an effort to promote second-hand consumption. Digitalization might help to change consumer attitudes for consuming second hand. Online platforms like eBay local connect people in the neighbourhood so that second-hand goods get a second life without having to send them across the country. eBay local is a new website on which consumers buy from local dealers or other individuals (eBay, n.d.). The promotion of re-commerce is particularly beneficial, but not limited, to fast-growing economies, which already suffer from pollution and environmental damage. Liang and Xu (2018) propose that Chinese consumers who have a very low acceptance of second-hand goods would need to reduce their concern and to see value in second-hand purchases. The industry could promote second-hand consumption and consumption reduction among e.g., Chinese consumers by addressing consumer concerns by technology, by promoting smart shopping instead of cheap shopping, by emphasizing access instead of ownership and lastly by promoting the sharing economy (Liang and Xu 2018). Zhou et al. (2013)

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already report that Chinese consumers turn towards environmental certification because they are aware of environmental and social problems related to the rapid economic development. If retailers or manufacturers offer used products in a second-cycle of their own brand, the acceptance of re-commerce could be increased. There might be challenges, e.g., cannibalization effects because customers do not buy new products but used products of the firm. The revenue of new products is thus likely to decrease. Yet, firms will increase the credibility of their sustainable marketing strategy because they offer a truly sustainable solution to product waste. The currently sparse promotion of second-hand products by manufacturers and retailers raises some critical questions, which should be addressed in future research: . What motivates some companies offering products second hand? . For which industries does the participation in the second-cycle exchange work? . What are the technical and legal requirements to offer second-hand goods as a manufacturer or retailer? What about the need to offer liabilities or warranties? . How does the company image change as a result of a firm’s participation in second-cycle exchange? . In which ways do consumers react to a firm offering goods first cycle and second cycle?

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Conclusion

Sustainable consumption is sometimes linked to personal sacrifice. To change consumer attitudes towards sustainable consumption and to second-hand consumption, it is up to both firms and consumers to get a more positive attitude towards re-commerce. Manufacturers and retailers could participate in second-cycle exchange by offering second-hand products on their websites or collaborate with resellers. This practice could take away the negative stigma attached to second-hand consumption and improve consumer brand image perception. These practices would decrease the negative impact the consumption of goods has on the environment and at the same time increase someone’s mood because he or she has found an item he or she always desired, without putting much extra strain on the environment.

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Chocolate Made in Ghana: Socially Responsible Production and Consumption Through Adding Value Locally Tobias Bidlingmaier and Britta Niklas

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Introduction

Fair, organic, high value added locally, and delicious – this is chocolate made in Africa. (Hendrik Reimers (founder of fairafric) 2020)

Small and medium-size agricultural producers in developing countries are confronted with asymmetric power relationships in the global supply chain, keeping most value-adding activities in “Western” countries (Gereffi et al. 2005). This is also the case for the cocoa sector. Due to the requirement for specific climatic conditions, the growing of cocoa beans

T. Bidlingmaier DEG—Deutsche Investitions-Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne, Germany e-mail: [email protected] B. Niklas (B) Institute of Development Research and Development Policy, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_20

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worldwide is concentrated on just a few countries close to the equator (Photo 1). In 2020, around 80% of the world’s cocoa came from Western Africa (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana), where the cocoa sector faces various challenges related to “human rights”, “environmental protection,” and especially the issue of a “living wage” (Fountain and Huetz-Adams 2020). Ninety percent of cocoa production is carried out by smallholders, who continue to endure poor living conditions close to or below the poverty line and without access to basic social services (International Cocoa Organization 2021). Figure 1 illustrates that only 6.6% of the value creation of the final product remains with these smallholders, while chocolate producers retain a share of about 35.2% of the value and retailers earn the largest share (44.2%) (Cocoa Barometer 2015). Ghana’s cocoa sector accounts for about 19% of the world’s cocoa production, contributing significantly to the country’s total foreign exchange earnings (20–25% of total export receipts) and about 3% to GDP, while supporting the livelihoods of approximately four million farming households (Ghana Statistical Service 2015 in ISSER 2017; Fountain and Huetz-Adams 2020). Farmers earn only a minimum income (farm gate prices for cocoa are determined each year by the Ghanaian regulator, Cocobod for the country [Laven et al. 2016]; the price for the 2020/2021 season was 10,560 cedi [USD 1,836.52] per ton [Aboa

Photo 1

Cocoa beans and cocoa worker in Ghana (Source fairafric)

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Fig. 1 Value distribution in the cocoa supply chain

2020]), while almost all processing up to the final chocolate bar is undertaken outside of Ghana. This means, in effect, that only 13% of the chocolate value creation remains in Ghana (compare to blue box in Fig. 1), while the bulk of the value creation, including jobs, income, taxes, know-how, etc., is created elsewhere (Cocoa Barometer 2015). Hendrik Reimers, a young social entrepreneur and founder of fairafric, faced with the question of how to enhance the development impact of cocoa production, came to the conclusion not only to pay the highest premium to cocoa farmers in West Africa, but also to move more of the value creation of cocoa into Ghana by establishing the first local chocolate factory. Reimers was faced with the following questions: . How to enable knowledge and technology transfer from Germany to Ghana? . How to train local staff? . Where to find financial investors? . How to obtain trading partners and market access in Europe? . Which marketing tools could be applied to get the attention of socially responsible consumers?

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Against this background, the current case study deals with chocolate produced in Ghana by the German/Ghanaian start-up company, fairafric. Fairafric was founded in Germany in 2016 with the aim of producing chocolate in Ghana. With the assistance of several investors, including the German market leader in the production of organic chocolate, it was possible to build the first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art, solar-powered chocolate factory in Africa. Located in Suhum, an hour north of Accra, Ghana, the factory began chocolate production in 2020. The new factory has created around 52 permanent jobs (80 planned by the end of 2021) and is directly linked to a local organic farming cooperative that provides the cocoa. The finished chocolate bars are exported to Europe, where there is a growing demand for organic, fair, and sustainable products (Morrison 2019).

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Supply Chain and Branding Rents

One theoretical stream of the supply chain management literature deals with the question of how value can be added to a commodity/product throughout the supply chain. Kaplinsky (2000) mentions five categories of rents that can be captured through value-adding activities (trade rents, technological rents, organizational rents, relational rents, and branding rents). For a company, branding is a way of distinguishing its products from competitors and gaining competitive advantage. It is a combination of several different elements such as design, message, brand story, positioning, and personality. Successful product branding can lead to high “branding rents”. For example, in Western coffee specialty stores (such as Starbucks) the cost of coffee only represents a very small proportion of the price of a cup of coffee (around 4%), while the remainder is in the ambiance, the brand, etc. (Fitter and Kaplinsky 2001). For producers from developing countries, there are increasing opportunities to capture branding rents by specializing in socially responsible, sustainable, and fair products (Trienekens 2011). In addition, adding value locally can become a main branding strategy to gain market share for such products (Gereffi 1999). Trivedi et al. (2018) suggest applying “sustainable marketing strategies” based on innovation, collaboration, communication, and commitment as a tool to realize the aforementioned branding rents (Fig. 2).

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Collaboration

Commitment

Sustainable Marketing Strategies

Communication

Innovation

Fig. 2 Sustainable marketing strategies (Source Trivedi et al. [2018])

Sustainable marketing strategies aim to . differentiate the brand (signaling improved social and environmental performance) . increase customer retention and brand loyalty . create increased value for consumers when purchasing the product and, in so doing, to position the brand against competitors (Martin and Schouten 2012; Oliveira and Sullivan 2008; Obermiller et al. 2008). Applying these strategies enables businesses to meet consumers’ expectations without compromising business value.

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Sustainable Chocolate Production in Ghana

fairafric is banking on this strategy by branding its chocolate “Made in Africa” and claiming it to be the “fairest” and “most sustainable” chocolate (i.e., much more socially responsible than, for example, fairtrade-labeled chocolate). In moving the production of the chocolate itself to Ghana, Reimers, the founder and CEO of fairafric, envisioned the shift of a large part

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Fig. 3 Traditional Cocoa value chain (Source Transparence Cacao [2021])

of the added value of the cocoa production to local producers and, along with it, jobs, additional income, taxes, foreign currency, knowledge transfer, etc. In so doing, he aims to disrupt the existing “colonial structures” of chocolate production, where the raw material is sourced from a developing country and the processing (and, therefore, most of the added value) is done in the developed world. (see Fig. 3 for the traditional cocoa value chain). The following steps describe the actions taken by fairafric to establish a sustainable value chain for chocolate, focusing on elements of sustainable marketing strategies (collaboration, communication, innovation, and commitment). 3.1

Step 1: Collaboration with Cocoa Farmers

Early on, Reimers established contact with a Ghanaian cooperative of 861 cocoa farmers that produced organic cocoa. By developing a personal relationship with Yayra Glover, the head of the cooperative, Reimers was able to enlist the cooperative as a supplier for his envisioned chocolate production. Fairafric began to invest in the smallholders by leveraging development funds to train them in good agricultural practices to improve the quality and quantity of the cocoa harvest. Through close cooperation with the cooperative, it is possible to trace every bean back to its respective farmer. In addition, fairafric agreed to pay the 861 farmers it partners with a premium on the farm gate prices for their cocoa beans. While Fairtrade organizations use the major part of the fair trade premium for local infrastructure, healthcare, social projects, etc. (FLOCERT 2021), fairafric channels the premium it pays (USD 600 per

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ton of cocoa) to three different uses: one-third goes to the farmers, onethird to organic certification, and one-third to staff training. This type of added value can only be sustained if the producer is able to generate the additional branding rents and passes them on to the farmers. Additionally, fairafric has made the cocoa farmers co-owners of the company: The fairafric Foundation buys shares in fairafric and any dividends these shares earn will be passed on to the farmers, according to the volume of beans they have contributed to the chocolate production. 3.2

Step 2: Collaboration with Traders and Cocoa Processors

Since, in Ghana, only licensed cocoa traders are permitted to buy cocoa beans from farmers and must pay fixed prices, fairafric had to partner with a cocoa trader, who would buy the beans from the farmers’ cooperative. The beans were then delivered to a Ghanaian cocoa processer, who produces cocoa butter for the world market. Reimers established a partnership with that company to produce the first own fairafric-branded chocolate bars in Ghana. 3.3

Step 3: Commitment to Chocolate Production in Africa

With limited chocolate production expertise and old equipment and machinery on the side of the Ghanaian partner, it was a bumpy start and it soon became apparent that in order to produce an acceptable quality chocolate for the European market, a different solution was needed. The solution was for fairafric to take control of the production process with up-to-date technology that could deliver the desired quality product. Thus, Reimers decided to build his own chocolate factory in Ghana. But where was he to find the necessary expertise, technology, and financial resources? One of Reimers’ coups was to win over the CEO of the German market leader in organic certified chocolate as an investor in fairafric. This family-owned German “Mittelstand” company could bring in all the necessary expertise in chocolate production and know-how for setting up a new green-field factory in Ghana. The CEO shares the same passion for fair and sustainable chocolate and was willing to involve his own time and resources in the project. As further financiers, Reimer was able to acquire funds from the German development finance institution, DEG, which has a mandate

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to finance private sector initiatives in developing countries. Furthermore, fairafric ran several very successful crowed-funding campaigns, convincing dedicated customers (and others) to lend money to the company on favorable terms. By March 2021, fairafric had more than 5,100 individual “Kickstarters” backing the company. To complete the financing component, GLS-Bank, ethical bank founded as an anthroposophical initiative, provided a working capital line for the new chocolate factory. With the financing secured, Reimers was able to procure state-ofthe-art equipment and machinery from Switzerland and Germany. After finding the ideal location for the factory in Suhum, in the vicinity of the cocoa cooperative, Reimers developed an ambitious plan to set up the factory within six months with the help of a South African construction company. Ultimately, it took a bit longer for the factory to be completed, with the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant travel restrictions and production bottlenecks partially to blame. However, fairafric was able to set up its state-of-the art and first-of-its-kind chocolate factory in Ghana. The factory is equipped with modern machinery and the workers were trained by the German chocolate producer. The original plan was to train key personal at the partner’s factory in Germany. However, this plan had to be abandoned due to travel restrictions and, instead, most training had to be done remotely, with some experts from Germany able to fly to Ghana to support the commissioning of the factory. In addition, the factory was certified organic in accordance with the Organic EU standard, using only organic inputs for chocolate production. In order to be a climate-neutral producer, the factory received a solar PV plant on its roof and offsets 100% of its carbon emissions with reforestation projects. Fairafric produced its first batch of chocolate in Ghana just in time for the 2020 Christmas season and, by April 2021, the company was already producing 40,000 bars of chocolate per day and employing more than 50 workers. The combination of modern machinery and equipment, along with well-trained personnel, allows fairafric to achieve the highquality standard for chocolate demanded by the European market (Photos 2 and 3).

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Photo 2

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fairafric production site (Source fairafric)

3.4

Step 4: Communication and Distribution

fairafric is currently selling its chocolate in Europe, mainly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France with attractive packaging design that includes a map of Africa (see Photo 4). The company has a highly dedicated sales team in Germany, which has established strong partnerships with a number of fair trade organizations, health food chains, and organic grocery store chains in these countries, banking on their vast network of retail stores and member networks. It is also increasingly targeting conventional food retailing and supermarket chains. fairafric’s main source of distribution, however, is its online shop, where customers can conveniently order all fairafric products. Through its branding and marketing efforts as “super fair”, sustainable (“carbon neutral”) and organic, with additional emphasis on value creation through local production (“made in Africa from bean to bar”), fairafric attempts to differentiate itself from other market players. The company is targeting the growing segment of consumers with a high social and environmental awareness who are willing to pay a “branding rent”. These customers often “believe” in the cause and show a high retention rate.

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Photo 3

fairafric chocolate production line (Source fairafric)

fairafric uses social media as a communication tool and has produced a number of YouTube videos to portray its business and especially the construction of its Ghanaian factory.1 3.5

Step 5: Further Innovations

fairafric has started its own chocolaterie at the factory (see Photo 5), where it is producing fine chocolates and pralines under its brand

1 Website: www.fairafric.com; Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbTWg MAlZJQvAULqbTHmoAQ.

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Photo 4

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fairafric chocolate bars (Source fairafric)

“Amanase”. It is currently training six staff members and running a crowd funding campaign to support this business segment. In future, fairafric plans to grow this segment further.

Photo 5

fairafric chocolaterie (Source fairafric)

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4

Discussion & Lessons Learned

The case of fairafric shows that it is possible to overcome the constraints and hurdles of establishing more value-adding activities in developing countries with the right set of partners and collaborators along the value chain. fairafric’s marketing strategies evolve around its claim to be “the fairest” chocolate producer through establishing more local value creation. Fairafric successfully adopted core elements of “sustainable marketing strategies” by: . establishing a factory to add value locally and to produce chocolate in Ghana, to improve the lives of cocoa farmers and staff and to enhance the well-being of the entire community, . collaborating with the right supply chain partners in Ghana and Europe, . establishing constant communication instruments with stakeholders and consumers to be transparent with regard to social, ethical, and environmental performance of the product, . showing commitment through constant engagement with suppliers, employees, and consumers. Its numbers show that the company, indeed, brings significantly more value addition to Ghana: 13% of the chocolate value creation remains with the cocoa farmers and the cooperative, which is double the average in Ghana (see Fig. 1). By manufacturing of the chocolate locally, 43% of total added value of the final product remains in Ghana. This is a significant improvement when compared to the average 13% of chocolate value creation that usually remains in the country of cocoa origin. In the coming years, fairafric will have to demonstrate whether producing chocolate in Ghana can really be successful and whether it is able to capture the additional branding rents to make the business viable.

Appendix: Teaching Note . Name of Case Study: Chocolate made in Ghana: Socially responsible production and consumption through adding value locally

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. Synopsis: fairafric Ghana Ltd. (fairafric) was founded in Germany in 2016 with the aim of producing chocolate in Ghana. Ghanaian cocoa farmers barely earn a living wage, despite producing 19% of the world’s cocoa. With almost all processing of cocoa beans occurring outside Ghana, only 13% of the chocolate value creation remains there. Hendrik Reimers, founder of fairafric, had a vision to add value locally by producing chocolate in Ghana for export to Europe. With the assistance of several investors, including the German market leader in the production of organic chocolate, it was possible to build the first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art, solar-powered chocolate factory in Africa. Located in Suhum, an hour north of Accra, Ghana, the factory began chocolate production in 2020. The new factory has created around 52 permanent jobs (80 planned by the end of 2021) and is directly linked to a local organic farming cooperative that provides the cocoa. The finished chocolate bars are exported to Europe, where there is a growing demand for organic, fair, and sustainable products (Morrison 2019). . Teaching objective: In general, students are first of all supposed to recall basic challenges related to global (agricultural) value chains and supply chains for developing countries. The case study raises awareness toward the issue of “fair” traded goods and local valueadd in the supply chain. Secondly, students should be able to explain the concept of product branding and the idea of “branding rents” as a tool to capture value-add and apply these concepts in the context of global value chains. Thirdly, students learn about “sustainable marketing strategies”, including the four main elements, and should be able to describe how these are applied in the context of a chocolate manufacturer in Ghana. Students should be encouraged to apply sustainable marketing strategies and product branding to a new context. They should critically discuss the concepts in light of their own practical experience and consider in which settings these concepts can be applied best.

. Assignment questions 1. Do you buy fair-trade products? If so, which products have you bought in the last month and why? If not, why do you not buy fair-trade products?

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2. What is the main problem in global value and supply chains? What is the idea behind fair-trade products? Are products without a fair-trade label “unfair”? 3. How is “fairness” defined in this case study and why does fairafric claim to produce the “fairest” chocolate? Is this claim justified? 4. Does branding the chocolate “Made in Africa” appeal to you? What is the aim of branding a product like this? 5. Can you think of other products with value chains that exhibit similar structures to that of cocoa? Choose one product and map its value chain. 6. What are the main elements of sustainable marketing? How is fairafric applying these elements? What are success factors in fairafric’s marketing strategy? 7. Analyze fairafric’s communication strategy on its social media channels: What are the core messages of fairafric? Who is the target group? Does the message appeal to you (why/why not)? 8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the marketing strategy? Do you think fairafric will be successful in the long run? 9. Choose a similar sector (e.g., coffee, cotton, etc.) and try to find a similar project in the internet. Explain the valueadding activities, the branding and the marketing strategies and discuss, if sustainable marketing strategies can be applied here as well. . Additional material Students should have access to the Internet to gather information on similar (agricultural) value and supply chains in developing countries. . Suggested core readings . Gereffi, G., Humphrey, J., Sturgeon, T. (2005). The Governance of Global Value Chains. Review of International Political Economy 12(1), 78–104. . Trienekens, J. (2011). Agricultural Value Chains in Developing Countries. A Framework for Analysis. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 142, 51–82. . Trivedi, K., Trivedi, P., Goswami, V. (2018). Sustainable Marketing Strategies: Creating Business Value by Meeting

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Consumer Expectation. International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences 7(2), 186–205. . Teaching plan and timing The case study, the concepts, and the questions can be taught in about 8 hours. Depending on the respective schedule, it could be a one-day block instruction. . Analysis of assignment questions 1. Students give answers according to their own experience which might be related to their own values. 2. Students are supposed to understand that there are asymmetric power relationships in the global supply chain, keeping most value-adding activities in “Western” countries, that calling products “fair” is a branding and signaling strategy and that products without a fair-trade label are not automatically unfair. 3. fairafric claims that they produce the fairest chocolate because they generate most value-add in Ghana. 4. If the students find the branding “Made in Africa” appealing depends on their own judgment, but they should be aware of the strategy: to make the chocolate unique and competitive and to attract consumers who want to buy “fair” products. 5. Here students should select agricultural products from developing countries with most of the processing being executed in developed (Western) countries. 6. Here the 4 main elements of sustainable marketing should be mentioned (collaboration, communication, innovation, and commitment) and students should explain and judge how fairafric is applying these elements (see text). 7. The main target groups are consumers with a high willingness to buy “fair” products and have the necessary available income to pay for the branding rents. fairafric tells a story rather than just selling a product. It appeals to the conscience of consumers: if you buy this product, you not only enjoy a chocolate but at the same time create jobs, increase income, combat poverty in Africa, and safe the environment. That should be worth the higher price compared to “traditional” chocolate. 8. Students should discuss the advantages and disadvantages of fairafric’s marketing strategy, e.g., just a niche product; how

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likely to penetrate the mass market; what about quality and price of the chocolate. 9. Students could take, for example, the coffee sector and discuss already existing projects they find in the internet. What is the value-adding activity here, how is the product branded, and what are the marketing strategies? (Example could https://www.engineeringforchange.org/solutions/pro be: duct/compadre-coffee-roaster/—but students should search themselves). . Key learnings To recall, explain, define, apply, and critically discuss the main concepts given in the case study.

References Aboa, A. (2020). Ivory Coast Raises 2020/21 Cocoa Farmgate Price by 21%. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cocoa-ivorycoast-idUSKB N26M79F. Cocoa Barometer (2015). Available at: https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-con tent/uploads/2019/07/Cocoa-Barometer-2015.pdf. Fitter, R., Kaplinsky, R. (2001). Who Gains from Product Rents as the Coffee Market Becomes More Differentiated? A Value Chain Analysis. IDS Bulletin 32(3), 69–82. FLOCERT (2021). Fairtrade Overview. Available at: https://www.flocert.net/ solutions/fairtrade/fairtrade-overview/. Fountain, A.C., Huetz-Adams, F. (2020). Cocoa Barometer 2020. Available https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020at: Cocoa-Barometer.pdf. Gereffi, G. (1999). International Trade and Industrial Upgrading in the Apparel Commodity Chain. Journal of International Economics 48, 37–70. Gereffi, G., Humphrey, J., Sturgeon, T. (2005). The Governance of Global Value Chains. Review of International Political Economy 12(1), 78–104. International Cocoa Organization (2021). Quarterly Bulleting of Cocoa Statistics. Available at: https://www.icco.org/produit/quarterly-bulletin-of-cocoastatistics-english/. ISSER (2017). The State of the Ghanaian Economy Report. University of Ghana, Legon, Accra. Kaplinsky, R. (2000). Globalisation and Unequalisation: What Can be Learned from Value Chain Analysis. Journal of Development Studies 73(2), 117–146.

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Laven, A., Buunk, E., Ammerlaan, T. (2016). Appenidx A—Determination of Cocoa Prices in Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Indonesia. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Laven-2/pub Available at: lication/316924053_Determination_of_Cocoa_Prices_in_Cameroon_Nig eria_Ghana_Cote_d%27Ivoire_and_Indonesia_Appendix_to_Report_Market_ Concentration_and_Price_Formation_in_the_Global_Cocoa_Value_Chain/ links/591991d6aca2722d7cfe46a6/Determination-of-Cocoa-Prices-in-Cam eroon-Nigeria-Ghana-Cote-dIvoire-and-Indonesia-Appendix-to-Report-Mar ket-Concentration-and-Price-Formation-in-the-Global-Cocoa-Value-Chain. pdf. Martin, D.M., Schouten, J.W. (2012). Sustainable Marketing. Upper Saddle River, Pearson Prentice Hall. Morrison, O. (2019). Europe’s Food Sector Shows Highest Growth of Sustainable Product Sales. Available at: https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/ 2019/05/29/Europe-s-food-sector-shows-highest-growth-of-sustainable-pro duct-sales. Obermiller, C., Burke, C., Atwood, A. (2008). Sustainable Business as Marketing Strategy. Innovative Marketing 4(3), 20–27. Oliveira, P., Sullivan, A. (2008). Sustainability and Its Impact on Brand Value. Creating and Managing Brand Value. New York, Interbrand. Transparence Cacao (2021). Programme. Available at: https://www.transpare nce-cacao.com/program/. Trienekens, J. (2011). Agricultural Value Chains in Developing Countries. A Framework for Analysis. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 142, 51–82. Trivedi, K., Trivedi, P., Goswami, V. (2018). Sustainable Marketing Strategies: Creating Business Value by Meeting Consumer Expectation. International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences 7(2), 186–205.

Socially Responsible Sports Consumption Through Good Governance: A Case Study of Sports Federations in Sri Lanka A. A. L. Madhushani and B. L. H. Perara

1

Introduction

The concepts of ‘Good Governance’ and ‘Socially Responsible Consumption’ help sports organizations to develop true values and play a balanced act to reach expected short- and long-term goals. As a control mechanism, it has the power to draw a diverse set of value-based stakeholders to promote sports for the satisfaction of a broader community. According to Henry and Lee (2004) noted the prompt development of sport in diverse world, created with cultural diversity, made by theories, and adopted multiplicity terms such as “best practices”, “principles of conduct” or merely “governance” in practice of managing sport. The high-profile change in sport reflected with bribery and corruption, illegal performance enhancing usage and sport fixing, in addition to mismanagement and

A. A. L. Madhushani (B) German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany e-mail: [email protected] B. L. H. Perara National Olympic Committee, Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_21

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lower level efficiency of sports organizations, has been reflected through twenty-first-century sport management-related research initiatives. The sport products are categorized as ‘a good’, ‘a service’, or any combination of the above mentioned to provide benefits to a wider stakeholder community of sports, spectator, participant or sponsor. The category of sport products by nature could be alienated as the major products and extension of product. The term ‘products’ by economic sense inherits a series of unique features that deviate from ‘services’. However, both ‘products’ and ‘services’ in sport are directly connected with the human factor. The sport as a human activity the consumer behaviours is vital in creating socially responsible sport consumption. The core products are related with sport event outcome, or physical goods. Retailing, cuisine, tourism and hospitality, or information services are connected to the core product which accompanying to the good and service in the product extension. The sport organizational Good governance acts as a control mechanism in developing and arranging a responsible consumption mechanism in the society. Social Responsibility and Good Governance are used interchangeably worldwide by sports organizations, showing their associations with the actions carried out for the betterment of modern culture. The present ruling government structure of Sri Lanka has evolved from the colonial past and the practices of ancient ruling class significantly, the Colonial past had a greater impact on the present structure. This influence is identified as one of the oldest post-colonial democratic systems in the South Asia region. Sri Lanka has experienced the most number of political power struggle elections and changes of government policies between 1947 and 2021 could consider as one of the factors acted in instability of sport policies in Sri Lanka. This expresses, to a certain extent, the instability in its political systems and governance, because political changes involve the replacement of leaders and changing government policy prompts many kinds of diverse political actions. Sri Lanka has suffered one of the most prolonged civil wars in the world, and it has been a critical challenge for functioning of the democratic institutions and the governance system. Twenty-six NFs have been recognized as Olympic Sports and registered with the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka. As recognition, all NFs liaise with their respective International Federations to operate in Sri Lanka and review their constitutions and to follow guidelines of the International Sport Federations (IFs). Analyzing the existing governance

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framework of NF and improving the framework according to its needs and relevance in today’s national sporting system for proper governance in the most effective way. One of the prime responsibilities of NFs is to promote sports fused with ‘Physical Literacy’, thereby creating pathways for ‘responsible consumptions’. In sport, this practice is a development foundation to promote responsible consumption and production through education and awareness-raising campaigns. The sport market in Sri Lanka is experiencing a ‘turbulence’ related to external and internal economic environment and its associated activity in terms of suitable sport programme production. The human element is considered as the most important aspect to consider. The responsibility of NFs in Sri Lanka is to identify the needs of a generation rather than a single person. As a collective measure, the ‘Good Governance’ of NFs is the key to ‘responsible consumption’ arrangements in producing services and products. Adhering to needs based development practices, the sports sector act as a positive character by achieving the goal of strong and durable production. The popularity of sport in the society is based on the value system of governance, in turn able to influence, promote and share core values such as respect for the environment, sustainable lifestyles and responsible consumption habits. Moreover the framework established through a guiding document for National Federations to improve their governance system which will contribute in improving the overall supporting sport system of National Sport System in Sri Lanka. 1.1

The New Trends of Responsible Sport Consumption and Good Sport Governance of Sport Organizations

A majority of the NFs are concentration on using quick earns more than implementing a longstanding strategy. Sport Organizations need sustainability, which is to create long-term value by taking into consideration how a given organization operates in the ecological, social and economic environments. Sustainability is one of the major pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020, together with credibility and youth. Sustainable consumption and meaningful product development is a fundamental pillar of sustainable development through the efficient use of resources and energy. Goal 12 encourages us to think about our production methods, consumption habits, the waste we generate and the resulting environmental impacts, so that we can adopt more ecological

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practices. The International Olympic Committee has focused sustainable Strategy in highlighted recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020 due to being the main responsible organization of protect the Olympic movement during the games and the philosophy of Olympic games mean by the Olympism. According to the Principle 4, the UNFCCC ‘Sports for Climate Action’ highlights and stresses the adoption of sustainable procumbent policies in routine affairs of sports organizations and conducts sports events to inspire stakeholders to develop cleaner options. In multiple stakeholders concerned sport event hosting, the game organizations were suggested to stick to their standards, however conjointly persuade partners with their own priorities to respect a similar follow. Sustainable procurement policies: merely place, procumbent is that the method whereby organizations supply utilities, works, services and product. Doing this sustainably needs a focusing of priorities as ancient price for cash concerns should conjointly think about social and economic advantages whereas minimizing harm to the surroundings. How, though, will sustainable procurement be come-at-able once wants, responsibilities, and priori-ties take issue on the availability chain? Such a principle a pair of the Sports for Climate Action Framework—cut back overall climate impact—it will be useful to own a central set of necessities to that all sports organizations should adhere. Reaching out to fans: is considered as an important practice of promoting sustainable and responsible consumption culture. The use of greener alternatives among fans is such practice. Mega Sport organizations with a highly receptive fan base uses a number of innovative practices during attending sport events. Use of effective communication tools: use of stadium public address system, Visual display on big screens. As a remedial measure for messages’ ignorance by the enthusiastic fans, use of promote the way of reach to the customers is to use an popular athlete can be influence to share the massages and to communicate fans. Education and awareness-raising campaigns: Sport can promote responsible consumption and production through education and awareness-raising campaigns. Green Sports Event: As explained by the US Environmental Protection Agency has indicated the importance adhering ‘Green Sport Policies’ to all over the state, sport teams, consumers and event organizers in saving energy, cutting waste and improvement up at coming up with, operation and when sporting events to endorse their responsibility on environment

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protection. The instructed acts promote not solely scale back the strain on environmental resources, however have distinguished positive impact to the economy. The advantages of Green practices in sport embraces with: . Establish greener policy and practice by dropping the wastage . Create responsible society with humanity, social well-being and environmental friendly . Practicing the procedure with low operational expenditures . Develop marketplaces for greener productions, facilities and service . Expand short- and long-term employee safety using greener products. The word ‘environment’ gives the shade of green colour to the Games; however, the word sustainability started to pop up more and more often in the bids and application/candidature files. As a multi-sport event, the Olympic Games is a multinational and mega event that has been operating in diverse settings. Further, it might be easier for the Organizing Committee of Olympic Games to consider a challenge of Olympic Games not to develop different actions as separate programmes (Maslova, 2010). Production must comply with environmental regulations and international labour law: The sports market is experiencing strong economic growth and all its associated activity in terms of production must comply with environmental regulations and international labour law. If sports goods and equipment are produced using sustainable development practices, the sports sector acts a major role by achieving the goal of sustainability in the process of production. Promote and share core values such as respect for the environment, sustainable lifestyles: Popularity of sport can be also offering opportunities for promoting and sharing core values such as respect for the environment, sustainable lifestyles and responsible consumption habits. The ‘Sustainability Essentials’ the series of guides by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) offer a set of analyses that cover key aspects of sustainability in the sports industry. IOC aimed all the sports organizations related to them, arrange for tools and methods for integrating sustainability into their operations. Publication added the fifth instalment in the series and classifies the sports federations and sport venue owners operators to develop their opportunities.

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Sustainable Development of Sport : Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is designing customer-friendly programmes and policies designed to reach the desires of their various type of customers: National and International organizations in sport, private and public sector officials and organizations to learn about implementation and usage of policies as well as programmes. This online programme also explores key concepts deal with sport and gender-related issues, inclusive sport and disability, sport humanity and sport as a right, peace building and protection of children in sport. According to the Sports Law No. 25, enacted by an act of the Parliament dated 10 August 1973, the functions of the majority of sports organizations in Sri Lanka fall under the category of non-profit organization and locally funded by the state focused on quality and effectively pursuing socially responsible business, thereby positively influencing the potential of stakeholders and the potential of the people who are affected. The functions and focus have slightly drifted away from ‘non-profit’ since Sri Lanka winning the ICC World Cup in 1996. Sri Lanka owns a decent performance record in the Cricket World Cup. Sri Lanka manages this performance after fifteen years since the island became a full member of the International Cricket Council only in 1981; it has played all 11 editions of the World Cup. Sri Lanka Cricket recorded the highest income in 2017 according to the last few years. The total income was Rs. 6,193 million and the profit for the period was Rs. 2,128 million. However, the sport organizations in Sri Lanka functionally remained as ‘non-profit’, and acted with socially responsible attitudes and behaviours. The majority of consumers involved in these organizations commendably projected their awareness campaigns to promote responsible consumption respecting the Sustainable Development Goals presented by the United Nation. As an extension, the case study aims to study the connection of United Nations’ values and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: ‘Goal 3: ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; Goal 4: ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning; Goal 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls; Goal 8: promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; Goal 11: build cities and human settlements comprehensive, safe,

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resilient and property; Goal 16: promote simply, peaceful and comprehensive societies; and Goal 17: revitalize the worldwide partnership for sustainable development. The study is focused on assessing performance of National Sport Federations (NFs) in Sri Lanka by analyzing its performance relevance to Good Governance current priorities and practices, and priorities of future interventions. Five key principles of transparency, integrity, democracy, sport development and solidarity and control mechanisms are highlighted through the following ten governance indicators.

2

Literature Review and Conceptual Background

According to sport organizational categorization by Hoye and Cuskelly (2007), most of the sport organizations offer opportunities for participants in different forms and admit sport organization as a type of non-profitable organization. According to Miller-Millesen (2003), there are different governance theories. Each theory of governance concentrations on several board members’ roles and functions therefore cannot find any outstanding governance theory concealing all board roles. The hypothetical roots and also the best practices of the roles in the board come back from the agency theory mentioned by Fama and Johannes Vilhelm Jenson (1983) and Johannes Vilhelm Jensen and Meckling (1976) resource dependence theory by Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) institutional theory by Lynall et al. (2003) Miller-Millesen (2003) and stakeholders theory by Clarke (2004). According to Chelladurai (2005), the organizations that exist to provide services and products within sport industry are different to product companies and athlete development organizations that reflect as profitable organizations. Chelladurai (2005), Slack and Parent (2006), and Smith and Stewart (1999), have recognized the typical role of sport organizations. In 1999, Smith and Stewart stated that measuring the performance of organization is a most crucial difference between sport organizations and business organizations. Finding a definition for sport governance could only achieve through general governance approaches. According to Humes (2003) and Maclean et al. (2004), the supremacy of sport organizations, with construction of policies and procedure, defining organizational vision and mission, all the activities including decision making within the organization’s applicable local, national or international stands, has been meant by sport governance. These definitions

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blended with four concepts such as authorizing, directing, controlling and regulating. Sport organizations which are controlled by the government authority comprise allowing relevant human resources within sport organizations and command the actions they would not have or else done (Ferkins et al., 2005; Hoye & Cuskelly, 2007; Humes, 2003; Maclean et al., 2004; Slack & Parent, 2006). Sport govenance aims to make sure that the board seeks to deliver outcomes for the advantages of sport organizations and their members which is suggests that wont to win these outcomes at monitored effectively (Hoye & Cuskelly, 2007). The board is usually granted power to determine or formalize methods, monitor activities administrated to attain methods and impose punishment if members violate rules in functioning a sport organization. Whereas sport governance doesn’t solely concern the board, the board acts an important role in sport organizations and shaping sport governance. Thus, it’s important to grasp the relevant literature on governance and the findings of previous governance studies in the field of sport management.

3 3.1

Case Study

Objectives of the Case Study

a. To assess the performance of national sport federations Sri Lanka (NFSL) within the scope of existing frameworks by analyzing their performance in terms of Good Governance practices as National Federations. b. To identify the current priorities and future interventions of national sport federations Sri Lanka (NFSL). c. To provide strategies to eliminate or minimize the impact of the given challenges of Good Governance practices of national sport federations Sri Lanka. The study is focused on assessing performance of National Sport Federations (NFs) in Sri Lanka by analyzing its performance in relation to Good Governance in current priorities and practices, and priorities of future interventions. This study provides a broader clarification of the present sport governance system in Sri Lanka to establishment of Good Governance strategies connecting to National Sport Federations. This is a comprehensive study

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to discover the current priorities and future interventions of Good Governance practices in National Sport Federations of Sri Lanka. The results of the research offer a clear idea about the selection of National Sport Federations and challenges of Good Governance. The study illustrates what kind of governance principles are practiced by national sport federations in Sri Lanka. The study contributes to the analytical, academic and empirical knowledge related to the topic. Analytical knowledge: provides the crucial clarification of the role of sport federations’ and how Good Governance practices and its partners are ‘fit for purpose’ in their governance, structures and areas of responsibility Academic knowledge: provides a new explanation of Good Governance on the basis of Good Governance in National Sport Federations. This research provides insights into the details of Sport governance in Sri Lanka Empirical knowledge: increases the applied understanding about Good Governance in sport effective in implementing the development of governance structure in National Sport Federations. The present scenarios of Good Governance of sport organizations in Sri Lanka are illustrated by this study.

1. National Sport Federations/Associations I. Sri Lanka Athletic Association (SLAC). II. Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association (SLABA). III. Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (SLASU). IV. National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSFSL). 2. Good Governance Indicators Five key principles of transparency, integrity, democracy, sport development and solidarity and control mechanisms are highlighted throughout following ten governance indicators (Fig. 1).

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Fig. 1 Variables of Good Governance in the study referred from ASOIF Good Governance guidelines (Source Association of Summer Olympic International Federations)

4 4.1

Case Study Discussion

Analysis of Semi-Structured Interview Data—Current Priorities of Good Governance Principles

The practice of Good Governance principles in four selected National sport federations: Sri Lanka Athletic Association, Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association, Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union and National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka were conducted. The analysis provided a better understanding of the present situation, techniques applied and the logic of recent development. Overall, the analyses have revealed that the NFs have shown a considerable level of commitment to the practices relating to responsible consumption by observing Good Governance approaches. 4.1.1

Implementation of Good Governance Principals in Sri Lanka Athletic Association Sri Lanka Athletic association is one of most active National Sport Federation and it has been marked for the highest Olympic participation in the Olympic history in Sri Lanka. Interview data of the semi-structured interviews has shown that there is an administration process to implement Good Governance principles in the Sri Lanka Athletic Association. Figure 2 shows that the Sri Lanka Athletic association is currently implementing transparency, integrity,

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Fig. 2 Implementation of Good Governance principles of Sri Lanka Athletic Association (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview)

democracy, sport development and solidarity and control mechanisms. Each indicator is assessed using scoring by the value of 1–5. According to the above radar chart, integrity and democracy are applied in a higher level among Good Governance principles and it has marked more than 50%. But sport development and solidarity and control mechanism show a considerable level and need more development. This explains that there is the lowest level of implementation in transparency, as in the figure above. 4.1.2

Implementation of Good Governance Principles in Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association is the administrative body controlling all activities of Boxing in Sri Lanka. Based on the facts revealed during the interview with the president of Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association, the current Good Governance approach-related responsible consumption acts are implemented at moderate level. According to Fig. 3, transparency and sport development and solidarity has marked a very low level of implementation. The above radar chart shows that control mechanism, integrity and democracy are applied in a satisfactory level among Good Governance principles in the Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association.

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Fig. 3 Implementation of Good Governance principles of Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview)

4.1.3

Implementation of Good Governance Principles in Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union is the local organization for the aquatic sports: swimming, diving, water polo, synchronize swimming and open water swimming. Semi-structured interview data has shown that there can be seen administration process to implement Good Governance principles in the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (Fig. 4). Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union is currently implementing transparency, integrity, democracy, sport development and solidarity and control mechanisms. According to the above radar chart, integrity and democracy are applied at higher level among Good Governance principles. But transparency, sport development and solidarity and control mechanism show a considerable level and need more development. 4.1.4

Implementation of Good Governance Principles in National Shooting Sport Federation National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka is the National Sports body controlling all movements related to the Shooting sports in Sri Lanka. Following data has shown that there can be seen an administration process to practice Good Governance principles at the National Shooting

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Fig. 4 Implementation of Good Governance principles of Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview)

Sport Federation of Sri Lanka. The radar chart shows that integrity and democracy are applied in a higher level among the Good Governance principles. On the other hand, transparency, sport development and solidarity and control mechanism show a considerable level and need more development (Fig. 5). Current practices of Good Governance principles have been evaluated by using the semi-structured interview data gather from the executive members of all selected National Sport Federation such as Sri Lanka Athletic Association, Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association, Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union and National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka. Based on the Fig. 6, the level of implementation of transparency, integrity, democracy, sport development and solidarity and control mechanisms in the selected four National Sport Federations in Sri Lanka can be identified. There are no significant differences in the percentage of integrity, democracy and sport development and solidarity principles among the National Sport Federations. But transparency can be seen at higher level in the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sport Union among other sport federation even though the level is as low as 35%. Commonly, transparency is at very low level and it can be seen in need of development in Sri Lanka National

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Fig. 5 Implementation of Good Governance principles of National Shooting Sport Federation (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview)

Fig. 6 Implementation of Good Governance principles of all selected National Sport Federations (Source Analyzed data by the semi-structured interview)

Sport Federations. Control mechanism has marked a significant improvement in the Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association in comparison to other sport federations.

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Analysis of In-Depth Interview Data: Identify the Current Priorities and Future Interventions of Good Governance Principles

In-depth interview method which is done by face-to-face and recorded procedures can be evaluated by the current priorities of Good Governance that have been focused on National Sport Federations as well as future interventions of Good Governance Principles. Good Governance principles have been deeply studied as an analytical way by following themes in the thematic analyzing procedure. 4.2.1

Transparency—Making Public Information Available to Everyone Performance indicators of the level of transparency are manifested in clear, accessible statements of the governing body’s approach to governance, regular communications with members on decision making of practices and policies, elections and selections and all the organization responsibilities and communication methods (Kathwala, 2000). Discovering the meaning of transparency in the phenomenon of governance can be elaborated that the decision-making process assists the rules and regulations and is accompanied in a democratic method. Instead, the absence of transparency is leading to corruptions and malpractices in any organization (Schenk, 2011). Box 1 Theme: Maintenance of official Websites; Rules and regulations, Organizational structure, Reports and Board Decisions official Websites We have an official website. But we are not published Rules and regulations because there are so many categories and details, we are controlling under FINA (Fédération internationale de natation), we are following world federation rule book. We have displayed our Organizational chart but not their biographical info. We haven’t displayed vision, mission and objectives. We are not published annual or financial reports and board decisions. But I think it’s better to include them in the web site for outsiders accessible and transparency. (SLASU, President) We have an official website controlled by the Secretary. We haven’t display rules and regulation because AIBA website has displayed them. We are extracted from them. We are not published annual or financial reports and

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board decisions. But we are giving all reports for our member but not for public. (SLABA, President) We have an official website. But only general details and contact details has been updated. (SLAA, Vice President & NSSFSL, Secretary General) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

These cause a discrepancy in the level of information exposure and the level of Good Governance understanding. Thus, a pattern exists where transparency is understood. These cause an inconsistency in the level of information exposure in the sport organization. Therefore, an outline exists where transparency is understood as the way of maintaining websites; all National Sport Federations have websites but cannot be seen as the websites are properly maintained and updated with information about rules and regulations, organizational structure, reports and board decisions. But rules and regulations are published in the websites of relevant International Sport Federation and those rules and regulations are extracted by them. SLASU is the only one sport federation that has displayed the organizational chart but not their biographical information and benefits of elected officials and senior executives. We haven’t special benefits as elected officials and senior executives because we all are volunteer positions while doing our permanent job. (SLAA, Vice President)

Members have been regularly well informed of the government activities. But such activities are inaccessible for the outsiders because the information regarding those activities are not displayed in the websites. Availability and the accessibility of information is affected members or to the final public. Successful communication is vital for all governing bodies due to the policy of transparency. Members ought to be often informed of the governing body’s activities, condition, policy choices, elections and approach to governance and alternative business which suggests that of recent technology. Most of the sport federations are not aware that the transparency process is related to making information public such as websites.

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I think it’s better to include in the website for outsiders observation and transparency process. We can publish on the website if it is important. Then we can consider it in the near future. (NSSFSL, Secretary General)

Awareness of Good Governance and transparency can be seen at lower level among the executive members of those National Sport Federations. However, interviewees have understood the importance of information accessibility to the public through the websites. This motivation can lead to ultimately impending the implementation of transparency. 4.2.2

Integrity—Incorporate with International Statutes and Codes Keating and his colleges 2007 stated that integrity is the most prominent concept in the sport research field. Specially, those studies were focused values of sport such as fair play, respect, sportsmanship, positive personal values of responsibility, compassion for the other and honesty in adhering to rules. Box 2 Theme: Comply with the IOC Code of ethics, WADA AntiDoping Code and Olympic Movement Code against the Manipulation IOC codes of ethics are applied for all members of the committee and cases of bribery, fraud and illegal subsistence. We are linked with them and follow all rules and regulations. We are definitely following the international code of ethics when we have an issue. (SLAA, Vice President) WADA Anti-doping policy is applied always in competition and other situation. If they violate the rules aquatic union has not responsible for it and we appointed new officer for it and he is participating seminar and teach the athletes. (SLASU, President) We are following IOC rules for all illegal things such as bribery, match fixing and manipulating. But fortunately we couldn’t face that kind of issue. (NSSFSL, Secretary General) We are connected with NOC, sport ministry and medicine unit for any kind of integrity issue. (SLABA, President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

The interview data has revealed all National Sports Federations comply with the international Statutes and Codes in the critical situations regarding illegal issues such as bribery, match fixing and manipulating.

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Relevant decisions have been taken regarding violators’ accordance with IOC rules and it is confidential. One time we banned 4 swimmers for violating rules for 2 year and 1 swimmer was banned for doping for 1 year. We have definitely punished them by complying with WADA without any hidden agenda. (SLASU, President)

National Sport Federations of Sri Lanka have incorporated in statutes all appropriate ethical principles which align with and embrace the international Sport Codes and are applicable to all members, officials and participants. According to the interview data, they are connected with relevant public authorities such as NOC, sport ministry and medicine unit on integrity matters. Box 3 Theme: Integrity awareness/education programmes We have integrity awareness programmes through our federation but there is no systematic way. It is deferent at time to time, according to the committee. We haven’t any stable policy for integrity educational programmes. But I think it is better to establish in a systematic way. Sport ministry has forced to organize anti-doping workshop by the federation. (SLASU, President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

Sport connects the people with each other and communicates in one language among all people with different cultures, myths and beliefs. But, the integrity of sport is damaged by match fixing, manipulating, illegal gambling and doping. Most of the National Sport Federations in Sri Lanka are conducting education programmes to develop integrity awareness for athletes and coaches. However, according to the views of executive members of National Sport Federations, they need a systematic procedure and stable policy for integrity awareness programmes. We have integrity awareness programmes through our federation but there is no systematic way. It is deferent at time to time, according to the committee. We haven’t any stable policy for integrity educational programmes. But I think it is better to establish in a systematic way. Sport ministry has forced to organize anti-doping workshop by the federation. (SLASU, President)

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Box 4 Theme: Disciplinary Committee for investigation of threats to sport integrity We are appointed a disciplinary committee to investigate ethics. (SLASU, President) We have a main disciplinary committee, if anything happened in the field of boxing regarding integrity or violation discipline committee will be taken the action. (SLABA, President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

According to elimination of sport governing bodies should be prolonged to the ethics committee of the Sport Governing Bodies (Pieth, 2011). Definitely, it can be said that Sport Governing Bodies have been commencing on corruption and malpractice in the field of sport “rather than with the quality of their own internal functioning” (Forster & Pope, 2004, p. 112). Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association has appointed their disciplinary committee within the Referees and Judges Association in accordance with the interviewed data. Other National Sport Federations have appointed the disciplinary committees within the committee members. However, all National Sport Federations are keenly aware about the threats of sport integrity because all National Sport Federations have appointed an internal disciplinary committee to investigate ethics and violations of rules. 4.2.3 Democracy—Elections and Appointments Aucoin and Heintzman (2000) Bovens (2007), and Mulgan (2003) have revealed that the most effective method to practice accountability is to connect with government-related executive body. On the other hand, the governing executive bodies are obviously specifying the policy and procedures of nomination and selecting the members to the board. If the process is not properly structured with a democratic processes, that will be leading to corruption and misleading of the accepted outcomes. Box 5 Theme: Election procedure of National Sports Federations

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We have an election in every 2 years, once a year we are conducting out AGM. In our case president and secretary of Shooting Federation was nominated by one of the services such as Army, Air Force etc. because of the security reason We all are agreed it. But in last two years it has been allowed to the civilians and proper election from last year. (NSSFSL, Secretary General) All are elected members in the committee. We have a clear procedure and secret ballot system for election. Rules and regulation has applied clearly. We are getting supported from NOC and sport ministry. (SLASU, President) I think, Boxing Association is the best system of selecting members among Sport Associations of Sri Lanka. There is a vote system but we don’t use votes, we are always elected as uncontested. We discuss it as a club level and we appointed the best person agreement with all and no secret ballot. (SLABA, President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations

As a result of in-depth interview data, there is a divergence selection procedure and the election system. Thus, a configuration occurs where democracy is understood at diverse levels in the election system; some federations are using the secret ballot system for appointing members. Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union and Sri Lanka Athletic Association are using a secret ballot system for selecting the members for the executive committee. The National Shooting Sports Federation of Sri Lanka was appointed from the service sectors such as army and air force because of the security provision of the shooting sport at the same time. Sri Lanka Amateur Boxing Association has followed a discussion method and appointed the most appropriate executive members according to the choice of committee. The statement clearly revealed the necessity of representatives to be elected and chosen to the organization by rational and standardized procedures, a concept not unfamiliar in any democratic organization. It has not stated uncertainty about election rights and eligibility. If the election policies and methods can be well managed, it can be positively affected to all members and their voting rights.

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Box 6 Theme: Representation of key stakeholders for voting and Gender equality Any athletes cannot for voting directly, only clubs representors two members sometimes athletes are included. (SLASU, President) Athletes haven’t voting right directly only club represents. (SLABA, President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

According to the interview data, active athletes as key stakeholders of the sports federation cannot be seen to contribute to the election process in Sri Lanka. Athletes can participate as a club representing voting members, not for direct voting members, in National Sport Federations in Sri Lanka. Generally, sport organizations are making rules, regulations, policies and procedures to their major stakeholders, i.e. athletes, coaches, officials, fans and clubs to functioning the ongoing activities. Certainly, sport is usually managed through the directions of the hierarchical structure. That structure is not in a democratic way since those from the very lowest level of the chain, major stakeholders are inevitably focused by the law of the relevant government. Therefore, sports policy is an infrequently practice in connect with athletes as well as the representation of athletes (Houlihan, 2004). Box 7 Theme: Gender equity: Women Representation of the Committee We have twenty five members in our committee and only one lady executive member in our committee and she is representing the women’s Boxing committee. No any restrictions as a gender. (SLABA, President) We have seventeen members in our committee and one lady executive member in the committee. No any restrictions as a gender. But we can see an underrepresentation of women for the sport administration field. (SLASU, President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

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Decisions and management of sport associations and institutions are still today dominated by men, which does not only go for the countries examined above but seems to be a worldwide phenomenon (Pfister & Hartman-Tews, 2003). Gender representation of the committees can be seen as considerable factor in selected National Sport Federations in Sri Lanka. According to the views of the President of (SLASU), there is an underrepresentation of women participation in sports administration. Fondas et al. and Zelechowski et al. stated that the women bring a special voice to build up arguments and making decisions in a role of organization, that results in higher company governance since broader and a special expertise and opinions have been shared. Recent studies have found a significant and positive relationships between the ladies directors’ presence in the organization and financial performance in the organizations (Terjesen et al., 2009). It has been said that female administrative positions of sport governing bodies can be affected in a successful involvement of decision-making process by using the experiences and their opinions. However, accordingly, female directors are the role models for all female leaders and work development identities. 4.2.4 Sports Development and Solidarity Sports development is a continuous process with improving sports organizations programmes and performances day by day (Audu, 1998). Equitable circulation of financial revenues from the business related to sports activities between development of talent and further commercialization form the basis of solidarity. Box 8 Theme: Transparent process to determine the allocation of resources We are giving money and resources for Grassroots level activities. They should give a report to the committee and show the way of allocated them. But we haven’t any assessment procedure. I think assessment is very important. (SLASU, President) We are distribute the resources and money for the club level events. They are giving a report for the committee and settle the bills of payments finally. But we haven’t any assessment method or monitoring. (SLAA, Vice President)

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We have grassroots level programmes and special programmes for coaches & judges. We are appointed a supervisor for each and every programme ane finally he has to be writing a report to the assessment of executive committee. But we have no any special criteria for assessment and audit. (SLABA) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

The EU considers that ‘in grassroots sport, equal opportunities and open access to sporting activities can only be guaranteed through strong public involvement’ (Commission of the European Union, 2007, p. 13). The transparent process is an important factor to determine the allocation of resources in declared non-profit objectives. There is a transparent process that can be seen in the resource allocation of selected National Sport Federations because the decisions regarding the resource allocation have been decided by the agreement of the executive committee. Also, the report will be given after the activities and financial statement has considered only settling the bills. But they haven’t had any proper assessment method for resource allocation and standards of activities. Executive members need a proper method for assessment procedures. They have understood the importance of the assessment method and need future intervention. Box 9 Theme: Redistribution policy, environmental responsibility policy, and social responsibility policy We have no redistribution policy. Our allocated money will not be enough for our annual activities. Then no need a redistribution policy for us. (SLABA, President) We are not doing any harmful thing for the environment. Then we don’t want a specific environmental policy. Then we don’t need that kind of policy. (NSSFSL, Secretary General) No social responsibility policy, we have no idea to do it because we have not enough our time to do the current events and activities. (SLAA, Vice President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

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Laws and policies of Sport organisations that cause opposite redistributions that shift financial burdens from rich to low-income person. But in the Sri Lankan situation, their allocated money which was given by the sports ministry and sponsorships was not enough for their planned programmes. According to the views of executive members, there is no need for a redistribution policy for them. We are not conducting any kind of social responsibility programmes. But when the Sport Ministry is conducting an event or activity regarding a social responsibility we are giving our fullest support for them from our side. (SLAA, Vice President)

Also, National Sport Federations are not considering environmental responsibility policy and social responsibility policy within the National Federations. However, they are supported by the government when they need support for conducting social responsibility programmes. 4.2.5 Control Mechanism Control mechanism is evaluating the sports organization that has practiced controls and applicable processes of activities and making correct decisions. Establishment of account controlling, risk management, policies and processes for inside control system and risk management system are the important characteristics of control mechanism. Box 10 Theme: Establishment of Internal audit committee We are not appointed an internal audit committee in our association. (SLABA, President) We haven’t an internal audit committee in our association. External financial audit is doing by sports ministry and the report is giving to all voting members. It will not be published in web. (SLASU, President) We haven’t an internal audit committee in our association. External financial audit process has done by the sports ministry. (SLAA, Vice President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

According to the interview data, most of the National Sports Federations are not practicing the method of internal audit. But only the Sri

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Lanka Amateur Boxing Association has accompanied the internal audit process. In accordance with the vice president’s views, it is formal to manage internal budgets and accounts details in an accurate method. The external financial audit has been done for all sports federations by the Sports Ministry through a selected audit firm. Box 11 Theme: Tender procedure for major commercial and procurement contracts Not tender calling procedure, we are directly called to international companies and ask quotation and then buy. No open tenders for sport goods only for official equipment. (SLASU, President) No open tenders for sport goods and we are calling tenders only for buying official equipment. (SLABA, President) No open tenders. We are directly called to international companies and buy them. (SLAA, Vice President). Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

As a result, the interview reveals that there is no transparency in open tenders for major commercial and procurement contracts. They are calling open tenders only for office equipment. Especially, Shooting and Aquatic Sports Associations are dealing with good international sports companies and they are directly connected with them for buying sport equipment because of the need for buying standard sports equipment. Box 12 Theme: Internal appeal committee and internal decision appeal procedure We haven’t an internal appeal committee. We are considering the Majority of approval. Internal decision can be appeal internationally. 2015 we are banned by FINA because of election postponement. One year banned. (SLASU, President) We haven’t an internal appeal committee. (SLAA, Vice President) We haven’t an internal appeal committee. (SLAA, Vice President) Source: Interview conducted by executive members of National Federations.

There is no internal appeal committee in the Sri Lankan phenomenon of National Sports Federations. But internal disciplinary procedures can be appealed from an international organization as said by the president of

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Sri Lanka Aquatic Sport Union. The final decision will be issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This action can be more appropriate and fair for National Sport Federations in Sri Lanka.

5

Lesson Learned and Conclusion

Good Governance is implemented very poorly in all National Sport Federations mainly due to multiple reasons such as understanding and the knowledge of Good Governance and responsible consumption. However, both semi-structured interview analysis and in-depth interview analysis results show that the Good Governance principles such as transparency, integrity, democracy, sports development and solidarity and control mechanisms are currently practiced in the National Sport Federation in Sri Lanka at considerably lower level. Study outcomes have revealed that practices of a sports organization are at considerable level in the Sri Lanka Sport Organization. Transparency is a crucial factor to implement responsible consumption. An organization with the transparency provides information to stakeholders’ involvement that can acquire a well understanding into the organization connected to them. Transparency can be considered as vital factor affected for establishing social responsibility. It has also considered the effort of well engagement on all stakeholders of sports. This study has shown that implementation of transparency is at a very low level in the sports federations in Sri Lanka. Sports consumers and stakeholders are considering how sports federations crate a pessimistic influence to help the society and serve the community. Accordingly, rules, regulations and policies of sport, community support and cooperate partnerships or sports development are often examined by the sport customers. Therefore, it is more significant to standardize socially responsible consumption across the National Sport Federation in Sri Lanka. This can be assumed that the policies delivers sports federations with the chance to improve Good Governance for establishing socially responsible consumption. However, socially responsible consumption is a reason that has improved the tasks by generalizing the quality in Sri Lankan sports federations as a whole because the Sri Lankan sports sector is slowly adapting to international standards of good practices and responsible consumption. Study results show that most executive members need good awareness

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about the concepts and strategies of socially responsible consumption to establish sports policies and procedures. However, this is a special case in diverse convergence among National Sports Federations, as well as a varied level of understanding of the Good Governance principles within the socially responsible consumption. Based on interviews with executive members of sport federations, it is concluded that they need to implement Good Governance to practice socially responsible consumption more than the current usage.

6 6.1

Recommendations

Develop a Good Policy Framework

Policy adoption in sport is frequent, and on several occasions, the policy has been changed after electing a new government in Sri Lanka. As a practice, majority of the changes were done without a factual base. In the recent past, the majority of the governance-related policy developments were not in consultation and should be developed as a stable policy in the sports federations in Sri Lanka. The executive committee has to define stakeholders’ roles and function more clearly. On the other hand, to increase the role of athletes in decision making, it should scrutinize the executive board, meeting with the executive board at the AGM and on one other. It should introduce a formal process for strategic plan and risk management plan to implement Good Governance. It can generally help to establish socially responsible consumption. Therefore, it is recommended that each National Sports Federation establishes a policy framework. It is recommended to encourage sports food and a stable policy framework. All the sports federations can strengthen successful controlling systems for the customer protection and establish the sustainable consumption. It could be helpful to implement Good Governance without effort. Besides, conducting studies of sustainable consumption, promoting sustainable government activities, inspiring and promoting eco-products, and authenticating environmental rights can be considerably affected for developing Good Governance in sports federations of Sri Lanka.

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Good Governance and Sustainable Consumption Programmes

Good Governance and concept of sustainable consumption can promote coherence and realization among stakeholders’ policies: players, consumers, coaches, sport administrators and officials, etc. lack of integrated strategy, government rules and unstable policies of sport. Therefore, sustainable consumption is an assistance to consistency and effective development of sport organization. Therefore, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has revealed that, policy-making organization for consumers is mainly important for any country which needs to improve social and economic benefits of consumers by planning in effective tactics. Consumer agencies are directly involve with market performance by connect with legal perspectives as well as sustaining simple access to the production. A local organization is accountable for the implementation and coordination of sustainable consumption. 6.3

Strategies for Establishing Sustainable Development

The OECD stated in 2006 that sustainable consumption programmes implement the national sustainable development strategies (NSDS) that has led to good practices with clear objectives, incorporation with decision making, contribution of stakeholders, connection to localities, and indicators and monitoring. National sports federations in Sri Lanka is one of the responsible institutions which is controlling the relevant sport disciplines in the country. As a voluntary and non-profitable organization, sports federations are mostly responsible for implementing good practices. Accordingly OCED, 2002, reported that sport federations need to concern consumption issues in areas relating to the transportation, energy and climate change, waste or incorporated policies for sport product. Moreover connected with strategies of national level policies can be helped sustainable consumption activities to coordination and collaborations through governments along with obtain Good Governance policies in national sport federations. Sustainable development policies and strategies will help to encourage collective responsibility and policies in deferent sport organizations by implementing process of sustainable consumption and Good Governance. Sustainable consumption initiatives can also be monitored through the indicators of countrywide strategies

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for sustainable development. This leads to Good Governance indicators of accountability, democracy and public transparency of sport federations. Exercise 1: Socially Responsible consumption through Good Governance Imagine you are the board member of your organization. How are the given five Good Governance principles practicing within your organization?. Think which one of those are practicing at good and low levels. Find out the reasons for good and bad practices. Write you organizations’ socially responsible consumption through Good Governance.

References Assessing the potentials and challenges of the new roadmap to sports development in Nigeria. Journal of Nigeria Association for Physical, Health Education, Recreation, Sports and Dance special edition (pp. 17–28) Aucoin P, Heintzman R (2000) A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224 Audu MD (1998) An overview of policies and sports development in Nigeria Bovens M (2007) Analysing and assessing accountability: a conceptual framework. European Law Journal, 13(4), 447–468 Chelladurai P (2005) Managing organizations for sport and physic activity: a systems perspective (2nd ed.). Scottsdale, AZ: Holcomb Hathaway Clarke T (2004) Introduction: theories of governance: re-conceptualizing corporate governance. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 1–30 Commission of the European Union (2007). White paper on sport. Retrieved June 15, 2012 from http://ec.europa.eu/sport/white-paper/doc/wp_on_ sport_en.pdf Fama EF, Jenson MC (1983) Separation of ownership and control. The Journal of Law and Economics, 26(2), 301–325 Ferkins L, Shilbury D, Mcdonald G (2005) The role of the board in building strategic capability: towards and integrated model of sport governance research. Sport Management Review, 8, 195–225 Forster J, Pope N (2004) The political economy of global sporting organizations. Routledge: London Henry I, Lee PC (2004) Governance and ethics in sport. In J. Beech & S. Chadwick (Eds.), The business of sport management (pp. 25–41). Essex: Elsevier

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Houlihan B (2004) Civil rights, doping control and the world anti-doping code. Sport in Society, 7, 420–437 Hoye R, Cuskelly G (2007) Sport governance. Sydney: Elsevier Humes WM (2003) Policy making in Scottish education. In T. G. K. Bryce & W. M. Humes (Eds.), Scottish education: post-devolution (2nd ed., pp. 74–85). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Jensen M, Meckling W (1976) Theory of the firm: managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. The Journal of Financial Economics, 3, 305– 360 Kathwala S (2000) “Democratising global sport”. Observer. Retrieved March 8, 2003 from http://www.observer.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4421203,00.html Lynall M, Golden B, Hillman A (2003) Board composition from adolescence to maturity: a multi theoretic view. Academy of Management Review, 28(3), 416–431 Maclean LC, et al. (2004) Capital growth with security. Journal of Economic Dynamic and Control, 28, 937–954. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-188 9(03)00056-3 Maslova N (2010) Green Olympics: intentions and reality, Master of Science Thesis, Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology ISSN 1402–7615, www.ima.kth.se Miller-Millesen JL (2003) Understanding the behavior of nonprofit boards of directors: a theory-based approach. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32(4), 521–547 Mulgan R (2003) Holding power to account: accountability in modern democracies. New York: Palgrave Macmillan OECD (2006) Good practices in the national sustainable development strategies of OECD Countries Pfeffer J, Salancik GR (1978) The external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective, Harper & Row, New York Pfister G, Hartman-Tews I (2003) Women at the top–on women, sport and management. Second sub-report: women in sports management–a comparative analysis of international trends. København, Denmark: Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen Pieth M (2011) Governing FIFA, concept paper and report. Basel: Universität Basel Schenk S (2011) Safe hands: building integrity and transparency at FIFA. Berlin, Germany: Transparency International Slack T, Parent MM (2006) Understanding sport organizations: the application of organization theory (2nd ed.). USA: Human Kinetics Smith ACT, Stewart B (1999) The special features of sport. Annals of Leisure Research, 2, 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.1999.10600874

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Terjesen S, Sealy R, Singh V (2009) Women directors on corporate boards: a review and research agenda. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 17(3), 320–337

Commitment to the Future: The Tour de France Rides for a More Sustainable World Jairo León-Quismondo

Case problem How can large sport events contribute to building awareness of responsible and sustainable practices among society? Learning Objectives . To recognize the importance of sporting events for delivering messages to large social masses. . To recognize how can international events reach disadvantaged regions. . To discover how the Tour de France deploys its Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. . To introduce the Riding into the Future, Municipalities in the Loop, and the charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments, as part of the strategy of the Tour de France for contributing to a better world.

J. León-Quismondo (B) Faculty of Sport Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_22

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1 1.1

Introduction

Cycling for a Better Future

How can a sport event contribute to the development of a sustainable and responsible mindset? Do sports events only benefit the hosting city, or can they spread their message to national and international spectators? Through this chapter, we seek to explore how a sport event can positively influence society directly and indirectly. For that purpose, the case of the Tour de France is exhibited, as an example of sport event that impregnates positive behaviors in society by means of sport and non-sport actions. The exact number of bicycles in the world is not clear, but it is estimated that there are over 1 billion bicycles worldwide. China is massively holding the first position in this ranking. In the top 10, there are four European countries: Germany (position 4), Italy (position 7), United Kingdom (position 9), and France (position 10) (Balton 2021). In Europe, the total market involves 20 million bicycles, including pedalassist e-bikes (CONEBI 2020). In addition, it is estimated that 200 million European citizens cycle regularly and 50 million do it every day (European Commission 2014). In terms of production in the European Union, Portugal is the country with more bikes manufactured (3,142,187 units produced). In this list, France ranks seventh, with a total of 551,542 bicycles produced (Fig. 1) (Eurostat 2020). Bicycles are simple but fundamental tools for rising the development of societies. Thanks to them, citizens can move, learn, interact, travel, and have better prospects in work. They are vehicles easy to use, but highly important for the advancement of society. According to the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF 2018), cycling mobility produces global benefits of 150 billion euros per year. Table 1 summarizes these benefits. In most of the European countries, people own a bicycle. For example, in Norway, 70% of families own a bike. The main differences between countries exist in the frequency of bicycles use, varying from every day to occasionally use (ECMT 2000). The average trip length is 3 km (OECD 1998) and one of the most common uses (30–40% of the total amount of kilometers) is commuting to work (OECD 1998). Around 5–10% of all trips in Europe are made by bicycle, with the highest rates in the Netherlands (29%) (Hydén et al. 1999). As previously mentioned, France is in the top 10 countries with more bicycles in the world, with an estimated number of 20,000,000 bikes

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Fig. 1 Bicycle production in the European Union. Year 2019 (Source Eurostat [2020])

(Balton 2021). Also, France has a long cycling tradition that has somehow extended not only to other European countries but also to other continents. This is possible, to a large degree, thanks to the visibility that France has generated through sports events such as the Tour de France. Large internationally oriented events have the power to increase the visibility of their marketing actions. In the case of The Tour de France, it is a race of reference for any sport organizer and for any spectator in the world. The riders are from different locations around the globe, something that contributes to increasing the internationality of the event. All this helps to increase the visibility of any action carried out in or around the event. For all the previous reasons, the Tour de France’s importance and popularity provide excellent opportunities for building awareness of responsible and sustainable practices, consumption and behavior, contributing to reaching a better world.

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Table 1

Reported benefits of cycling

Benefit

Description

Environment and climate

CO2 emissions savings Reduction of air pollution Reduction of noise pollution Less soil and water pollution Fuel savings Fewer resources for vehicle production Physical and mental health benefits Health benefits for children Reduced absenteeism from work Bicycle manufacturing and related industries Cycle tourism Cycle logistics Shopping by bike Electromobility Bike-sharing Quality of time spent cycling Public space Equality Gender equality Security Congestion easing Construction/maintenance of road infrastructure Multimodality and connectivity Connectivity between people Accessibility

Energy and resources Public health

Business

Technology and design Time and space Social benefits

Mobility

Cultural diversity and cohesion

Source ECF (2018)

2

The Tour de France 2.1

Race Background

The Tour de France is an annual professional multi-stage cycling race celebrated principally in France. The first edition took place in 1903 on a five-stage format with 60 riders, mostly French but also Belgians, Swiss, Germans, and Italians. That first edition aimed to increase the sales of the L’Auto newspaper, known today as L’Équipe, and offered a prize to the winner of 20,000 francs (3,049 e). Starting in the suburb of Montgeron in Paris and going through Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bourdeaux,

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Fig. 2 Historic number of stages in the Tour de France (1903–2021) (Source Tour de France [2021a])

Nantes, and Paris again, cyclists rode an average of 400 km per stage (contrasting with the average of 163 km per stage in the edition). During its large history, the Tour de France has been interrupted twice, for the two World Wars (1915–1918 and 1940–1946). Nonetheless, the race has increased its importance and has consolidated its presence notoriety around the globe. In the 2021 edition, 184 riders from 23 teams of 8 cyclists each took part in the race, consisting of 21 stages celebrated for three weeks approximately. Both the number of stages (Fig. 2) and riders (Fig. 3) have been increased for more than a century of history. 2.2

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO)

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is a company that owns, manages, and runs some of the top international sporting events, such as the Tour de France and other cycling events, motorsports, such as the Dakar, sailing, as the Tour Voile, Mass events, with the Paris Marathon, and golf, with the Lacoste Ladies Open de France (Table 2). ASO is a subsidiary of the Amaury Group, which owns the newspaper L’Equipe, formerly known as L’Auto (ASO 2021a).

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Fig. 3 Historic number of entrant riders in the Tour de France (1903–2021) (Source Tour de France [2021a]) Table 2

Reported benefits of cycling

Sport

Event

Cycling

UCI World Tour (Tour de France, Vuelta a España, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne–Liège, Critérium du Dauphiné, etc.) UCI Continental Circuits (Tour of Oman, Tour de Yorkshire, Deutschland Tour, etc.) Women’s (La Course by Le Tour de France, Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, etc.) Amateur (Tour de l’Avenir Shanghai Criterium, etc.) Dakar Rally Andalucía Rally Tour Voile Nice Ultimed Paris Marathon and Half Marathon Barcelona Marathon and Half Marathon Lacoste Ladies Open de France Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge

Motor Sailing Mass Golf

Source ASO (2021b)

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Additionally, ASO also runs other activities and offers services such as broadcasting and media, marketing services, logistic, merchandising, as well as travel services and experiences. This high potential and notoriety in the sports industry provide ASO an excellent opportunity to positively influence society.

3

Corporate Social Responsibility of the Tour de France

As a sporting event of reference, the Tour de France is committed to social and environmental impact. Its action is deployed in three main axons: sustainable transportation, commitment with the charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments, and specific in-route measures. 3.1

Spreading Sustainable Transportation

Cycling regularly provides benefits not only individually but also socially. It contributes to improving air quality and reduces other environmental problems. The aim of spreading sustainable transportation targets any kind of city or region, regardless of their location or level of development. Firstly, the Tour de France promotes sustainable transportation in disadvantaged areas, as part of its Riding into the Future banner (Tour de France 2021b). It consists of building awareness of the benefits produces by bicycle mobility and aims to inspire the world to include cycling as a fundamental part of their lives. Riding into the Future makes a significant impact using bicycles for food and medication distribution in specific communities. It also operates making bicycles accessible to everyone as means of transport. For instance, this includes women on bicycles, something that is taboo in some cultures. Secondly, apart from the Riding into the Future program, the Tour de France is also open to cities that have hosted the Tour de France as applicable for the label Municipalities in the Loop, meaning that they encourage initiatives in favor of everyday cycling. Four levels of labeling are awarded: 1 vélo (1 bike), 2 vélos (2 bikes), 3 vélos (3 bikes), or 4 vélos (4 bikes), depending on their commitment of the municipalities with the development strategy for cycling infrastructure and other specific actions to support cycling (Tour de France 2021b). A total of 80 cities from

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France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Ireland have been awarded this label. 3.2

Commitment with 15 Guiding Principles

The Tour de France is one of the signatories organizers of major international sporting events committed to the collaborative goals gathered in the charter of 15 eco-friendly statements, under the guidance of the Ministry of Sports and the World Wide Fund For Nature France (WWFFrance). This charter is an adaptation of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations. The indicators of the charter are compiled in Table 3 (French Ministère des Sports 2017). In 2021, a total of 82 signatories are committed to the charter, including 32 sports federations. This network brings together 37 sports facilities for more than 350 events and major sporting events in the region (Tour de France 2021b). 3.3

Specific In-Route Measures

Consistent with the previous commitments, the Tour de France also puts into practice specific measures in every stage for reducing the impact of the event on the environment. These actions are communicated through marketing actions, thus increasing awareness among citizens. Some of the specific measures are (Tour de France 2021b): . All the Škoda race vehicles are hybrid for the first time in 2021. . 3 fully electric cars have been tested, including Christian Prudhomme’s vehicle, general director of the Tour de France. . Progressively reduction in the number of vehicles of the Tour de France caravan. . When possible, usage of shuttle buses in mountains. . Initial lessons about eco-driving lessons for in-route staff. . Elimination of plastic packaging for promotional items. . Elimination of plastic packaging in hospitality gifts. . French seasonal food is provided to staff. . Special care to protected natural environments (elimination of gifts, reduction of noise pollution, avoiding flights in those zones, etc.).

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List of 15 eco-friendly commitments and indicators

No

Commitment

Indicator (%)

1 2

Sustainable food Journeys made using active mobility, public transport, or car sharing Purchases using CSR selection criteria Reduction in wastea and waste reuse, recycle, or recoveryb Respect for natural sites Control and optimization of energy and water consumption Environmentally responsible innovation tested at events Sportperson nominated ambassador for environmental responsibility Accessibility for the disabled to sites open to the public Initiative promoting accessibility for all Acknowledgment for volunteers Commitment given to supporting a good cause Initiative devoted to promoting equal numbers of men and women in positions of responsibility Sustainable development referent identified within the organization Initiative for raising awareness regarding sustainable development

50 80

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

80 25a ; 60b 100 100 1 (at least) 1 (at least) 100 1 (at least) 100 1 (at least) 1 (at least) 1 (at least) 1 (at least)

Source French Ministère des Sports (2017) ‘a’: Reduction in waste; ‘b’: Waste reuse, recycle or recovery

4

Summary of the Major Problem

In this chapter, the case of the Tour de France is exhibited. As one of the largest international sporting events, the Tour de France deploys its initiatives in three main axons: sustainable transportation, commitment with the charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments, and specific in-route measures. Thanks to them, the event is positioned as one of the most socially responsible events in Europe, but also a reference worldwide. The main problem addressed is: How can international sporting events like the Tour de France build awareness of responsible and sustainable practices, consumption and behavior, contributing to reaching a better world. Currently, the positive impact produced by the Tour de France is clear and goes beyond the purely sporty.

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5

Discussion

The actions implemented by the Tour de France for reaching a socially responsible mindset have important implications: First, the influence of large international events like the Tour de France is clear. The extensive number of attendees that enjoy the event or know about it generates a wide range of possibilities for event organizers. Second, the messages generated by event organizers, if positive, contribute to change the way we live. For example, the Tour de France helps to change lives in disadvantaged societies, but also in modern cities. In the end, all societies share the same world and we all should be committed to taking care of it. Third, the case of the Tour de France is a good example for other event organizers, even in industries different to sports. After all, every company with a competitive position in the market could be highly influential.

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Conclusions

This chapter illustrates the case of the Tour de France through a real-life case study with implications in the field of marketing and corporate social responsibility. Due to the large society mass that the sports industry can reach and the powerful identification of fans with their teams, athletes, or even the tournament organizers, events such as the Tour de France are excellent means for increasing social well-being. In this particular case, the Tour de France works for spreading sustainable transportation for everyone, is committed to the French charter of 15 eco-friendly statements, and runs specific in-route measures for reaching a more sustainable world. Since the contribution of large international events for a better world is clear, why not extending that to any kind of sport event?

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Lessons Learned

. Sporting events have the capacity of creating awareness of responsible and sustainable practices among society. . Large and international events, such as the Tour de France have greater power and influence since they can reach a large society mass.

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. Riding into the Future, Municipalities in the Loop, and the French charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments are exceptional actions that illustrate the opportunities of sport to positively influence society.

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Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declares no conflict of interest.

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Credit Author Statement

Conceptualization, J.L.-Q.; Resources, J.L.-Q.; Writing—Original Draft, J.L.-Q.; Writing—Review and Editing, J.L.-Q.; Visualization, J.L.-Q.

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Discussion Questions

. To what extent can sport events building awareness of responsible and sustainable practices among society? . Why is the Tour de France a case of Corporate Social Responsibility success? . Could the three main axons (sustainable transportation, commitment with the charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments, and specific in-route measures) be applied in any country, region, or continent? . How do the Tour de France stakeholders help to create this awareness? . Do you think sporting events will be more socially responsible in the future? . How could this case be applied in other industries? Think of an industry of your interest and try to adapt this case.

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Activity-Based Assignment

. Choose an international event and assess the indicators of the charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments. What are the main areas of improvement? Where the event should keep the good work? . Adapt the charter of 15 eco-friendly commitments to another kind of event. You can choose to adapt it to other sporting events in fixed locations (i.e., stadiums) or adapting it to events other than sports.

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Additional Content

Did You Know? . Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) currently about 90 sporting events in 25 countries, resulting in 240 days of competition (ASO 2021a).

Interesting Terms . Riding into the Future: is a program promoted by the Tour de France that promotes sustainable transportation in disadvantaged areas. It involves building awareness of the benefits of active mobility by bicycle. The aim is to include cycling as a fundamental part of everyone’s life. . Municipalities in the Loop: is a program that awards labels to municipalities depending on their commitment of the municipalities with sustainable transportation by bicycle. It has four levels and a total of 80 cities from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Ireland have been awarded this label.

Abbreviation . . . . . . . .

ASO—Amaury Sport Organisation CONEBI—Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry CSR—Corporate Social Responsibility ECF—European Cyclists’ Federation ECMT—European Conference of Ministers of Transport OECD—Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development UCI—International Cycling Union (Union Cycliste Internationale) WWF-France—World Wide Fund For Nature France

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References ASO (2021a) Official Website of Amaury Sport Organisation. https://www.aso. fr/en/. Accessed 8 Jul 2021 ASO (2021b) Our Sports. https://www.aso.fr/en/our-sports. Accessed 8 Jul 2021 Balton J (2021) Bike Statistics & Facts of 2021. https://www.bicycle-guider. com/bike-facts-stats/. Accessed 6 Jul 2021 CONEBI (2020) Industry & Market Reports. https://www.conebi.eu/index. php/industry-market-reports/. Accessed 6 Jul 2021 ECF (2018) The Benefits of Cycling. Unlocking Their Potential for Europe. European Cyclists’ Federation, Brussels, Belgium ECMT (2000) Safety in Road Traffic for Vulnerable Users. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France European Commission (2014) Special Eurobarometer 406: Attitudes of Europeans Towards Urban Mobility. https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/ s1110_79_4_406?locale=en Eurostat (2020) Which EU Country Is the Biggest Producer of Bicycles? https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-202 00813-2. Accessed 6 Jul 2021 French Ministère des Sports (2017) “Environmentally Responsible” Commitments from Event Organisers. https://developpement-durable.sports.gouv. fr/IMG/pdf/sdd_charteorga_2019_01_gb-2.pdf. Accessed 8 Jul 2021 Hydén C, Nilsson A, Risser R (1999) WALCYNG. How to Enhance WALking and CYcliNG Instead of Shorter Car Trips and to Make These Modes Safer. Department of Traffic Planning and Engineering, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden OECD (1998) Safety of Vulnerable Road Users. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France Tour de France (2021a) The History of the Tour de France. https://www.let our.fr/en/history Tour de France (2021b) Riding into the Future. https://www.letour.fr/en/therace/riding-info-the-future. Accessed 8 Jul 2021

Additional Reading French Ministère des Sports (2017) “Environmentally Responsible” Commitments from Event Organizers. Retrieved July 8, 2021, from https://develo ppement-durable.sports.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/sdd_charteorga_2019_01_gb-2. pdf

Marketing Yen Tu: A Cultural Heritage of Vietnam as a Well-Being Destination for Tourists Phuong Thanh Phung

and Tra Thi Dan Vu

Learning Objectives – To apply the concept of full situational analysis or 5Cs analysis (customers, competitors, context, company, collaborators). – To apply the concept of stakeholder analysis (four of the 5Cs: customers, competitors, company, and collaborators).

Yen Tu Tung Lam Jsc—a strategic decision to create a destination image of wellbeing and sustainability. P. Thanh Phung RMIT University, Hanọi, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected] T. T. Dan Vu (B) Foreign Trade University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_23

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– To reinforce the concept of strategic marketing or marketing strategy (with focus on the positioning and differentiation part of marketing strategy). – To reinforce the concept of competitive analysis in which not only direct but also indirect/substitute competitors should also be considered. – To learn and reinforce the concept of sustainable marketing practices/strategy and well-being marketing.

“One would like to emerge oneself in Zen. One also cannot forget duties of a child and a citizen. When the nation needs, one must lead the people to success and glory.” Roughly translated poem by King Tran Nhan Tong, thirteenth century

1

Introduction

The case is about marketing Yen Tu, a cultural heritage of Vietnam, as a well-being destination. Yen Tu, the highest mountain in Eastern North of Vietnam, has been well-known as a cradle of Vietnam original school of Buddhism, Truc Lam Zen, associated with Tran Nhan Tong, the heroic King-Strategist—Great Master of Buddhism in the thirteenth century. Yen Tu Mountain top with Chua Dong—a pagoda of 70-ton-cast bronze has been a symbolic value for pilgrims, and prior to 2001, was only accessible after a long arduous journey on foot. Tung Lam Jsc. was the company that built the first cable car system to the mountain top, therefore, created a surge in tourists in 2001. To leverage of from the cultural-historical heritage, the mountainous scenery, and to attract even more tourists, from 2013 to 2018 the company invested approximately USD 434 million in building up a complex named Truc Lam Zen Commons, including a 5-star hotel run by Accor group, a Vietnamese-traditional-village-styled hotel, a conference center, and four restaurants. Two other biggest competing destinations in terms of pilgrimage or spiritual travel are Bai Dinh Trang An and Tam Chuc, who also invested even larger amounts of money and have done intensive and extensive marketing. To compete, Tung Lam Jsc. has identified “wellbeing” as a differentiation in their positioning strategy for Yen Tu besides the original natural, cultural, historical, and pilgrimage values inherent

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to the destination. Since “well-being tourism” is an emerging trend, and there is no equivalent translation yet in Vietnamese for this term, the company faces challenges in marketing the concept. With Yen Tu listed as a national cultural heritage, how can Tung Lam Jsc. market the destination, create the differentiation, attract tourists, and achieve the goal of sustainability?

2

It Starts with the King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong

While almost every international tourist has heard of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam as one of the natural wonders of the world (Global Platforms Ltd. 2021), another natural attraction, historical and cultural heritage of Vietnam, located in the same Quang Ninh province, 50 kilometers away from Ha Long Bay, the Yen Tu Mountain, had been quite a new destination for the average foreign tourists (Goh and Yeoman 2020). For Vietnamese, it has long been known as a cradle of Vietnam’s original school of Buddhism, Truc Lam Zen, established by the three great masters, and one of them is Tran Nhan Tong, the King, the hero of two resistance wars against the Yuan-Mongol invaders from the North in the thirteenth century. At the age of 35, the King left the throne to his son, and spent the rest of his life in the mountainous areas of Yen Tu, Quang Ninh (Vietnam News Agency 2020). Every year, a national festival is held in Yen Tu to celebrate his entering of Nirvana on the first day of the 11th month by lunar calendar (Voice of Vietnam 2018) (approximately mid-December) and the Yen Tu national festival is in the spring, after Tet holiday, from the 10th of the first lunar month to the third lunar month. Especially around the 10th of the first lunar calendar, thousands of pilgrims flood to the place, as the mountain peak has been long carrying a symbolic value to the pilgrim tourists. Yen Tu Mountain, the tallest mountain in Eastern North of Vietnam, 1086 meter above the sea level, with its well-known 70-tons-bronze-cast pagoda (Chua Dong) prior to 2001 was only accessible to the pilgrims after a long arduous journey on foot. Yen Tu is called the “sacred mountain,” as it hosts the Hue Quang Tower, which stored the cremated relics of King Tran Nhan Tong and his unique stone statue, recognized as National Treasure in 2020 (Thanh Hoa et al. 2014). It was an auspicious belief among Vietnamese that if one has traveled seven times to Yen Tu Mountain top, he or she could successfully achieve his/her dream, whether a financial goal or a relationship goal (Fig. 1).

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Fig. 1 Hue Quang Tower, photo by Phuong Thanh Phung, the author, at Yen Tu on June 20, 2020. The tower hosts the cremated relics of King Tran Nhan Tong

From 2001, the spring Yen Tu festival witnessed a surge in the number of tourists with the establishment of the first cable car system by Tung Lam Jsc. The journey up to the mountain top was made a lot easier with a two-part cable car service, but still includes quite challenging hiking parts where the tourists need to go on foot up steep stone steps to the Hoa Yen Pagoda, or the narrow path through the bamboo forest, on the steep cliff up to the bronze-cast pagoda. From 2013 to 2018, Tung Lam Jsc. made a big investment of approximately USD 434 million (Uong Bi Tourism Department 2018) in building up a complex named Truc Lam Zen Commons, including a 5-star M-Gallery hotel run by Accor, a

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Vietnamese-traditional-village-styled hotel, a conference center, and four restaurants. The company wanted to attract more tourists, and they found Yen Tu now competing with more destinations with religious attractions, especially Bai Dinh Trang An in Ninh Binh Province and Tam Chuc in Ha Nam Province.

3

Competing Destinations

Bai Dinh-Trang An is a destination that was newly built in 2003 from a relics site in Hoa Lu, an ancient capital of Vietnam in Ly Dynasty in the tenth-eleventh century, and attracted a lot of pilgrim tourists since 2004 with its many records such as the biggest gold-plated statue of Buddha or the largest bell in Vietnam (VOV World 2015). The destination leverages on the natural attraction of Trang An, which is often referred to as a Ha Long Bay on land. Tam Chuc is another huge investment in a similar religious theme with Bai Dinh, officially launched a bit later than the Yen Tu-Truc Lam Zen Common, in 2019, and received the communication support from the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam (BSV) (Vietnam National Buddhist Sangha 2019). BVS also supported further communication activities of Tam Chuc, the gigantic investment in spiritual tourism destination of Ha Nam province. Officially launched in 2019, Tam Chuc immediately hosted VESAK—the official United Nation Day for celebration of Buddha’s Birth. The topic for discussion on VESAK includes leadership for sustainable societies, responsible consumption, and Buddhism in the 4.0 Revolution. Tam Chuc claimed the biggest pagoda in Southeast Asia with a 3500-hectare Main Hall, situated in the beautiful natural landscape spanning over 5000 hectares of land, water, forest, and mountains. Both Tam Chuc and Bai Dinh Trang An claimed an unprecedented amount of investment, approximately USD 4350 million and USD 6521 million, respectively. These two destinations had done extensive and intensive marketing on many channels. Tam Chuc even leveraged on international connections from their construction projects. They had Indonesian ambassador (Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia 2020) visits them in early 2020 and advertises on Vietnam National Television number 1 channel during Tet holiday, 2021 at prime time. Apart from these two competing destinations, Ha Long Bay itself in Quang Ninh province, both the best partner and the biggest competitor of Yen Tu, is the top-of-mind destination for Vietnamese and international tourists alike. Quang Ninh province is rich in tourism resources as

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it has many other attractions, including Bai Tu Long Bay, Co To island, Quan Lan Beach, Bai Chay Beach, Van Don Island, Tuan Chau island, etc. According to the Tourism Department of Quang Ninh, incomes from tourism accounted for 45.9% of the province’s economic activities (The World and Vietnam 2020), with 14 million visitors, and an estimated total revenue of USD12,820 million in 2019 (Vietnam Central Communist Party 2019). In 2020, one of the most notable and recent development for tourism and related residential real estates was the Onsen Yoko Quang Hanh mineral hot-spring resort in Japanese style, invested by Sun Group, one of the strongest real estate investors in Vietnam (Quang Ninh Dept. of Information and Communication 2020).

4 4.1

Context

A Multitude of Stakeholders

Vietnam government defined tourism as one of the national development strategies, and the Strategy on Viet Nam’s tourism development until 2020, vision to 2030, Decision 2473/QĐ-TTg dated December 30, 2011, includes a clear perspective in its clause 1d (Vietnam Government Portal 2011). To develop sustainable tourism tied to the preservation and promotion of cultural values of the nation; to ensure landscape preservation and environmental protection; to maintain security, national defense, social order and safety

A government body named “the Management Board of the Heritage” was tasked with the responsibilities of supervising the sustainable development and preservation of Yen Tu. Tung Lam Jsc., as the key player in the tourism sector in Thuong Uong Cong, Uong Bi Commune of Quang Ninh, cooperated with the Management Board of Yen Tu Heritage in the development of tourism in this area. With Truc Lam Zen Commons encompassing the only run 5-star hotel in the area, run by Accor, one of the world top hospitality service providers, a Vietnamese-traditionalvillage-styled hotel, a conference center, and four restaurants, this was the biggest tourism facility in the area. Prior to the establishment of this complex, tourists who stayed overnight had only the choices of staying at small hostels run by local households, and the cuisine options were

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limited to some household-run small restaurants, though Tung Lam Jsc. had operated three restaurants of themselves in the area. The Truc Lam Zen Commons also hosts a community area where the village-hotel nests, and spaces for small shops were rented out to small local family businesses to sell the specialty of the destinations such as bamboo shoots, Yen Tu signature sweet desert and apricot liquor, and medical herbs products. To create a sense of rural community, all those small businesspeople were dressed in brown cotton clothes, symbolic of the farmers in Northern Vietnam. They could choose to rent a rural-styled shophouse and stay overnight, or they might just be renting outdoor space to sell beverage and light deserts to hotel guests who wanted to enjoy the night activities outside rather than staying in the hotel room. On a side note, one interesting fact is that all the hotel rooms have free Internet connection, but no television. Hotel guests could choose to enjoy their quiet evening with their family and beloved ones or get out there to connect to a part of the local culture with the night activities in the village. Yen Tu National Forest is famous for its many medical herbs (Hai 2007), and Tung Lam Jsc. employed the minority people in the area, the Dao people to grow medical herbs in the garden and land of the tourism complex (Fig. 2). Under a program by the government of Quang Ninh province, medical herbs that have traditionally been used by the local people were now used for producing products by cooperatives under a funding project named “One Commune One Product” (OCOP) (Quang Ninh Newspaper 2015), in which many other local products from Quang Ninh were branded as OCOP products and received marketing support from the government (Fig. 3). Travelers to the destination are another group of stakeholders, who come to enjoy the offers of Yen Tu, and could contribute to its problems. With the number of pilgrim tourists peak after Tet holiday in the spring, the place becomes over-crowded. People are packed along the narrow routes, moving very slowly, unable to enjoy the scenery, and facing with dangers of falling off from the steep cliffs. This overcrowd often leaves a large amount of trash all the way through the forest up to the top. With the newly built tourism complex of Truc Lam Zen Commons, Yen Tu now attracted not just the pilgrims in the spring but also tourists in the summertime, who often prefer to go to the sunny beaches, but could entirely visit both beach and mountain in their trip to Quang Ninh province. In the summer of 2020, after the COVID-19 lockdown ended

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Fig. 2 Workers growing medicinal herbs in the gardens of Truc Lam Zen Commons (Photo by Phuong Thanh Phung, the author, at Yen Tu on June 20, 2020)

in April, Quang Ninh saw a hike in tourist number. In one month from mid-May to Mid-June of 2020, the province welcomed 1.2 million guests (Kim Anh 2020). In one weekend of 31 October and 1st of December 2020 alone, the province had 11,150 visitors (Quang Ninh Info. Portal 2020). 4.2

More Context

4.2.1 Vietnam National Move to a Better Quality of Life Vietnam’s economy has transformed significantly in the past 30 years from one of the poorest countries in the world to a mid-range income country with GDP per capita at USD2,700 (World Bank 2020). Industrialization, urbanization, and population growth create a lot of pressures and pollution, and therefore, impact on quality of life of the people. More people started to pay attention to the spiritual life and spend their time in religious activities (Loi Phu Nguyen 2019) as with the 4.0 revolution, it is much easier for religious leaders and masters to approach the

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Fig. 3 Medicinal herbal product from Yen Tu for joint health under the One Commune One Product program by Quang Ninh province (Photo by Phuong Thanh Phung, the author)

broader audience. In September 2018, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the National Health Program of Vietnam, of which one of the objectives is to increase Vietnamese people’s stature and well-being (Ministry of Health 2018). 4.2.2 Well-Being Tourism on the Rise Well-being or wellness tourism is defined as travel to attain the purpose of “maintaining or enhancing one’s well-being” (Global Wellness Institute, n.d.). While there is not yet a consensus (Fudge et al. 2021) on one single definition of well-being or wellness itself, well-being is generally defined as a healthy state of the body, the mind, and the spirit. It has been documented in the literature that tourism brings well-being benefits (Pyke et al. 2016). Wellness tourism definitions vary from one author to another, but agree on the general aspects that wellness tourism cater the needs of the travelers in the quest for multiple aspects of wellness, from physical to social, emotional, and spiritual (Moscardo and Moscardo 2015).

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Global Wellness Institute’s 2018 report indicated that the value of the wellness tourism industry in the world in 2018 was 639 billion US dollars, and the number would reach 919 billion US dollars in 2022. However, in the Vietnamese language, there is not yet an equivalent translation for the word “well-being.” Most people, if going on a vacation to relax after a hard-working time, would think of going to a resort, which in Vietnamese, means a place for “rest and nurture.” Every resort from three-star levels up would have spas, swimming pools, or other facilities for physical activities, situated near beautiful nature, and offer various types of activities that could cater to the needs of customers on different wellness aspects already, but there was not yet a resort that touch on the spiritual aspect of the well-being concept. Despite the lack of a Vietnamese word for “well-being,” the modern middle-class Vietnamese, increasingly higher-educated and more English educated (Trines 2017), are familiar with the concept. Under more pressure created by industrialization and urbanization, the need for well-being tourism was on the rise, and it is estimated that well-being tourism in Vietnam was increasing at the annual rate of 23% (Vietnam News 2019). Three main types of service providers of wellness tourism, including beauty spas, lifestyle resorts, and spiritual retreats are identified by scholars (Voigt et al. 2011). Hotel and resorts were increasing their investments in wellness facilities in general and in spas in particular, and big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh offer a wide range of independent spas. It is estimated that the revenues from hotel and resorts spas accounted for 86%, while revenues from other spas accounted for only 14% (Dhillon 2013). Two cities of Vietnam, Hanoi and Hoi An, were ranked by Wego, a travel research company as among the top 10 cities for wellness tourism in the world (Wego 2015). 4.2.3 Wellness, Tourism, and Sustainability as an Embraced Trend In a broader sense, wellness is defined as to include eight different aspects, including the common three: physical, social, spiritual dimensions, and five other aspects: the intellectual, emotional, vocational, financial, and environmental (Stoewen 2017). Wellness and sustainability have been seen to connect to each other. Sustainability is defined by the UN Brundtland Commission in 1987 as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations, n.d.). Good health and well-being are UN Sustainable Development Goal

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Number 3 out of the 17 Goals (United Nations, n.d.). In a narrower sense, for sustainability in business management, in 1994, Elkington coined the concept of Triple Bottom Line (Elkington 2018), which indicate three aspects of business or company sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. Tourism development has long been considered to have impact on all three aspects of sustainability, in both negative and positive ways (Byrd 2007). That is why sustainable tourism was made a strategy in the National Development Strategy of Vietnam, and for the same reason the EU Commission needed to develop a guide for sustainable tourism in EU countries (European Commission, n.d.). The EU Commission Communication detailed the challenges for sustainable tourism in 2007, and today, these challenges, including “conservation and management of natural and cultural resources, minimizing resource use and pollution at tourism destinations including the production of waste, managing change in the interests of the well-being of the community, reducing the seasonality of demand, addressing the environmental impact of transport linked to tourism,” (EU Commission 2007) remain true to any destinations in the world. 4.2.4 Resources for Wellness Tourism in Yen Tu, Quang Ninh Resources for wellness tourism in particular and for tourism in general include endowed wellness resources and created resources (Mihalič 2013). As specified by Professor Cornelia Voigt of the Curtin University, endowed resources for wellness tourism include natural resources (climate, water, natural medicine, etc.), cultural, historical, and spiritual resources, and mindfulness and wellness-related lifestyle. Created resources include wellness specific superstructure (three service provider types), human resources and competencies, cross-over of wellness with other activities, and wellness-related events (Voigt et al. 2011). Yen Tu has all the needed endowed resources, including the misty cloudy weather on the mountain top that makes the place mysterious and “Zen.” King Tran Nhan Tong, the Truc Lam Zen Master, is known for his concern about the people’s health; leveraging from the medical herbs from the Mountain forest, he built “Am Duoc,” meaning “Medical Herbs Hermitage” (Tri Buu 2019), from which the medical herbs could be distributed to the residents if an epidemic spread out in the region. The local government had taken actions to preserve the signature Yen Tu ancient apricot trees of which the yellow blossoms adorn the Yen Tu peak

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every spring, and a budget of USD 1.16 million was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2017 to protect the 700-year-old red pine tree road (Vietnam Net 2017). For created resources, Tung Lam Jsc. with its USD 434-million investment, built up the superstructure for the place with Zen-style spas in the memoir of King Tran Nhan Tong’s “Medical Herbs Hermitage,” the five-star hotel that designed by Bill Bensley, a famous resort designer, to resemble the thirteenth century royal palace (Bensley, n.d.), and the village-hotel that created a sense of local community for tourists. Quang Ninh is a big province with the population of 1.185 million people (Quang Ninh Investment Promotion Agency, n.d.), therefore, it could provide the human resources. However, a challenge is that tourism is very seasonal, and with Quang Ninh as the number one province for tourism in Vietnam, all the other attractions in Quang Ninh compete with Yen Tu for the summer seasonal labor, when more than ten millions of tourists (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism 2018) rushed to various Quang Ninh destinations including the well-known Ha Long Bay. The provincial government recognizes enhancing skills of human resources in the province as one of the three key priorities (Pham 2019a) for tourism development. For events, the annual Yen Tu Yellow Apricot Spring Blossoms Festival attracted more than 70,000 tourists in 2016 (Quang Ninh Radio and TV Station 2016), and the Yen Tu Heritage Board of Management made the festival more appealing by displaying 100 cherry trees and 5000 cherry branches in blossoms from Japan besides the 200 apricot trees in 2019 (Pham 2019b). In 2020, the 6th International Yoga day celebrated on the beach of Cam Pha city and at Yen Tu Mountain was said to have attracted over 3000 participants (Quang Ninh Information Portal 2020). 4.2.5

The Chosen Positioning Strategy and a Big Question in Implementation Stemming from the historical, cultural, and natural settings of the destination, the board of management at Yen Tu Tung Lam were advised by an international consultancy to consider positioning the place as a destination for a combination of tourist interests with focus on culture-history, pilgrimage, adventure, and well-being. Since tourism is a capital-intensive industry, choosing either one or some of these four aspects to focus on means more investment in certain direction, such as a USD-10-million investment in a museum featuring the life and history around King Tran

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Nhan Tong and the Tran Dynasty, or cultural shows with investment of similar amount for show production would be required. Competing with other pilgrimage destinations would also mean investment in different specific activities, and adventure tourism, for example, would require investment in a totally different set of events to attract the adventure tourists. Therefore, the company was facing a big challenge of what to really focus their investment on, especially in the time of COVID-19, starting from 2020, which mean a significant reduction of tourists, almost to the point of zero tourists and no revenues in times of crises with the 3rd wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam. Considering all the factors in the context, Tung Lam Jsc. decided to position Yen Tu and their tourism complex as a destination for well-being. While it is not too difficult to see the fit of this strategy to the situation, it is a much bigger challenge for Tung Lam Jsc. on how to implement and fine-tune this positioning to create a real differentiation, making Yen Tu outstanding from so many other destinations who are also attracting wellbeing-motivated tourists. The remaining questions for the company are: What more challenges do Tung Lam have in achieving the goal of sustainability and how could they overcome those challenges? How can Tung Lam Js. engage their tourist customers (a highly important group of stakeholders, given its size) in value co-creation activities with the company for a better well-being experience and sustainable consumption in Yen Tu? One clear strategic step has been taken by the company in the direction of engaging more of the community in building the destination image as a well-being place has been to connect with various educational institutions, from elementary schools up to higher education institutions such as RMIT Vietnam’s marketing intelligence class, or University of Architecture. Yoga and meditation or relaxation classes were organized for even elementary school students, as parents believe in the power of focus created by calmness after meditation techniques. Students in Digital Marketing at RMIT Vietnam were tapped upon to solve the strategic marketing question of what to focus on in terms segmentation and positioning. University of Architecture organized fieldtrips to learn architecture lessons, both modern and ancient ones from the relics as well as the newly built cultural complex.

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5

Lessons Learned

The first lesson learnt from the case is that to choose a positioning strategy, the company/destination must consider all the situational factors, including the customers’ need, the larger trends in the society, the government, the competitors, and their own resources. Any missing factor will lead to the failure of the strategy. As seen in the case, both macro and micro environmental factors support the strategic direction taken by the company. Taking well-being as the key direction can make the destination stand out from the other competing destinations, which seemingly have similar attractions from the pilgrimage travel’s perspective. The travelers, no matter if they were primarily seeking adventure travel, pilgrim travel, or cultural-historical values, are in essence, seeking wellbeing in the depth of their desire. Since well-being has various aspects as defined by experts, the concept can encompass the other forms of travel motivations. The second lesson learnt is that for a sustainability strategy to be successful, it is important to engage all stakeholders in the process, or in other words, stakeholder analysis is a must. In this case, the company has been able to secure the engagement of the government, both national and local with very strong support. No less importantly, the company would also need to engage the consumers/travelers as part of the sustainability efforts. The travelers and the community are inspired by the grand historical, cultural, and spiritual values of the place, and feel a sense of pride, and, therefore, will exert their efforts to join hands in sustainable consumption/tourism. Further activities to engage the travelers in some sustainable efforts such as activities to grow some typical trees of the place such as apricot trees or pine trees under the customers’ names could be implemented to encourage long-term emotional involvement of the customers with the destination. It is important to create of hope and desire for the customers to come back to the destination in the future and leveraging on the current spiritual belief of seven continuous annual visits to Yen Tu could be another potential direction. The third lesson learnt is that financial investment alone does not decide the success of the business. In this case, the company has been able to succeed in preserving the cultural and historical values of the place, which is key to their success. Their returns on investment will depend on what extent the company can leverage all those historicalcultural values in attracting customers, who are seeking inner peace and

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spiritual well-being as well as physical health that are so desired in today’s complex world. With the whole Truc Lam Zen complex and its different architectural components encompassing Vietnam national historical and cultural values beautifully, it is considered that the company has created a successful harmony of the past and the present in one place. Resting and relaxing in the luxury of the five-star palace-hotel or in the cozy ambience of the Vietnamese village-styled hotel, the travelers can truly enjoy the Zen concept of living fully in the presence while still learning the great lessons of the past about one of the most respected heroes of Vietnam. The fourth lesson learnt is about the balancing between endowed resources and created resources. While endowed resources are essential as the foundation for marketing and business activities, created resources would determine the success of the business. Without a clear strategic direction, created resources would be wasted; therefore, it is fundamental to make a clear decision of focus on the right thing: well-being tourism and sustainability. Created resources will also need to be utilized in a way so that endowed resources would be preserved, such as the operations of the Truc Lam Zen complex with its many guests should not create any harms or pollution to the natural environment surrounding the complex. The creek running through the village-hotel should always be clean; the forest embracing the five-star hotel should always be green; and apricot flowers should always bloom in the spring so that customers can be enchanted by the wonder of nature and lured to this corner of the world where they seek to find their true selves in Zen spirits. The fifth lesson is that engagement with various public institutions and crowdsourcing, tapping into the power of the public and the community such as schools and universities is a smart way to complement to the resources available to the company for their marketing activities. After all, sustainability is for the community and by the community. If a company follows a strategy of sustainability, they will need to make sure the public are engaged to guarantee their success. The younger generations as nurtured and trained in different institutions are there to inherit these national cultural and historical values and this beautiful, peaceful natural environment. Reaching out to these young generations is, indeed, the right thing to do. Acknowledgements This case is prepared by Phuong Thanh Phung, lecturer at RMIT Vietnam and Tra Thi Dan Vu, lecturer at the Foreign Trade University. The authors would like to acknowledge two former students of RMIT Vietnam,

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Mr. Do Quoc Chung, former Director of Marketing at Tung Lam Jsc., and Ms. Bui Minh Hue at Tung Lam Jsc. for introducing the authors to Tung Lam Jsc. and the case. The case synopsis and draft version have been provided to Ms. Hue for her review. The case uses public resources and library resources, and there is no funding for the development of the case.

Teaching Notes: Case Study Case Synopsis The case is about marketing Yen Tu, a cultural heritage of Vietnam, as a well-being destination. Yen Tu, the highest mountain in Eastern North of Vietnam, has been well-known as a cradle of Vietnam original school of Buddhism, Truc Lam Zen, associated with Tran Nhan Tong, the heroic King-Strategist—Great Master of Buddhism in the thirteenth century. Yen Tu Mountain top with Chua Dong—a pagoda of 70-ton-cast bronze has been a symbolic value for pilgrims, and prior to 2001, was only accessible after a long arduous journey on foot. Tung Lam Jsc. was the company that built the first cable car system to the mountain top, therefore, created a surge in tourists in 2001. To leverage of from the cultural-historical heritage, the mountainous scenery, and to attract even more tourists, from 2013 to 2018 the company invested approximately USD 434 million in building up a complex named Truc Lam Zen Commons, including a 5-star hotel run by Accor group, a Vietnamese-traditional-village-styled hotel, a conference center, and four restaurants. Two other biggest competing destinations in terms of pilgrimage or spiritual travel are Bai Dinh Trang An and Tam Chuc, who also invested even larger amounts of money and have done intensive and extensive marketing. To compete, Tung Lam Jsc. has identified “wellbeing” as a differentiation in their positioning strategy for Yen Tu besides the original natural, cultural, historical and pilgrimage values inherent to the destination. Since “well-being tourism” is an emerging trend, and there is no equivalent translation yet in Vietnamese for this term, the company faces challenges in marketing the concept. With Yen Tu listed as a national cultural heritage, how can Tung Lam Jsc. market the destination, create the differentiation, attract tourists, and achieve the goal of sustainability?

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Academic complexity level: the case can be discussed in class for a strategic marketing class at Bachelor or Marketing Management class for a Master level. The case is suitable for teaching sustainable marketing practices and well-being marketing. Key words: strategic marketing, well-being marketing, wellbeing tourism, positioning strategy, differentiation strategy, cultural heritage preservation, sustainability, customer value co-creation, situational analysis, stakeholder analysis.

. Teaching objectives

– To introduce and apply the concept of full situational analysis or 5Cs analysis (customers, competitors, context, company, collaborators). – To introduce and apply the concept of stakeholder analysis (four of the 5Cs: customers, competitors, company, and collaborators). – To reinforce the concept of strategic marketing or marketing strategy (with focus on the positioning and differentiation part of marketing strategy). – To reinforce the concept of competitive analysis in which not only direct but indirect/substitute competitors should also be considered. – To introduce and reinforce the concept of sustainable marketing practices/strategy and well-being marketing.

. Research methods The case uses secondary data sources retrieved from the Internet and library websites. . Assignment questions

1. What could Tung Lam Jsc. do to further differentiate themselves if they choose to position Yen Tu and their complex as a well-being tourist destination?

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2. What specific challenges do Tung Lam have in their goal toward sustainability and what should they do to overcome the challenges? How can Tung Lam Jsc. engage their tourist customers (a highly important group of stakeholders given its size) in value co-creation activities with the company for a better well-being experience and sustainable consumption in Yen Tu? To answer these two questions of the case, several more specific discussion questions could be as follows. Discussion Questions 1. Identify the competitors of Yen Tu as a destination for spiritual/pilgrim travelers. 2. If the company has chosen to differentiate Yen Tu as a destination for well-being, what specific competitive advantage does the place already have? 3. What other substitutes/competitors Yen Tu might have if marketed as a destination for well-being travelers? 4. Conduct a stakeholder analysis: identify all the relevant stakeholders in this case, and their concerns, challenges, and benefits if Yen Tu is marketed successfully as a well-being destination

. Additional materials: None . Suggested core readings Stakeholder analysis Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65–91. Jones, T. M. (2016). Instrumental stakeholder theory: A synthesis of ethics and economics. The Corporation and Its Stakeholders, 205–242. Resource-based theories reading for resources analysis Barney, J.B., 2001. Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of Management, 27(6), pp. 643–650.

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Galbreath, J., 2005. Which resources matter the most to firm success? An exploratory study of resource-based theory. Technovation, 25(9), pp. 979–987. Sustainable marketing and sustainable tourism & customer cocreation of value Victor, D., 2013. The contribution of sustainable marketing to sustainable development. Management and Marketing Challenges for the Knowledge Society, 8(2), pp. 385–400. Radzi, SM, Hanafiah, MHM, Sumarjan, N, Mohi, Z, Sukyadi, D, Suryadi, K, and Purnawarman, P (eds) 2016, Heritage, Culture and Society: Research Agenda and Best Practices in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry, Taylor and Francis Group, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central [14 July 2021]. Prebensen, NK, Chen, JS, and Uysal, MS (eds) 2017, Co-Creation in Tourist Experiences, Taylor and Francis Group, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central [14 July 2021]. . Teaching plan and timing Pre-class/pre case preparation: Students should be introduced briefly to the key concepts of 5Cs analysis, or stakeholder analysis prior to reading the case. Reminder of the concepts of strategic marketing (marketing strategy and the positioning and differentiation strategy) and competitive analysis should be done prior to the case discussion. Case reading time: 30 minutes. In-class case discussion From 45 to 60 minutes discussion . Analysis of assignment questions Guidelines for discussions Competitors’ analysis Three main categories of competitors and some names are listed below as a suggestion for instructors. Further research by instructors and students for discussions is encouraged.

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Spiritual tourism destinations

Well-being destinations

Other destinations

Bai Dinh Trang An Tam Chuc More from research but not in the case: Thien Mu Pagoda Huong Pagoda Ba Den Mountain Ba Chua Xu Mountain Source: Vietnamnet Bridge (2014) ‘Top 10 spiritual tourist attractions in Vietnam - News VietNamNet’, 25 November. Available at: http://eng lish.vietnamnet.vn/fms/travel/117 174/top-10-spiritual-tourist-attrac tions-in-vietnam.html (Accessed: 7 March 2021)

Hanoi Hoi An Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh

Ha Long Bay Bai Tu Long Bay Tuan Chau Island Co To Island Quan Lan Beach

Stakeholders’ analysis A range of stakeholders, their concerns and benefits can be listed in a table as below (only some key ideas are listed, students and lecturers are to brainstorm for more ideas). Concerns The National government The Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam The local government The local businesses The local residents The company itself

The tourists

Benefits

Social and environmental impact Corporate income taxes Reputation Promotion of Buddhism Social and environmental impact Corporate income taxes Competition Business opportunities from more tourists Pollution Jobs Competition, high costs of Revenues, profit, doing business economic sustainability, and reputation Pollution, overcrowding, and Cultural and historical risks lessons, spiritual and physical healing, and enhancement

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Customer value co-creation This topic is left to the creativity of the instructors and the students. Some examples could be tree-growing programs with customers’ names on it. Or customers who visit the Yen Tu Spring Festivals can grow the apricot tree and get a discount to come back in the next spring or in the summer to visit the tree. One direction Tung Lam Jsc. already took was to partner with schools at many levels, from primary schools to secondary schools to universities. They could organize history class trips to Yen Tu to learn about Tran dynasty. The arduous climb up the mountain could be made one activity of physical training class that students have in any school. The Yen Tu Legacy M-Gallery hotel could also work well as an environment for teaching Arts or Architecture. Tung Lam Jsc. already partnered with University of Architecture in Hanoi to bring the future architects to Yen Tu. Source for this information (Vietnam Architecture Association 2020). . Key learnings

– Situational analysis with 5C factors: context, customers, competitors, company, and collaborators. Strategic decision in marketing and business can only be made with a full situational analysis. – Stakeholder analysis includes all the four Cs analysis: customers, company, competitors, and collaborators. – The concept of well-being and well-being tourism. – Sustainable marketing and sustainable development. – Resources analysis for firm success.

. Postscript Vietnam Architecture Association (2020) ‘Trại sáng tác Yên Tử 2020: Workshop “Mỹ thuật & diễn họa Kiến trúc”—Tạp chí Kiến Trúc’, Architecture Magazine, 9 July. Available at: https://www.tapchikientruc.com. vn/dao-tao/trai-sang-tac-yen-tu-2020-workshop-my-thuat-dien-hoakien-truc.html (Accessed: 7 March 2021). . Exhibits: None

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Kim Anh. (2020) ‘VGP News | Quang Ninh province welcomes 1.2 million guests in one month—Quang Ninh province welcomes 1.2 million guests in one month’, Vietnam Government Portal, 22 June. Available at: http://news.chinhphu.vn/Home/Quang-Ninh-province-welcomes12-million-guests-in-one-month/20206/40515.vgp (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Loi Phu Nguyen. (2019) ‘Vietnam changing religious life in globalization and industrial revolution 4.0’, Government Organization Magazine. Available at: https://tcnn.vn/news/detail/43474/Su-bien-doi-doi-song-ton-giao-oViet-Nam-trong-boi-canh-toan-cau-hoa-va-cach-mang-cong-nghiep-4.0.html (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Mihalič, T. (2013) ‘Performance of environmental resources of a tourist destination: Concept and application’, Journal of Travel Research, 52(5), pp. 614–630. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287513478505. Ministry of Health. (2018) National health programme to improve Vietnamese well-being and stature - top-news - Cổng thông tin Bộ Y tế, Online Portal. Available at: https://moh.gov.vn/web/ministry-of-health/top-news/-/ asset_publisher/EPLuO8YEhk19/content/national-health-programme-toimprove-vietnamese-well-being-and-stature?inheritRedirect=false (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Moscardo, G. and Moscardo, G. (2015) ‘Searching for well-being: Exploring change in tourist motivation searching for well-being: Exploring change in tourist motivation’, (April), pp. 37–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281. 2011.11081656. Pham, L. (2019a) Three key factors for tourism development, Quang Ninh Portal. Available at: https://quangninh.gov.vn/Sites/en-us/Trang/ChiTietTinTuc. aspx?nid=4176 (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Pham, L. (2019b) ‘Uong Bi: Ready for Cherry Blossom and Yen Tu Yellow Apricot Flowers Festival - Culture - Quang Ninh Newspaper’, Quang Ninh Newspaper, 5 March. Available at: http://english.baoquangninh.com.vn/cul ture/2019b03/uong-bi-ready-for-cherry-blossom-and-yen-tu-yellow-apricotflowers-festival-2425391/ (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Pyke, S. et al. (2016) ‘Exploring well-being as a tourism product resource’, Tourism Management, 55, pp. 94–105.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman. 2016.02.004. Quang Ninh Dept. of Information and Communication. (2020) ‘Up-close mineral bathing at Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh’, Quang Ninh Portal, 2 July. Available at: https://quangninh.gov.vn/Sites/en-us/Trang/ChiTietTinTuc. aspx?nid=5001 (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Quang Ninh Info. Portal. (2020) Quang Ninh welcomed over 11,150 tourists last weekend. Available at: https://www.quangninh.gov.vn/Sites/en-us/Trang/ ChiTietTinTuc.aspx?nid=5182 (Accessed: 5 March 2021).

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Quang Ninh Information Portal. (2020) 6th International Day of Yoga, 2020 held in Quang Ninh. Available at: https://www.quangninh.gov.vn/Sites/enus/Trang/ChiTietTinTuc.aspx?nid=4989 (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Quang Ninh Investment Promotion Agency. (n.d.) General introduction about Quang Ninh Province. Available at: http://demo.investinquangninh.vn/en/ welcome/overview/ (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Quang Ninh Newspaper. (2015) ‘OCOP programme for 2018–2020 approved - Cooperation - Investment - Quang Ninh Newspaper’, 8 May. Available at: http://english.baoquangninh.com.vn/cooperate-investment/ 201805/ocop-programme-for-2018-2020-approved-2384956/ (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Quang Ninh Radio and TV Station. (2016) Cherry Blossom - Yen Tu Yellow Apricot Blossom Festival attracts 70,000 visitors - QTV English, Quang Ninh News Connect and Spread. Available at: http://quangninhnews.vn/tra vel/201603/cherry-blossom-yen-tu-yellow-apricot-blossom-festival-attracts70000-visitors-2476678/ (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Stoewen, D. L. (2017) ‘Dimensions of wellness: Change your habits, change your life’, Canadian Veterinary Journal, 58(8), pp. 861–862. Available at: http://www.alleydog.com/glos (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Thanh Hoa et al. (2014) ‘Sacred Yen Tu Mountain - Vietnam Pictorial’, Vietnam Pictorial, 14 June. Available at: https://vietnam.vnanet.vn/english/sacredyen-tu-mountain/58888.html (Accessed: 5 March 2021). The World and Vietnam. (2020) Infographics: Hậu Covid-19, khách du lịch đến Quảng Ninh đã tăng trở lại. Available at: https://baoquocte.vn/infograph ics-hau-covid-19-khach-du-lich-den-quang-ninh-da-tang-tro-lai-119481.html (Accessed: 5 March 2021). ` Nhân Tông, the King and the Buddha of the Tri Buu. (2019) ‘Trân Vietnamese - Sunday - Features - Vietnam News | Politics, Business, Economy, Society, Life, Sports - VietNam News’, 12 May. Available at: https://vietnamnews.vn/sunday/features/519721/tran-nhan-tongthe-king-and-the-buddha-of-the-vietnamese.html (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Trines, S. (2017) ‘Education in Vietnam—Current trends and qualifications’, World Education News + Review, 8 November. Available at: https://wenr. wes.org/2017/11/education-in-vietnam (Accessed: 5 March 2021). United Nations. (n.d.) Sustainability | academic impact. Available at: https:// academicimpact.un.org/content/sustainability (Accessed: 5 March 2021). Uong Bi Tourism Department. (2018) Tung Lam Development Joint Stock Company: Effective investment by innovating thinking. Available at: http://dulichuongbi.vn/en/detailevents/?t=cong-ty-cp-phat-trien-tunglam-dau-tu-hieu-qua-nho-doi-moi-tu-duy&id=news_328 (Accessed: 5 March 2021).

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Can Nestlé Transform from a Corporation That ‘Talks About Doing Good’ to ‘Doing Good’ for the Environment? Joanne Ellemae McNeish

and Jillian Neufeldt

Case Problem Post-sale, how should Mark Schneider, Nestlé’s Chief Executive Officer react to the continued criticism of Nestlé’s bottled water brands for contributing to plastic bottle waste and water harvesting? Learning Objectives . Develop critical and creative thinking skills by exploring environmental sustainability goals as only one component among other corporate sustainability goals (economic and social) in a large successful global corporation.

J. E. McNeish (B) · J. Neufeldt Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), Toronto, ON, Canada e-mail: [email protected] J. Neufeldt e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_24

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. Interpret and satisfy customer expectations in a situation where environmental attitudes and behaviour seem to be disconnected. . Develop an opinion as to whether environmental, and activist investors’ opinions have a negative impact on the company’s financial position. . Critically examine a complex and multi-faceted situation and how to balance personal, corporate and societal ethical responsibilities. . Recommend ways Nestlé can respond to the issues of plastic waste and water harvesting through its marketing efforts.

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Introduction

In March 2021, Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider considered how to move forward with Nestlé’s global bottled water business, after the sale of its North American water business. Bottled water was one of Nestlé’s most lucrative and successful product lines. In 2020, bottled water accounted for 8.9% of Nestlé’s global sales (Nestle 2020). Post-sale, Nestlé continued to be among the top four global bottled water companies, the three others being Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Danone (Coppola 2021). Since 71% of the world’s population had access to clean safe tap water, Nestlé along with its competitors had achieved a seemingly impossible task: convincing consumers to purchase a product (water) which many already had in their homes, and which was available for almost no cost (Brei 2017; World Health Organization and UNICEF 2012). Nestlé faced three major challenges to its bottled water business. Large global companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Danone represented formidable mid-market competitors with their large production facilities, and promotional expertise. Private label competitors drove down overall profitability of bottled water by offering consumers lower prices, and as a result grabbed market share from the name brand manufacturers (Cernivec 2019). As the world grappled with various environmental sustainability issues, water packaged in plastic bottles was the target of increased scrutiny by consumers, environmental activists and governments alike (Greenpeace 2019; Morgan 2019). The February 2021 sale of Nestlé’s North American regional spring water brands, purified water business and beverage delivery service was the first step in dealing with these challenges. In a press release, Schneider said that the sale was part of a strategic realignment of the corporation

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toward long-term profitable growth (Nestlé 2021). Nestlé S.A., as one of the largest global food and beverage manufacturers had the ability to dominate a product category. One of the ways it had done this was being selective where and how it competed. By selling their less profitable mid-market brands, Nestlé was no longer in direct competition with mid-market and low-priced private label brands (Gretler and Sutherland 2021). Post-sale, Nestlé’s global bottled water business included premium water brands, local mineral waters and healthy hydration products, many of which were sold in plastic bottles (Nestlé 2021). Thus, the issues of plastic bottle waste and water harvesting were unresolved by the sale. Simply replacing newly made plastic with recycled plastic or other materials impacted the company’s other environmental targets. While Nestlé had announced plastic recycling targets and water projects in several countries to replace the water it harvested, its reputation for responding slowly and reactively to other crises had reduced its credibility with its critics (Greenpeace International 2019; Haanaes 2016; Nestlé 2019). Nestlé had a reputation for putting profits over people.

2

Nestlé Corporate Performance and Reputation

Nestlé had a long history in the bottled water business. They began selling bottled water in 1843, when Henri Nestlé established a water bottling factory in Switzerland. The company grew through a number of lucrative acquisitions. Nestlé acquired Vittel mineral water, the German Blaue Quellen group, Sanpellegrino, and then in 1992, Perrier. In 1998, Nestlé launched Nestlé Pure Life. By 2008, Pure Life was the world’s leading bottled water brand. In the early 2000s, Nestlé expanded its business activity in Asia and Africa, and opened new water bottling factories in Portugal, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Nigeria and Italy in the 2010s (Reference for Business, n.d.). As a result of Nestlé’s focus on strategic acquisitions, financial, and operational excellence, it became the number one global bottled water company in 2015, beating out Danone and other large and wellfinanced global companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo (Bhasin 2019). In March 2021, Nestlé global market share was estimated at 20.4%; Danone, 19.4%; Coca-Cola, 16.2%; Pepsi, 5.3% with the remaining 38.7% accounted for global water companies based in China and Asia, 38.7% (Coppola 2021; Doering 2021).

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In addition to being the leading global bottled water company, Nestlé was the number one ranked Fast Moving Consumer Packaged Goods (FMCG) manufacturer. In 2018, its FMCG competitors, PepsiCo ranked third, Coca-Cola, ninth and Danone twelfth. As a powerful and wellfinanced company, Nestlé SA offered more than 2,000 branded food and beverage products across 191 countries. In 2019, Nestlé organized its business operations into six segments with Nestlé Waters (pre-sale) accounting for 8.9% of revenue, and its EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) increased almost 10% over 2018 (Nestle 2020). From a financial point of view, the sale of the North American brands was consistent with Nestlé’s strategic realignment toward long-term profitable growth (Nestlé 2021; Sutherland 2021). Although their global bottled water operation was profitable, some of the North American brands were not meeting corporate growth expectations due to increased competition from mid-market competitors and low-priced private label brands (Investor World News 2021). In 2019, the global bottled water market was growing at an accelerated rate and projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% by 2025. However, between 2016 and 2019, Nestlé’s 13 North American water brands had an average CAGR of 3.4%. Three had negative CAGR growth (between −0.4 and −5.3%); four had CAGR at or below 3.4%; and six had CAGR above 3.4% (between 3.9 and 8.8%) (Coppola 2020). In addition, Nestlé’s North American brands were losing share to low-priced private label brands, and mid-market brands such as Dasani and Aquafina and owned by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, respectively, as well as Danone (Cernivec 2019). To make the sale attractive to private-equity firm buyers, One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co., the sale included some brands with CAGR at/above 3.4 (Poland Spring CAGR 3.9%; Deer Park CAGR 4.8%; Ice Mountain CAGR 8.8%; and Zephyrhills CAGR 5.1%). However, in an apparent demonstration of its negotiating skill, Nestlé also divested itself of brands with low and negative CAGR (Arrowhead CAGR −5.3%; Ozarka CAGR 1.5%; Pure Life CAGR 3.4% and Splash CAGR n/a). Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said the sale would position his company’s global waters business for long-term profitable growth through its international premium brands, Perrier (CAGR 4.6%), S. Pellegrino (CAGR 8%) and Acqua Panna (CAGR 3.2%) (Bottled Market Report 2021).

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Another positive outcome for Nestlé was that the North American brands sold were the ones that had attracted the most criticism, bad press and legal and regulatory action by US governments (BreakFreeFromPlastic 2020; Morgan 2019). Over the past decade, global corporations were the target of increased scrutiny by consumers, environmental activists and governments as the world began to grapple with issues of climate change and environmental sustainability Nestlé was not exempt from criticism and their global bottled water operations faced public pressure to address issues of sustainable water supply and plastic waste. Effective action on any environmental sustainability issue was only accomplished with commitment from the whole organization, including senior management. However, Nestlé’s senior management seemed to take a ‘business’ rather than ‘human need’ view of water. Peter BrabeckLetmathe, Nestlé’s CEO from 1997 to 2008 and still on the Board in 2018, was quoted as saying in a 2005 documentary film, “Water is, of course, the most important raw material we have today in the world. It is a question of whether we should privatize the normal water supply for the population. And there are two different opinions on the matter. The one opinion, which I think is extreme, is represented by the NGOs, who bang on about declaring water a public right…. The other view says that water is a foodstuff like any other, and like any other foodstuff it should have a market value” (Emery 2018). These words and Nestlé’s actions around water harvesting played into the narrative of a company that didn’t care. Nestlé was accused on several occasions of acting recklessly in pursuit of profit. Nestlé reportedly drew millions of gallons of water from regions across the world which were experiencing drought or had water sources that were running dry. For example, in 2013, in Hillsburgh, a small Canadian town, Nestlé was reported to have withdrawn over a million litres of water per day from a well. This, despite the fact that since 2007, the town had experienced three major droughts (Subramaniam 2016). In 2016, Nestlé’s water operations reportedly withdrew approximately 36 million gallons of water from the San Bernardino national forest in California, while the state was experiencing historic drought, and citizens ordered to limit their water use (Food and Water Watch 2018). In April 2020, Nestlé won yet another decision against a Michigan municipality to extract even more water from a well in exchange for almost no money (Gretler 2020). In a small village

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in Pakistan, Nestlé reportedly dug a deep well that deprived citizens of safe and clean drinking water (Andrei 2021). The cost of aggressive business dealings around water meant that it attracted the government’s attention. In 2020, American House Democrats launched an investigation into Nestlé Waters’ North American operations over concerns that Nestlé profited from a public resource while some nearby communities still did not have access to quality drinking water (Chawaga 2020). Other governments instituted regulations such as those by the city of San Francisco that banned the sale of bottled water on city-owned property (Timm 2014). External measurement provided evidence of Nestlé lagging at least one of its competitors for environmental impact. The CDP ran a self-reported global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions about their environmental impacts. Of the 106 ‘A’ ranked companies, among global bottled water companies, only Danone received an A on the 2020 CDP ranking for water security. Nestlé, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola each received an ‘A minus’ ranking (CDP 2021). Environmental activists and not-for-profit organizations such as Greenpeace International (2020) urged Nestlé to take a greater stand in the fight to eradicate plastic pollution. While Nestlé communicated its commitment to environmental sustainability, critics suggested that Nestlé had made little progress around eliminating plastic waste. Information published by the company suggested support for programmes such as deposit-return, extended producer responsibility for products and garbage removal based on a sliding cost scale by volume. These claims were dismissed by critics. Nestlé seemed to support only those programme that were to their financial advantage (Morgan 2019; Reuters Staff 2020). In 2019, Nestlé earned first place for its lack of action on plastics. Among their four global bottled water competitors, only one other, CocaCola at number nine, earned a spot in the top 10 most criticized brands (Sigwatch 2019). In 2020, and for the third year in a row, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Nestlé received recognition as one of Top 10 Global Polluters based on a study of plastic garbage collected in 51 countries (BreakFreeFromPlastic 2020). Despite its strength as a business enterprise, Nestlé’s water business was not the only part of its operations faced with controversy. Over a few decades, the company was criticized for its unethical behaviour including accusations of misleading advertising, greenwashing, engaging in price

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fixing and using child labour (Andrei 2021). Even in the business community, Nestlé’s reputation suffered. When executives, directors and security analysts were asked which companies they admired most, Nestlé did not do as well as its large global competitors. Nestlé ranked #46, while CocaCola was ranked ahead of them, at #22 along with Pepsi at #39 (Fortune 2021). Another way that investors evaluated and rated a company, and their market competitors was on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. There were many different third party providers of this information (Huber and Comstock 2017). Depending on the method used to calculate the scores, Nestlé received a variety of scores, some higher than others. On at least one ESG rating, Nestlé received a total ESG Risk score of 28 (medium risk) and earned a ‘3’ Controversy Level (significant) (Yahoo Finance 2021).

3 How Marketing Worked to Create Bottled Water Markets The creation of a product such as bottled water seemed to represent the worst of what marketing has done. Marketing had been criticized for a myriad of reasons including: creating products that were unnecessary; charging prices that don’t represent a fair value exchange between company and customer; increasing carbon in moving products to, and from the marketplace; and using promotional methods that feature unrealistic images, or aspirations for lifestyles that most consumers will never achieve (Mandal 2019). However, when considering bottled water in that way, critics overlooked the way in which marketing responded to consumer needs. Social trends in the 1970s caused consumers to look for a healthy alternative to soft drinks and fruit juices. Fears about the purity of tap water developed when some governments did not maintain municipal water systems. The importance of bottled water was highlighted during natural disasters or other events that limited or destroyed municipal water systems (Vieux et al. 2020). By using basic marketing theory and tactics, bottled water companies achieved a seemingly impossible task: convincing consumers to purchase a product (water) to which most of them already had access in their homes, and which was available at almost no cost (Brei 2017).

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3.1

Portable Water

Bottled water was more familiar to Europeans because tap water quality, due to age of the buildings and pipes, was long considered suspect. Prior to the 1970s, in North America, bottled water was primarily seen as an exclusive, even premium product. Bottled water was generally served in upscale restaurants and reflected the upper income status of the consumers. Rarely served at home, water was sold in large glass bottles at non-grocery retailers (Pandal 2018). In most North American communities, tap water was considered safe to drink. According to the International Bottled Water Association, there were six main types of bottled water: spring, purified, mineral, sparkling, artesian and well (International Bottled Water Association, n.d.). Spring water referred to water produced in underground formations and flowed naturally to the surface. Purified water referred to water produced by a process of distillation, deionization or reverse osmosis. Mineral water contained relative proportions of minerals and elements based on the source. Sparkling water was from a variety of sources but contained carbon dioxide. Artesian water was water drawn from a well that tapped a confined aquifer. Aquifers were water-bearing underground layers of rock or sand. Well water was underground water that was extracted by drilling. While there were very high standards for tap water quality in developed nations, bottled water manufacturers found opportunities for growth. The industry created its own policy on bottled water and developed different types of water products that embraced the purity and taste requirements of almost all consumers (Moss 2018). Bottled water underwent rigorous sanitation processes, just so that companies could highlight how much safer their product was compared with tap water. Bottled water in non-breakable containers will always be necessary, under certain circumstances. Water was essential for human survival but if unclean, was the source of illness. When travelling, variations in another country’s food and beverages would reduce travellers’ enjoyment due to temporary illness. In an 11-country study, 65% of travellers drank bottled water instead of tap water. They gave two major reasons: potential health risks from drinking tap water (70%) and convenience (19%) (PRNewswire 2019). Bottled water was a stopgap measure in developing countries to provide clean and safe drinking water, until the necessary infrastructure was created. When communities in developed or developing countries underwent crises in their municipal water supply, and tap water was no

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longer safe to drink, bottled water was provided in order that the citizens had clean drinking water (World Health Organization and UNICEF 2012). From its inception, bottled water manufacturers used water’s connection to nature and its curative powers as key selling points. The carbonated mineral water brand Perrier had its origins in nineteenth century France, where well-to-do citizens sought the restorative benefits of spas or natural springs. Spa customers were offered regenerative baths and bottles of mineral water. In 1898, Dr. Louis Perrier became the medical director of a spa in France, where he conducted research on the mineral waters’ benefits. He found that it had therapeutic properties. With this in mind, he perfected the capture of water and gas in order to create the optimal blend for what became Perrier water (Perrier 2017). As a natural product, water’s properties vary by its place of origin. These properties become part of brand names used to promote the unique benefits of water type and/or the source of the water. For example, the brand name ‘Mountain Valley Spring Water’ conveyed the origin of the water: “Mountain Valley Spring Water has been naturally free-flowing inside our heartland for 1000s of years. Its sacred source is tucked deep in the pristine wilderness of the Ouachitas” (Mountain Valley Spring Water Company, n.d.). The brand name ‘Harrogate Spa Water’ reflected the health benefits of the water “Following the discovery of the mineral springs in the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth I’s personal physician recommended their medicinal properties and Harrogate was christened The English Spa” (HarrogateSpring, n.d.). 3.2

Packaging and Promotion

The use of evocative images on packaging had also been instrumental in the promotion of bottled water. Bottled water companies used images of pristine mountain springs, lakes or other natural environments to signify the water’s purity and quality. Bottled water packaging has utilized the colour blue to reinforce the idea of naturalness and healthfulness. Bottled water brands leveraged the source of their water as proof of the water’s purity and quality. For example, FIJI Water touted its water from Fiji as earth’s finest water, which was untouched by man and from one of the last pristine environments on earth (FIJI Water, n.d.). Companies also capitalized on consumers’ fears as a way to motivate purchase. Bottled water advertising subtly contributed to public

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fears about the quality of tap water. Research studies have found that consumers who did not trust local tap water quality were more likely to purchase bottled water than those who did trust it (Vieux et al. 2020). More recently, bottled water companies supplemented their product advertising with cause-related messages to promote their products. The campaigns helped turn bottled water into a cultural product that was not merely a utilitarian good but had symbolically meaningful messages that reflected consumers’ social identity. Bottled water companies used promotional campaigns that spoke to how they delivered bottled water to countries where clean water was scarce. Rather than improving their environmental performance directly, bottled water companies turned to cause-related marketing in an effort to improve the image of their brands (BreakFreeFromPlastic 2020). 3.3

Consumers

Successful products and services must respond to changing customer needs, and bottled water was no exception. In the 1970s, bottled water companies capitalized on consumers’ shifting lifestyle trends. These included a declining number of meals consumed at home and demand for greater convenience as more women entered full time employment. This decade also saw the beginning of a shift toward healthy eating and drinking habits. Convenience and health combined to make bottled water the choice of some busy families who wanted to be healthy (Fisherman 2007). Bottled water companies saw an opportunity to capitalize on these increasingly time-poor, double income and health conscious consumers by creating individual serving-sized bottles of water. At first, bottled water was packaged in glass (Mitte Team 2019). However, as these companies considered how to shift from niche to mass market, they looked to reduce product costs in order to make bottled water affordable to more people. Plastic packaging was chosen over glass due to its low cost, lighter weight and durability (Andrady and Neal 2009). By being able to be economically transported over longer distances, water in plastic bottles became an ‘anytime, anywhere’ drink. Consumers found the plastic bottles light and easy to carry, and simple to dispose of when empty (Pandal 2018). Through the 1980s, bottled water was on the way to becoming mainstream. Using effective marketing tactics such as celebrity endorsements, bottled water was considered by consumers to be a cool, sexy and smart

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product. Branded bottled water was a status symbol, a beverage that models brought to fashion shows or trendy people brought to the gym (Parker 2019). Consumers chose branded bottled water that reflected how they perceived themselves (Fisherman 2007). In the 1990s, a number of mid-market brands were introduced. In 1994, Pepsi launched Aquafina. It became the leading brand in high margin channels such as convenience stores and gas stations (Hays 2000). Nestlé’s Pure Life brand, successfully introduced in 1998, emphasized purity and safety. The brand was sold in grocery stores (Nestlé Global, n.d.). Coca-Cola entered the market in 1999 with its Dasani brand. It appealed to customers seeking a pure, clean and cold drink with a positioning similar to their flagship soft drink brand (CNNMoney 1999). The introduction of mid-market water brands was a financial success for these companies. It was highly profitable, and for companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, it replaced some of the revenue lost from their soft drink and orange juice businesses, whose growth was starting to slow. Bottled water even had a societal benefit. Water was preferable to sugar sweetened beverages. Through their promotional efforts, bottled water manufacturers contributed to public health goals to reduce sugar intake from consumers’ diets. In the United States, water became the number one beverage choice (Vieux et al. 2020). Compared to the 1970s when Americans drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water a year, by 2006, it had grown to 28.3 gallons and by 2018, 41.9 gallons were consumed (Felton 2019; Fisherman 2007). However, beginning in the 2000s, bottled water manufacturers’ financial success was threatened. The plastic packaging material that ended up in landfills and oceans attracted the attention of environmental groups (Hidell 2004). Consumers were exposed to images of plastic-clogged beaches and oceans, and even though the garbage was not in their neighbourhoods or cities, their attitudes became negative toward plastic packaging. By 2018, one study found that 65% of consumers associate plastic with ocean pollution, 57% of participants linked plastic with ‘harm’ and 25% with low quality products (Reints 2019). Companies reacted slowly to the issue until they realized that the negative attitudes toward plastic impacted their brand image (Fortune 2021). While one could argue that companies should do the right thing, regardless of the economic cost, the survival of a company depended on its financial viability. Reducing or eliminating plastic from their supply chain would be a lengthy and very expensive process. Some of those costs

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would be added to the price of the product to meet shareholders’ and the stock market’s expectations for profit. Companies wanted reassurance that consumers would be willing to pay a premium. That was not the case. Purchase data and survey research and suggested a gap between consumer attitudes toward sustainability and their purchase behaviour (White et al. 2019). While consumers claimed to be concerned about the environment, many consumers had not stopped buying bottled water or other environmentally sustainable products. The bottled water market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate CAGR of 6.1% from 2021 to 2026 (Mordor Intelligence, 2020). One study found that 46% of consumers were likely to buy a product if it were eco-friendly, yet 60% were not willing to pay more money for it (Mortimer 2020). Another study that specifically asked consumers about plastic packaging found that while 77% of consumers perceived plastics to be the least environmentally friendly packaging material, just over half (54%) would pay a premium for an alternative package. Other consumers (28%) would choose environmental packaging if the price were the same, and 18% said it would not impact their buying decision (Accenture 2019). How was the gap between attitudes and purchase behaviour explained? There were several factors that affected purchase behaviour. Consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainable products was often limited by product availability in their local area. Clear labelling to support or explain the environmental claims was confusing, inconsistent or non-existent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened concerns for their health safety resulted in selection of consumable products protected by packaging materials (Research and Markets 2020; White et al. 2019). On a functional level, packaging was necessary to protect and contain the food or beverage inside it. Feberm et al. (2020) conducted a study in 10 countries to explore consumers’ attitudes toward sustainable packaging. Of seven packaging attributes, American consumers indicated hygiene and food safety (77%), shelf life (67%), ease of use (61%), durability (59%) and appearance (51%) before environmental impact (43%). The same pattern was observed in the other countries with the environmental attribute, sixth or seventh in order of importance. Many consumers had limited financial resources and lived in economically depressed areas. Consumers with limited financial resources considered their purchases carefully. If they used more of their budget for healthy and sustainable goods, their ability to buy other products and services was compromised (FAO 2020). The strong growth of low-priced

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private label brands packaged in plastic suggested that these consumers wanted to meet the goal of choosing a healthy drink while staying within their budget (Cernivec 2019; Feberm et al. 2020). While consumers who lived in affluent areas had access to clean and safe water, several major economic crises reduced investment in water infrastructure, even in developed countries, and the water quality in some regions was questionable (World Health Organization 2019). Over the last decade, consumers had received many conflicting environmental claims. Told that many of the claims made by companies were greenwashing, consumers struggled to believe what companies were communicating (Kelkar et al. 2014). Companies tried to solve this lack of credibility by turning to external organizations to validate their claims. However, with a myriad of environmental issues, and a multitude of non-profit and for-profit associations who offered advice and ‘seals of approval’, consumers continued to find it difficult to understand the messages. Thus, consumers found it difficult to arrive at a purchase behaviour that resolved the cognitive dissonance they felt between wanting to take environmentally positive actions, while satisfying other important needs.

4

Environmental Sustainability Is Complicated

Understanding strategic complexity in large organizations required the consideration of three corporate sustainability dimensions: economic, environmental and social (Porter and Kramer 2011). Environmental initiatives did not take place in isolation, but rather, impacted and were impacted by, the other dimensions. When representatives from 750 large global organizations were asked about the benefits from environmental sustainability initiatives, they noted positives and negatives. Seventy-seven per cent (77%) pointed to an increase in customer loyalty, 69% to an increase in brand value and 68% to improvement in their organizational ratings for environmental, social and governance. Almost two-thirds (63%) indicated that sustainability initiatives helped increase revenues. However, when asked about the challenges around implementing longterm sustainability programmes, 80% indicated their negative effects on profit margins and cost. Seventy-five per cent (75%) suggested that meeting financial targets, organizational issues and/or new opportunities took priority over sustainability (Capgemini Research Institute 2020).

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Nestlé, along with other bottled water manufacturers took note of the criticisms they faced from consumers, lobby groups and governments and have taken some action. However, ceasing production of packaged bottled water was not an easy decision from a customer satisfaction point of view. Nor, was moving to alternative packaging for bottled water, the optimal solution approach since materials other than plastic, affect equally important environmental goals such as carbon reduction targets. 4.1

Plastic Packaging

Since the early 2000s, pressure to reduce the use of plastic increased from governments, consumers and lobby groups around the world (Fisherman 2007). In 2021, consumers typically envisaged plastic bottles newly made from fossil fuels floating in the world’s oceans. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a type of plastic typically used in the construction of plastic water bottles, was made from oil or petroleum. From its inception, cost, supply and health safety concerns drove the use of newly made PET because it was cheaper, easier to source and consistently available in the quantities required by global bottled water companies. While most PET bottles were newly made from fossil-based oil or gas, some were made from a combination of new and recycled PET, paper or other bio-based materials (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2020). Substituting another material, even recycled plastic, for newly made plastic was complicated because obtaining enough recycled PET was difficult and more expensive than newly made PET (Arthur 2020). While the recycling rates of plastic and aluminium were similar (68% and 69% respectively), only 30% of recycled PET was used for bottles, with 70% turned into fibre (Schedler 2017). Recycled PET to make bottles was required to meet strict structural and health safety requirements so that the finished bottles were clear, colourless and free of contaminants (Chung 2020). Recycled PET increased raw material costs due to the limited and inconsistent supply of plastic to meet the demand for their products. Recycled PET, sourced from many recycling and bottle deposit programmes was dependent on consumers’ recycling behaviour. It was also limited in the number of times it could be recycled because of the chemicals released that may be carcinogenic or disruptive to human hormones (Arcadia Blog 2017). Complicating the situation was the impact of recycled plastics on the carbon footprint of the company. Thus,

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one environmental issue, plastic waste, affected another, carbon reduction targets and human health (Onstad 2019). Some argued that the use of PET, due to its environmental impact should be banned outright. However, PET was an excellent packaging material due to its malleability, availability, hygienic characteristics and strength. It was the optimal material at all stages of the production, transportation and retail process (Plastics Europe, n.d.). Nestlé Waters tried to address the changes in consumer attitudes around plastic. The company claimed to have reduced the amount of newly made plastic and increased their recycling rates. Since 2005, Nestlé reduced the amount of plastic in their packaging by roughly 40% (Nestlé, n.d.) They indicated plans to increase the amount of recycled plastics by working with industry partners. However, Nestlé’s claims about reducing plastic packaging and encouraging recycling were criticized as greenwashing. Greenwashing was a form of marketing that made ecofriendly claims which contradicted or deflected attention from the real environmental impacts of a product (Morgan 2019). 4.2

Existing Alternative Packaging Materials

In terms of existing beverage packaging materials, aluminium was a more recyclable alternative to plastic. In 2019, in the United States, aluminium cans had 68% recycled content compared to 3% for plastic (Environmental Protection Agency 2019). However, there were downsides to aluminium around its environmental impact and not meeting consumers’ needs for out-of-home use (Onstad 2019). Comparison of aluminium and plastic carbon footprints included the container’s carbon footprint, energy, water use, transportation to point of sale, secondary packaging, length and availability of shelf life and consumer preference. Aluminium cans created twice the greenhouse gases of plastic bottles during production (Feberm et al. 2020). New-use aluminium was expensive to produce. Costs for one aluminium can were 25% higher than a PET bottle with the same volume (Environmental Protection Agency 2019). In addition, aluminium cans required different manufacturing infrastructure than plastic. These increased costs would be incurred at a time when customers were increasingly price sensitive. Low-priced private label brands who didn’t face the same societal pressure as Nestlé, continued using plastic in order to keep their costs low (Tuttle 2016).

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Aluminium cans were less convenient for consumers. While consumers wanted to purchase more environmentally sustainable products, product usage was not unidimensional. In an out-of-home situation, consumers may be putting the container in a backpack or purse. With the plastic cap, the plastic bottle was unlikely to spill. Bottled water wasn’t necessarily consumed all at once. A plastic bottle cap may be removed and recapped many times. Once a can was opened, it was not able to be recapped (Ballantine et al. 2019). Bottle sizes tended to be driven by consumer demand and plastic was created in many sizes and shapes (e.g. adult single serving, child’s single serving, and family size). The plastic manufacturing infrastructure was developed to produce multiple sizes, while aluminium manufacturing was based on fewer can sizes (Plastics Europe, n.d.). Finally, plastic and glass bottles were preferred by consumers over aluminium cans because they were clear. For water, whether still or sparkling, one of the strong signals of purity was its clear appearance. In order to assess its sparkling value, consumers wanted to see the amount of bubbles in the water (Ballantine et al. 2019). Glass was also a sustainable alternative to plastic. In terms of production, glass had the smallest carbon footprint. However, when transportation, retailing and its return to the manufacturer were included, the sustainability problem with glass emerged. Due to its weight and fragility, it was less environmentally efficient and more expensive to ship, distribute and return (Kellogg 2019). 4.3

New Packaging Materials

For many years, Nestlé focused on reducing the amount of plastic used to create the bottles (Nestlé, n.d.). Recently, companies such as Coca-Cola, Danone and PepsiCo begun working to reduce and in future eventually eliminate newly made plastic. Danone, Nestlé and PepsiCo were working with bio-based materials company Origin Materials as part of NaturALL Bottle Alliance. The goal was to develop packaging made with 100% sustainable and renewable materials (White 2018). Coca-Cola had set 2030 as the year to achieve net-zero waste packaging. The company invested in plant-based bottles that required no fossil fuels to create them and were disposed of more easily since they degraded much faster than plastic. The company also tested paper bottles. While the prototype paper bottles still used normal plastic in the interior of the

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bottle, plans included a plant-based coating. However, even these were carefully considered due to the energy required to destroy them (impact on the company’s carbon footprint) and their link to the issue of food scarcity. Planting for packaging took land away from growing crops that fed people. In 2019, Nestlé created the Nestlé Institute for Packaging Sciences, later than most of its global competitors. The goal of the institute was to develop sustainable packaging materials such as paper-based and biodegradable/compostable polymers and to collaborate with industry partners (Nestlé 2019). Having its own institute, along with participating in other industry organizations, improved its chances to find solutions ahead of its competition and to control how the information was shared publicly. 4.4

Refillable Containers

One way consumers could have avoided all packaging was to buy and consistently use refillable containers. Consumers wanted to drink water for its health benefits and many countries had safe clean drinking water available from tapes. Refillable bottles had continued to gain traction for several reasons: greater innovations in water filtration products, perceived social reward to being seen using refillable bottles and increased awareness of plastic waste (Ertz et al. 2017). However, when leaving home, unlike branded plastic bottles, refillable bottles required consumers’ time and effort with remembering to fill and to carry it with them out of home and cleaning it for the next use. When eating at restaurants, there were few opportunities for consumers to fill their own containers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers were reminded of the hygienic purpose of single use bottled water when restaurants that had previously filled customers’ own containers, stopped doing so (Research and Markets 2020). 4.5

Water Harvesting

The other issue that bottled water companies faced was that of water harvesting. They were criticized for selling water at prices many times the almost zero they paid to harvest it, for reducing the overall water supply to citizens by diverting water from natural sources, and for the

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wasting of water during the manufacturing process (Greenpeace International 2019). Whether water harvesting was done from municipal or natural sources, it affected future water supply. For bottle water companies, the cost of the raw material (water) compared to other raw materials, was very low. Tap water was used for more than 25% of bottled water sold (Lempert 2004; Postman 2016). Companies signed agreements with municipal and federal governments to harvest the water from the same source as tap water, along with other natural water sites. Governments of many countries willingly signed these agreements because they provided new revenue sources to cash-poor governments (Farhar 1995). Bottled water was a highly profitable product due to its low cost and relatively high sales price. For example, a 2019 Consumer Reports analysis found that for every one dollar that consumers spent on bottled water they could have spent less than 1/1000 of a dollar for the same amount of tap water (Felton 2019). The manufacturing process used twice as much water as filled the bottle, and in countries where clean safe water was scarce, this created outrage among consumer due to the wasting of water to create bottled water (Arcadia Blog 2017). While bottled water was drunk out of concern for the quality of tap water, bottled water did not face the same public health and environmental regulations nor rigorous quality tests compared to tap water. The other result of the message of purity in a bottle communicated by bottle water companies was the notion that it was purer than tap water, and in this way further increased consumers’ concerns about tap water. Nestlé, as a strong and financially sound corporation had become a global leader in many of the markets in which it operates. Thus, it had the financial resources available to solve the large and interconnected environmental and social issues if it made the choice to do so. However, they faced several issues. They lacked credibility because of their past negative words and actions around plastic waste, water harvesting and other societal issues. Nestlé allowed its competition (e.g. Coca-Cola, Danone and PepsiCo) to get ahead of it with research development activities and government initiatives, Nestlé found itself in the position of having to meet environmental standards set by other companies, rather than acting from a leadership position.

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Post-sale, how should Mark Schneider react to the continued criticism of Nestlé’s bottled water brands for contributing to plastic bottle waste and water harvesting?

5

Lessons Learned

1. When companies publicly behave badly and over time, they have to work even harder to overcome the public knowledge of previous bad actions. Words alone will be insufficient. It may be necessary to demonstrate changes through concerted actions and providing extra value to others. To create a reputation for positive action, Nestlé must meet, and if possible exceed the plastic reduction targets for plastic set by its global competitors. Danone currently has the most aggressive targets. By 2021, Danone will launch 100% recycled PET bottles in all its major water markets. By 2025, it will reach 50% recycled PET for its water and beverage bottles. By 2030, Coca-Cola’s plastic bottles will be made from 50% recycled material. By 2025, PepsiCo will reduce 35% of virgin plastic use across its beverage portfolio (Arthur 2020). Nestlé Institute for Packaging Sciences may have been created to develop alternative packaging materials for the company’s benefits and to control their use. One way to develop a reputation for transparency would be to share the technology and processes that it discovers with other organizations including its competition and public institutions. 2. Being reactive to crises rather than proactive, means that decisions about how to fix them may be made without a company’s participation or agreement. Then, the company is forced to react, and sometimes without much time, when the changes become industry standards, or regulations or laws imposed by government. By allowing its competition (e.g. Coca-Cola, Danone and PepsiCo) to get ahead of it with research development activities and government initiatives, Nestlé found itself in the position of having to meet environmental standards set by other companies, rather than acting from a leadership position. Nestlé should continue its efforts to join and support industry-based organizations as well as begin working with government in a non-litigious way to be proactive in dealing with these issues.

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3. Companies must start now to solve these global issues rather than waiting, have a corporate wide plan, an ongoing monitoring system and commit financial resources over the long term for their resolution. Environmental sustainability issues should not be dealt with independent of other social issues including food scarcity, labour violations, poverty, gender and gender orientation and diversity. While each must be considered and resolved on its own merit the solutions should not create problems in other areas. For Nestlé, moving from plastic to aluminium solves the problem of plastic waste but increases the company’s carbon footprint. Introducing plant-based packaging has the potential to create food scarcity. Substituting alternative packaging materials will be a complicated and long-term initiative however, Nestlé has the financial resources available. 4. While senior management may not have responsibility for day-to-day decisions and details of implementation, their words are powerful signals to employees and external stakeholders of the company’s real intentions. Their role is also critical in creating positive relationships with other major organizations, shareholders and investors and these relationships support the achievement of non-financial goals. The words of Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, CEO from 1997 to 2008 and still on the Board in 2018, as to whether people have the right to free water, still haunt the company. Publicly communicating the change in attitude at Nestlé should start with adding new board members who have strong positive environmental reputations. 5. Environmental and activist investors’ opinions as well as global rankings may influence the decision whether to invest in a company. Over the long term, poor opinions and rankings may have a negative impact on the company’s financial position. When executives, directors and security analysts were asked which companies they admire most, Nestlé did not do as well as its large global competitors. Nestlé ranked #46, while Coca-Cola was ranked ahead of it at #22 along with Pepsi at #39 (Fortune 2021). On one ESG rating, Nestlé received a total ESG Risk score of 28 which makes it a medium risk and earned a ‘3’ Controversy Level, which is considered significant (Yahoo Finance 2021). Nestlé’s mistakes in handling environmental sustainability issues as well as other societal issues have played a part in these scores. In 2020, and for the third year in a row, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Nestlé received

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recognition as one of Top 10 Global Polluters. Rather than publicly challenging the information about its actions, Nestlé should work with the rating organizations to understand what actions it needs to take to improve to its score.

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Discussion Questions

1. Why haven’t companies responded decisively to demands to stop using plastic bottles? 2. Consumers continue to buy plastic water bottles and yet express concerns about plastic bottles and the environment. This suggests a disconnect between environmentally conscious attitudes and buying behaviour. Marketing theory would say that behaviour flows from attitudes, so why aren’t consumers’ behaviours linked to their attitudes, in this instance? 3. While meeting short-term financial goals for revenue and profit is necessary for survival, corporate sustainability is achieved by meeting economic, environmental and social (EES) performance objectives. However, there is disagreement as to whether companies are meeting their environmental objectives. Some of those who have spent time observing the behaviour of companies, criticize them for greenwashing. Commentators such as Auden Schendler makes the case that the corporate sustainability movement has failed. Others such as Matt Polsky disagree. Outline the arguments of the two authors. Are they disagreeing completely, or seeing the situation from different perspectives?

7

Activity-Based Assignment

Marketers must be responsive to consumer needs and wants of the problem recognition step in the classic Consumer Decision Model. In this case, we discussed how companies developed the bottled water market into a billion dollar global market but created environmental problems. Select a different product or service, and document how the company, in meeting consumers’ needs/wants, it is exacerbating an existing environmental problem.

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“Clean Hunza Project”: Responsible Consumption for a Sustainable Tourism Hina Y. Bhatti , M. Mercedes Galan-Ladero , and Clementina Galera-Casquet

1

Introduction

Responsible consumption is a key issue and a priority today. For this reason, the United Nations included it in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as SDG 12 (“Sustainable Consumption and Production”). However, responsible consumption can be studied from different perspectives. In this case, we are going to study its link with tourism and, specifically, what happens with responsible consumption in tourist areas. On the other hand, tourism is a source of income and development for local communities: infrastructure is enhanced, new jobs are

H. Y. Bhatti Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan e-mail: [email protected] H. Y. Bhatti · M. M. Galan-Ladero (B) · C. Galera-Casquet University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain e-mail: [email protected] C. Galera-Casquet e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_25

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created, and the quality of life of the local population is improved (UNWTO, 2021b). Thus, tourism may be a great opportunity, especially for developing countries (Q-Global, 2018). But tourism may also be a source of problems (e.g., demographic, economic, socio-cultural, environmental, etc.)—Garcia (2020), Sustaining Tourism (2008), Aware Impact (2019)—if it is not properly managed. Consequently, sustainable and responsible tourism is encouraged, to obtain the advantages of conventional tourism while avoiding its disadvantages or negative effects. But, how to promote responsible consumption in tourist areas? How to adopt the concept of sustainable tourism in a developing country like Pakistan? How to turn a popular tourist destination into a waste-free region, for example? To answer these questions, we propose to analyze the case study of “Clean Hunza Project”, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative promoted by Nestle Pakistan in collaboration with other partners (District Council Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan Waste Management Company, and Karakoram Area Development Organization) since 2019. It focused on creating a recycling and waste segregation system for Hunza, a Pakistani district that has become a popular nature destination for both domestic and international tourists. As holidaymakers take packaged products when they visit the region and leave such waste there, local authorities have to face the problem of how to manage this waste, especially during the tourist season. The aim of this initiative is to promote sustainable tourism through responsible consumption and ensure that the region is free of waste. This case serves to stimulate discussion on (ir)responsible behavior in addressing the (ir)responsible and (un)sustainable tourism concept, especially in developing countries. It identifies the role of the different stakeholders in this topic, by examining the effectiveness of this CSR initiative led by Nestle.

2

Theoretical Background

In this section, and prior to the development of the case, different key concepts of this case study will be defined and theoretically described: responsible consumption, sustainable tourism, and plastic waste.

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Responsible Consumption

Responsible consumption is a key issue and a priority today because, to achieve sustainable development, there must first be responsible and sustainable consumption and production. For this reason, the United Nations included it in the Sustainable Development Goals as SDG 12 (“Responsible Consumption and Production”). Sustainable consumption and production are considered as one of the three objectives or requirements of sustainable development (to foster economic but also social development), along with poverty eradication and natural resource management (The United Nations, 2021b). Thus, fundamental changes in the way that societies produce and consume are indispensable to achieve global sustainable development (The United Nations, 2021b). The constant growth of the world’s population and the drive for greater economic growth regardless of the means used, has led to consuming more resources than the planet can generate (and natural resources are not infinite, the planet has a limited capacity—according to the UN, “if human activity continues at current rate, 3 planets will be needed to sustain the current lifestyles by 2050”), which will lead to increased pollution and waste generation (European Commission, 2021). Consequently, there has been a serious and dangerous deterioration of the environment, an environmental degradation. Therefore, the proposal is to “do more and better with less ”; that is, to increase resource efficiency (e.g., by creating more efficient production and supply chains, which can help with food security) and promote sustainable lifestyles (The United Nations, 2021a, b). And this requires commitment at both the individual and collective levels (European Commission, 2021): – Individually: people should strive to try to reduce their own waste and carbon footprint. – Collectively: global and coordinated action is required to shift tangibly and sustainably to responsible consumption and production worldwide. “Governments, international organizations, the business sector, and other non-state actors and individuals must contribute to changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns” (The United Nations, 2021a, b).

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Responsible consumption implies adopting a critical and conscious attitude toward the purchasing decisions made, considering not only the economic but also the social and environmental consequences that they have, trying to reduce their negative impact. Thus, the main goals of responsible consumption by 2030 are (Ritchie and Oriz-Ospina, 2018): (1) to implement a global framework for sustainable consumption and production; (2) to sustainably manage and use natural resources; (3) to halve food waste per capita in the world; (4) to responsibly manage chemicals and waste; (5) to substantially reduce waste generation; (6) to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable practices and sustainability reporting; (7) to promote sustainable public procurement practices; (8) to promote universal understanding of sustainable lifestyles; (9) to support the scientific and technological capacity of developing countries for sustainable consumption and production; (10) to develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable tourism; (11) to remove market distortions that encourage wasteful consumption. Although the COVID-19 pandemic initially offered an opportunity to reconsider and shift current trends toward a more sustainable future, “a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet ” (The United Nations, 2021a, b), we will have to wait for seeing if the situation evolves toward a transition to low-carbon and green economies, and substantial poverty alleviation (The United Nations, 2021a, b). However, responsible consumption can be studied from different perspectives. In this case, we are going to study its link with tourism and, specifically, with responsible consumption in tourist areas. 2.2

Sustainable Tourism

Until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, tourism had experienced continuous growth over the last decades, deepening diversification toward new destinations, different lifestyles, etc., and increasing global competition among destinations. Tourism “had become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, turning into a key drive for socio-economic progress ” (UNWTO, 2021b). Thus, tourism had become one of the key sources of income and job creation for many countries (UNWTO, 2021b), developed and developing (in the latter, it has become their main export, thanks to the comparative advantages they have in the provision of tourism

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services, alleviating poverty, fostering diversification, and local development (UNWTO, 2004). Tourism has also produced economic and labor benefits in many related sectors (e.g., the hospitality industry, the food industry, the transport sector, the construction sector, the telecommunications industry, etc.). However, “the contribution of tourism to economic well-being depends on the quality and the revenues of the tourism offer. Particularly developing countries stand to benefit from sustainable tourism and act to help make this a reality” (UNWTO, 2021b). But tourism has current and future demographic, economic, environmental, social, cultural, political, and legal impacts (Garcia, 2020; Sustaining Tourism, 2008; Aware Impact, 2019): – Demographic impact: e.g., movement of people (migration) to work, or live, in tourist areas; but also “emigration” of the local population from tourist neighborhoods. – Economic impact: e.g., job creation, economic development, increased income, trade opportunities, poverty alleviation. But also, inflation (e.g., increased product prices, especially in basic goods and services) and speculation (e.g., housing prices and rents); lowquality, low-paid, and unstable or seasonal employment; destruction of other sectors of activity. – Environmental impact: on natural resources (overuse, degradation), on biodiversity (wildlife—danger in conservation of native species, loss of native habitats, destruction of local ecosystems), on climate change (e.g., due to airplanes and ships, and air conditioning machines in hotels and tourist facilities); (un)controlled urban development which changes the natural environment, on local ecosystems; urbanization of protected areas of high ecological value; loss of public space (e.g., private beaches for hotels), landscape changes; soil erosion, deforestation; consumption patterns (high consumption of food, energy, water—sometimes in scarce regions—; e.g., for swimming pools or golf courses); pollution (uncontrolled dumping; and, in particular, plastic waste—difficulties and problems in managing a larger amount of waste). – Socio-cultural impacts: e.g., adaptation to different cultures (timetables, languages, …), protection of cultural heritage, changes in lifestyles, livelihoods and human well-being, promotion of local culture and products. But also destruction of traditions, trivialization of culture (cultural traditions become a mere spectacle for tourists),

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loss of local identity; deterioration of historical—artistic heritage (by increased use); negative influence on values, customs, behaviors, and consumption habits of the local population; cultural changes; generation of dysfunctions and harmful effects on the daily life of local communities, decrease or deterioration of their quality of life; increase of delinquency (vandalism, drug trafficking, begging, …); collapse of basic services (sanitation, cleaning, emergency, security). – Political and legal impacts: e.g., travel facilitation, infrastructure development, legislation on tourist activities, protection of natural areas, employment policies, etc. Sustainable tourism (or Responsible tourism1 ) seeks to avoid the negative consequences of tourism development (e.g., overtourism, unsustainable tourism, irresponsible tourism, polluting tourism, etc.). Thus, sustainable tourism is defined as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities ” (UNWTO, 2021a). Sustainable tourism can be applicable to all forms of tourism, and in all kinds of destinations. Sustainable tourism was included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), with the aim of promoting it, and is related to the other SDGs. Thus, sustainable tourism is based on 3 dimensions, which must be balanced to ensure its long-term sustainability (UNWTO, 2021a): economic, environmental, and social (see Table 1). Sustainable tourism development “requires the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders ” (UNWTO, 2021a), including “indigenous people, local communities, visitors, industry, and government ” (Sustaining Tourism, 2008). “Achieving sustainable tourism is a continuous process and it requires constant monitoring of impacts, introducing the necessary preventive and/or 1 As the word “sustainability” is usually overused, another term, “responsible tourism”, has been introduced by the industry. Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Tourism “have the same goal (sustainable development) and the same pillars (economic, socio-cultural, and environmental objectives). The difference between them is the emphasis on responsibility in responsible tourism: individuals, organizations, and businesses are asked to take responsibility for their actions and the impacts of their actions” (Sustaining Tourism, 2021). Anyway, the term responsustable tourism was coined to link these two words and show that the current approach to responsible tourism behavior is rooted in the concept of sustainable tourism (Mihalic, 2016).

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Table 1

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Dimensions in Sustainable Tourism

Dimension

Explanation

Economic

To ensure viable long-term economic transactions, providing socioeconomic benefits that are fairly distributed to all stakeholders, including stable employment and income-generating opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation To make efficient use of the natural resources that represent a key aspect of tourism development, supporting critical ecological processes and contributing to the preservation of the natural heritage and biodiversity To respect the socio-cultural authenticity of the host communities, protect their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and foster intercultural understanding and tolerance

Environmental

Social

Source Adapted from UNWTO (2021a)

corrective measures whenever necessary” (UNWTO, 2021a). Sustainable tourism “must also maintain a high level of tourist satisfaction and ensure a meaningful experience for tourists, raising their awareness of sustainability issues and promoting sustainable tourism practices amongst them” (UNWTO, 2021a). In short, sustainable tourism “should support biodiversity conservation, social welfare, and economic security of host countries and communities ” (UNWTO, 2021a). Its main aims are also summarized in Table 2. 2.3

The Problem of Plastic Waste

Although plastic is versatile and long-lasting, cheap, and disposable (Greenpeace, 2020), it is also a non-biodegradable substance that takes a long time to decompose, remaining microplastics in the air, soil, and water for hundreds of years (Bhatti et al., 2021). Consequently, plastics, and specifically plastic waste, have become a global pressing problem. Plastic waste generates pollution that has a direct effect on (Bhatti et al., 2021): – The environment: it affects climate change and damages ecosystems—because it is impossible to remove microplastics from soil, rivers, and oceans; in addition, sea and wildlife animals are killed by plastics (by entanglement or starvation).

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Table 2 Main aims in Sustainable Tourism, established by the Cape Town Declaration (2002) . To minimize negative social, economic, and environmental impacts . To generate greater economic benefits for local people and enhance the well-being of host communities . To improve working conditions and access to the industry . To involve local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances . To make positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage embracing diversity . To provide more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social, and environmental issues . To provide access for physically challenged people . To be culturally sensitive, to encourage respect between tourists and hosts, and to build local pride and confidence Source Cape Town Declaration (2002)

Table 3 Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (by the United Nations)—Commitments by 2025 The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative “requires tourism organizations to make a set of concrete and actionable commitments by 2025: . To eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging and items. . To take action to move from single-use models to reuse models or reusable alternatives. . (To engage the value chain to) move towards 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging. . To take steps to increase the amount of recycled content in all plastic packaging and items used. . To collaborate and invest to increase plastic recycling and composting rates. . To report publicly and annually on progress made towards these goals ”. Source UNWTO (2021c)

– Public health: it has harmful effects on human health when people inhale polluted air (when plastic is burned in the open air, poisonous chemicals are added to the environmental pollution), or drink contaminated water (when plastic is dumped on land, hazardous chemicals seep underground and directly affect the quality of water); and when microplastics and toxic chemicals used in plastic manufacturing enter the food chain. Consequently, all this has an impact on people’s quality of life (QOL).

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Thus, the objective is to reduce and prevent the use of plastic worldwide (in particular, single-use plastic packaging and plastic bags2 ) and to protect the environment. For this reason, the United Nations “are working together with Member States, UN Agencies, civil society groups, and the private sector, to help reduce plastic consumption worldwide, raise awareness, and support efforts to find global, regional, and local solutions ” (The United Nations, 2020). And the United Nations have included it as a priority in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 Agenda; and have led global campaigns to reduce its use (e.g., “Beat Plastic Pollution”, in 2018)—Bhatti et al. (2021). On the other hand, and although recycling can be a lucrative business (a $200 billion industry—Coca-Cola Journey, 2019), in most countries it is still perceived as a governmental issue rather than a personal responsibility (Coca-Cola Journey, 2019). In addition, the effectiveness of recycling is limited by (Greenpeace, 2020): (1) faulty and poor packaging design; (2) lack of infrastructure; (3) lack of means to track plastic waste; and (4) lack of regulations (especially in developing countries). Therefore, plastic pollution is more visible in developing countries in Asia and Africa, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent (Parker, 2019). Most plastics are used in tourist places (e.g., mineral water bottles, bags, FMCG3 packaging, single-use cutlery, glasses, and dishes, etc.) and these plastics cannot be recycled, especially in developing countries, because they have no facilities for that and “there is no way to dispose of these, creating mountains of plastic”. Thus, plastic waste damages the aesthetic value of tourist destinations, causing a decrease in tourismrelated revenues and higher economic costs related to cleaning and maintenance of the sites. “The problem of plastic pollution in tourism is too big, and changes need to take place across the whole tourism value chain” (UNWTO, 2021a). Therefore, tourism businesses have made great strides toward reducing

2 Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are usually packaged in single-use and singleportion plastic (Greenpeace, 2020), which generates an excessive amount of waste. Unnecessary packaging could be removed, and essential packaging could be made of eco-friendly reusable and/or refillable material. And more environment-friendly and biodegradable bags (e.g., cloth or paper bags) could be used as an alternative to plastic bags (Bhatti et al., 2021). 3 Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

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and minimizing their impact on the environment. Worldwide, tourism stakeholders are working closely together and taking a systemic approach through the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative.

3

Case Development

The problem of plastic waste is also a challenge in Pakistan. Nowadays, a growing number of for-profit and non-for-profit organizations are working to reduce plastic pollution in this country, particularly in tourist areas. But, how to achieve responsible consumption and adopt sustainable tourism in a developing country, like Pakistan? How to turn Hunza Valley, the country’s most popular tourist destination, into Pakistan’s first plasticfree district? To answer these questions, the case study of “Clean Hunza Project”, led by Nestle Pakistan, will be analyzed. A single case study was used as research design. According to Yin (2014), case studies place an object in context, and therefore allow detail, depth, and richness of data. Data on this case was collected using secondary data from publicly available on-line documents (including articles from the popular press) relating to this project. 3.1

Plastic Waste in Pakistan

In the case of Pakistan, the country is facing a lot of climatic and environmental issues (Kanwal, 2018; CIA, 2020). One of them is increasing pollution (air, water, land, and noise pollution—plastic pollution is specifically an outstanding issue nowadays). Pakistan generates 250 million tons of garbage (WWF Pakistan, 2020), which include food scraps, plastic bags, and PET bottles at a higher percentage than other countries of similar socio-economic development and income level (Coca-Cola Journey, 2019). According to Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency—PEPA (2019), 55 billion tons of plastic were being used annually, and plastic pollution increased by 15 percent every year (Coca-Cola Pakistan, 2020). In addition, Pakistan has the highest percentage of mismanaged plastic in South Asia (CIA, 2020). Moreover, there were hardly any laws or rules on plastic pollution in Pakistan. Although since 2019 Pakistan has completely banned singleuse plastic bags, the plastic ban has been only implemented in some

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specific tourist areas (e.g., Hunza) and large Pakistani cities (Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi). Waste management is one of the major health and environmental concerns in Pakistan (Naqvi, 2021). 3.2

Tourism in Pakistan: Hunza Valley

Pakistan is a developing country that has beautiful landscapes, especially in the northern areas and the Kashmir region, combining rivers, deserts, lakes, waterfalls, springs, and glaciers. Although Pakistan’s tourism industry has not flourished as in other countries, it has some impact on Pakistan’s economy (Fig. 1). In Pakistan, the World Travel and Tourism Report (2020) shows that, in 2019, total travel and tourism GDP was PKR 2,285.8 BN (USD 16,756.5 MN) plus 4.7% of GDP growth vs. plus 3.3% of real economy GDP growth. Total employment was 3,881,900 people (6.2%). And international visitors spent PKR 116.2 BN. Hunza Valley is a very famous Pakistani mountainous area in GilgitBaltistan, between Pakistan’s Karakoram Highway and China’s Xinjiang Province. Hunza Valley, as a tourist spot, was discovered in 1970 and foreign tourists started to visit this attractive Valley. Hunza is a district of Gilgit-Baltistan, located on the Karakoram Highway. Hunza has an altitude of 2500 m, and more than 52,000 people 1127

Tourism Revenue (Million USD )

1200 986 1000

950

1014

998

938

971

948

915

865

845

2017

2018

790 800 600 400 200 0 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2019

Year

Fig. 1 Pakistan’s Tourism Revenue Chart (from 1995 to 2019) (Source Adapted from Knoema [2021])

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live in that area. In recent years, it has emerged as an attractive and highly popular tourist destination, with about one million tourists (local and foreign) every year (Naqvi, 2021). Hunza Valley is considered one of the top tourist destinations in Pakistan and it is also called the “Switzerland of Asia”. Hunza Valley became the first plastic-free district in Pakistan, and probably even in Asia. The valley could gain a greater share of international tourism by adopting sustainable tourism (Naqvi, 2021). 3.3

Plastic Problem in Hunza Valley

On the one hand, tourism has generated significant income for the local community but, on the other hand, it has also had an adverse impact on the natural environment because plastic waste has increased substantially in the area (Nestle, 2021). Tourists demand packaged products, or take them with them; but after consuming them, they leave such waste in Hunza (Nestle, 2021). In some cases, it was shocking to see so much plastic waste on roadsides and riverbanks, and in designated dumpsites. The waste segregation and management system in the area is provided by Gilgit-Baltistan Waste Management Company (GBWMC) and District Council Hunza (Nestle, 2021). A study cited by Muhammad (2019) estimated that “about 70,000 plastic bags were used and discarded every month in the Hunza Valley, and more than 200,000 Kgs. of plastic and paper packaging waste was collected annually, which significantly increased in the tourist season”. And the forecasts for the following years were that this waste would continue to increase significantly. To solve this problem of plastic waste, or at least alleviate it until the goal of a waste-free region by 2025 is achieved, thus protecting the natural environment, the provincial government collaborated with the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency and the Karakoram Area Development Organization “to launch a pilot ban, which aims to clean up the valley in an effort to reduce its plastic waste and pollution” (Muhammad, 2019). Thus, Hunza became the first Pakistani district to ban plastic shopping bags by the end of April 2019. The idea was to restore the use of cloth bags, avoiding plastic bags. The local government initially provided 10,000 shopping bags donated by Nestle (Nestle, 2021), carrying slogans about the anti-plastic campaign, and distributed them free of charge locally. And since additional bags would be produced locally, some jobs could be provided (“at least 50

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Table 4 Nestle’s “Creating Shared Value” philosophy

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Priority

Goals

Creating share value

Nutrition, water, rural development Protect the future Laws, business principles, codes of conduct

Sustainability Protect the future

Source Adapted from Nestle (2020)

local women and more than a dozen disabled people would be hired to stitch bags ”—Muhammad, 2019). The plastic bag ban would be the beginning because the real goal was “to expand the ban to all national parks in the Northern Territory and to all disposable plastic items ” (Muhammad, 2019). That is, to phase out single-use plastic items and introduce reusable alternatives, to achieve the goal of having a plastic-free region. 3.4

Nestle Pakistan

Nestlé is a leading global FMCG4 company with one of the broadest product portfolios. It is currently present in 191 countries, and has 328,000 employees (Nestle, 2020). Nestle’s purpose is “to improve people’s quality of life and contribute to a healthier future” (GBee, 2019). Nestle Pakistan Ltd. Is a subsidiary of Nestle S.A., and the largest food processing company in the country. It was founded in 1988. Nestle Pakistan has launched different product categories in the country, such as Diary, Coffee, Water, Juices, Infant Nutrition, Breakfast Cereals, and Nestle Professional (Nestle Pakistan, 2021). Nestle believes in the philosophy of “Creating Shared Value” (Table 4). Nestle also linked the UN Sustainable Development Goals to Creating Shared Value (Table 5). For several years now, Nestlé has been firmly committed to addressing the plastic problem. Nestle’s commitment is to “make 100% of its packaging reusable or recyclable by 2025” (Naqvi, 2021), paying particular attention to avoiding the generation of more plastic waste. But as tackling packaging waste requires a collective approach, Nestle Pakistan has 4 Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

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Table 5

Nestle’s Sustainability Goals

Priority

Goals

Individuals and Families Communities

Food and Nutrition Security, Over- and Under-Nutrition, Responsible Marketing and Influence, Food and Product safety Animal Welfare, Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation, Responsible Sourcing and Traceability, Women’s Empowerment, Business Ethics, Human Rights, Fair Employment and Youth Employability, Employee Safety, Health and Wellness Water Stewardship, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Natural Resource, Stewardship, Climate Change, Resource Efficiency, (Food) Waste and the Circular Economy

Planet

Source Adapted from Nestle (2020)

developed different initiatives in partnerships with local and regional authorities,5 and public and non-profit organizations, to find improved solutions to plastic waste (to “reduce, reuse, and recycle”), such as “Clean Green Pakistan” or “Clean Hunza Project”. The latter will be analyzed in this case. 3.5

Clean Hunza Project

Nestle Pakistan, in collaboration with District Council Hunza, GilgitBaltistan Waste Management Company (GBWMC), and Karakoram Area Development Organization (KADO), has led the “Clean Hunza Project” (Fig. 2). The project is supported by the company’s “Nestlé Fruita Vitals” and “Nestlé Pure Life” brands. This project is an example of Nestle Pakistan’s interest in minimizing the impact of packaging waste on the environment. Among the various initiatives that Nestle Pakistan undertakes, this project tries to develop an infrastructure for waste segregation and improvement of its management and recycling system (GBee, 2019), and in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12 and 17 (“Responsible Consumption and Production”, and “Partnership for the Goals ”).6 5 It is well known that “companies must be sensitive to the local needs of the country in which they operate” (Gunawan et al, 2020), in order to be successful with their CSR initiatives. 6 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) “is one of the tools used to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”—Gunawan et al (2020).

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Fig. 2 “Clean Hunza Project” (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021])

Clean Hunza Project (Fig. 3), a pilot initiative which is the first of its kind in the region, focuses on the waste segregation and recycling system for Hunza, supporting the management of about 200,000 Kgs of plastic and paper packaging waste in 2021 (Nestle, 2021), with a forecast to increase waste collection to 220,000 Kgs by 2024 (GBee, 2019), and eventually lead to 1,000 tons by 2025 to achieve the goal of becoming a waste-free region and promote sustainable tourism in the district (Naqvi, 2021). In addition to the project, Nestle has also donated 10,000 reusable bags (Naqvi, 2021) to the District Council Hunza for further distribution among the communities during 2021 (Fig. 4); and KADO will extend its support to different community awareness initiatives for communities and different stakeholders in the area (GBee, 2019). In addition to the project, Nestlé has also made donations. Thus, for example, it has donated 10,000 reusable bags to Hunza District Council, to be distributed, during 2021, among the local population residing in the area (Naqvi, 2021)—Fig. 4; and KADO has also extended (and will extend) its support to different awareness-raising initiatives, both for the local communities in general, and for the different stakeholders in the area (GBee, 2019). This initiative was promoted in two phases (Hussain, 2020):

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Fig. 3 “Clean Hunza Project”, by Nestle Pakistan (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021])

Fig. 4 Reusable bags donated by Nestle Pakistan (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021])

– Phase I: the company would encourage waste management of nearly 150,000 Kgs. of plastics per year, and – Phase II: collection of 50,000 Kgs. of paper packaging (used in bricks and other beverage cartons). This figure would increase by 10 percent annually.

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Fig. 5 Plastic waste process (Source Nestle Pakistan [2021])

As part of the “Clean Hunza Project”, Nestle Pakistan has installed a machine to press packaging waste. The shipment of compressed plastic bails to be transported downstream would complete the waste minimization cycle and foster the circular economy. This recycling process “will have a very healthy impact on the environment of Hunza as well as the overall beauty of the place” (Naqvi, 2021, Fig. 5). 3.6

Interventions

Therefore, in order for this initiative to succeed and actually create a waste-free zone in Hunza Valley, different complementary interventions can be carried out with the different key stakeholders involved in the “Clean Hunza Project”7 : – Residents (local community): residents would be helped to understand and accept the need to change their plastic use habits and introduce alternatives in line with community traditions. Actions: · to raise awareness of the problems related to plastic pollution. e.g., a series of information and education sessions on plastic pollution and its effect on the environment and human health, given by prestigious scientists born in the region, such as Dr. Fozia Tahir (she was appreciated in her community and she could also speak in the local language—“Wakhi”), or by EPA officials who spoke to the elders. Students from local schools

7 “Only when government policies, public and business participation are engaged together, the SDGs ultimately be achieved” (Gunawan et al., 2020).

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also presented their science model to the community to show the importance of conserving the natural environment. The main challenge was to break this cycle of convenience created by cheap plastic products (e.g., plastic bags were given away for free in shops). It was necessary to demonstrate that cloth could be convenient—in the form of reusable cloth bags. So free batches of reusable cloth bags were provided to local residents (volunteers went door-todoor to deliver the bags and share information and raise awareness of this issue), funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the United Nations Development Program,8 and individual donors such as Dr. Fozia Tahir (for her village). All the batches of bags served as good reminders to the community to do their bit to reach the plastic-free goal. · To show a business opportunity by using scrap fabrics to create bags and selling them in the store to generate additional income. · To encourage collective efforts to tackle the problem. e.g., talks led to collective actions, such as a clean-up campaign in Khyber, organized by the village: to collect, bag, and transport trash with the help of a local waste management authority. – Authorities: local and regional authorities could encourage responsible consumption, by law (establishing bans—e.g., banning plastic bags), and with social marketing campaigns (awareness campaigns, mainly; and handing out free cloth bags, replacing plastic ones). National authorities could also contribute to responsible consumption by enacting laws for the whole country. – Environmental scientists: they could provide scientific explanations of the consequences or implications of plastic waste. They have great credibility in the local community, especially if they belong to it. In this case, their implications were especially relevant (e.g., Dr. Fozia Tahir). – Tourists: since tourists visiting the region often choose this destination to enjoy nature, they should be even more aware of the problem

8 Funding was provided on the condition that recipients of the bags received information on POPs (persistent organic pollutants—poisonous chemical substances found in plastics).

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generated by plastic waste and avoid leaving this type of garbage in the area. Therefore, they should be given information about this issue (for example, in travel agencies, tourist guides, or even in the accommodations where they stay), or enforce the impossibility of buying plastic bags in local stores. In this way, they could be encouraged to adopt a responsible behavior and be aware of the need to collaborate in the preservation of the natural environment they visit. The installation of garbage containers at certain points along the typical recommended tourist routes, or signs indicating the prohibition of littering outside specially designated areas, or even the imposition of fines on those who litter the natural environment, could encourage tourists to adopt the desired behavior. Social marketing campaigns targeted specifically at this audience (tourists) could be very useful in achieving the desired responsible behavior and reducing plastic pollution in the area. – Businesses: companies, especially multinationals, which use plastic packaging in their products, and are internationally known for their social responsibility and particularly for their commitment to recycling their packaging. They should also get involved and demonstrate their sustainability and their fight against plastic pollution in Pakistan. In fact, companies such as Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Nestle are already doing so. On the other hand, plastic collection companies, such as Gilgit-Baltistan Waste Management Company, have a great business opportunity. It is important that they do their job well and manage plastic waste (and its recycling) correctly, due to the significant impact they have on the environment and people’s quality of life. – Public and Non-profit organizations: they know the situation in detail, and they can support the authorities in making the most appropriate decisions with all the available information. In this case, the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency and the Karakoram Area Development Organization have played a key role.

4

Conclusions

This case study focuses on the link between responsible consumption and tourism, also considering the pollution generated (especially, plastic waste). On the one hand, responsible consumption is a priority issue,

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included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On the other hand, tourism is a significant source of income and development for local communities, but it also has negative implications. One of these adverse impacts is pollution, and particularly plastic waste, which is one of the main environmental concerns around the world. The lack of infrastructure and regulations make it difficult to manage. Thus, how to promote responsible consumption in tourist areas? How to adopt the concept of sustainable tourism in a developing country like Pakistan? How to turn a popular tourist destination into a waste-free region? To answer these questions, the “Clean Hunza Project” has been analyzed. The main conclusions are the following: – It is possible to achieve the goal of making a region waste-free and promoting sustainable tourism through responsible consumption and improved recycling and waste management, but only if all key stakeholders (local and regional authorities, businesses, non-profit organizations, local residents, and tourists) collaborate. – Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and social marketing campaigns play a key role in raising awareness among tourists and local residents, about the need to be responsible consumers (especially in the consumption of plastic packaging), and designing effective interventions to reduce plastic waste and protect the natural environment. – Responsible tourism, especially in developing countries (due to their comparative advantages in the provision of tourism services), can be key to long-term sustainable socio-economic development. It can alleviate poverty in local communities, providing them with opportunities to diversify the local economy and thus increase their income, generate employment in the area, create small and microenterprises, increase the skills of residents to serve tourists, reduce gender inequalities and raise awareness of their culture and customs, protecting their historical and cultural heritage, and ultimately improving their quality of life. The analysis of this case aims to contribute to the literature on sustainable and responsible tourism. It is also intended to serve as an example

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for other tourist destinations that are affected by this same problem, especially in developing countries (which have fewer economic resources, less legislation, less infrastructure, and less technology).

5

Lessons Learned

Some lessons may be learned from this case: (1) The need to promote critical thinking about the consequences of tourism in developing countries, and especially about the problem of waste management (plastics, in particular), in order to protect the quality of life of their local communities and achieve long-term sustainable development. Tourism can be a great opportunity for developing countries because it can be an important source of income and can facilitate the development of local communities. However, it can also be a source of problems, such as excessive tourism, inflation and speculation, uncontrolled urban development, changes in the natural environment, increased pollution, and difficulties in waste management. It can also affect the quality of life of residents. It is therefore essential that new tourist destinations in developing countries are planned under a sustainable and responsible tourism approach that respects the natural environment and avoids pollution (especially plastic pollution). (2) CSR initiatives can help raise awareness of responsible consumption and offer solutions through the design of effective interventions. Corporate Social Responsibility can play a key role in promoting sustainable tourism and responsible consumption. Initiatives such as Nestle’s can help, with a very positive impact in the region. But interventions must be well designed to be effective. (3) The importance of involving different stakeholders and fostering collaboration among them. For a project of this type to be successful, it is essential that all stakeholders are involved and that there is collaboration among them, so that synergies can be obtained (each one cannot go its own way, without considering the others). In this case, we have seen how the initiative of one company (Nestle) has been supported by local and regional authorities (who have also taken the initiative to ban plastic bags throughout the

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whole area), by the scientific community, by public and non-profit organizations, by local businesses, and by the local community (which has become aware of the problem of plastic pollution) and, above all, by tourists (who have begun to accept and become aware of the need to reduce plastic consumption in order to protect the natural environment they have come to enjoy). (4) It is possible to achieve the goal of a waste-free region and promote sustainable tourism through responsible consumption, improving waste management and recycling. This case shows that it is possible to achieve the goal of having a waste-free region if all stakeholders are involved. Even in developing countries, such as Pakistan, where they have fewer resources, it is possible to achieve it. Planning a new tourism destination well and with a perspective of sustainability and responsibility, is key to achieve long-term sustainable development.

References 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations. Retrieved from: https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Gra phics%20and%20educational%20material/Responsible_tourism_bro_web.pdf Aware Impact (2019) 10 Negative Effects of Tourism You Should Know About. 8th November. Retrieved from: https://awareimpact.com/negative-effectsof-tourism/ Bhatti HY, Galan-Ladero MM, Galera-Casquet C (2021) Chapter 14—“Pakistan without waste”: Improving the quality of life through corporate social marketing. In Galan-Ladero, M. Mercedes; Rivera, Reynaldo G. (Ed.) Applied Social Marketing and Quality of Life. Case Studies from an International Perspective. 239–254. Switzerland: Springer. CIA–Central Intelligence Agency (2020) Pakistan. The world Factbook. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-fac tbook/. Accessed 15 Aug 2020. Coca-Cola Journey (2019). Official website. Retrieved from: https://www.cocacolajourney.com.pk. Accessed 10 Mar 2020. Coca-Cola Pakistan (2020). #PAKISTANWITHOUTWASTE. Coca-Cola and WWF-Pakistan’s first ever Plastic Recovery Hut successfully concludes in Lahore. Retrieved from: https://www.coca-cola.pk/news/events/coca-colaand-wwf-pakistans-first-ever-plastic-recovery-initiati. Accessed 15 Aug 2020.

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Parker L (2019) The World’s plastic pollution crisis explained. Retrieved from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com. Accessed 15 Aug 2020. PEPA–Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (2019) Official website. Retrieved from: https://environment.gov.pk/. Accessed 10 Mar 2020. Q-Global (2018) Ventajas e Inconvenientes del Turismo. https://www.qglobal. cat/es/noticias/ventajas-e-inconvenientes-del-turismo/ Ritchie R, Ortiz-Ospina M (2018) Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG-Tracker.org. Retrieved from: https://sdg-tracker. org/sustainable-consumption-production Sustaining Tourism (2008) Official website. Retrieved from: https://www.sustai nabletourism.net/ The United Nations (2020) Official website. Retrieved from: https://www. un.org. Accessed 15 Aug 2020. The United Nations (2021a) Official website. Retrieved from: https://sdgs.un. org/topics/sustainable-tourism The United Nations (2021b) Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelop ment/sustainable-consumption-production/ UNWTO (2004). Tourism Highlights. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10. 18111/9789284407910 UNWTO (2021a) Sustainable Development. Retrieved from: https://www. unwto.org/sustainable-development UNWTO (2021b) Why Tourism? Retrieved from: https://www.unwto.org UNWTO (2021c) Global Tourism Plastics Initiative. Retrieved from: https:// www.unwto.org/sustainable-development/global-tourism-plastics-initiative WWF Pakistan (2020) Official website. Retrieved from https://www.wwfpak. org/issues/plastic_waste_/. Accessed 15 Aug 2020. Yin R K (2014) Case Study Research Design and Methods (5th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Practicing Sustainable Socially Responsible Business Model in Developing Countries: A Case Study on HONEST Mohammad Osman Gani , Anisur R. Faroque , and G. M. Rakibul Hasan

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Introduction

Bangladesh as a developing country has a lot of growth opportunities. But what’s more important is that it has plenty of people in the lower and lower-middle class. These people often face problems when buying necessary items like food and clothes. And because of branding, companies often set prices much higher, making it almost impossible to buy these items. M. O. Gani (B) · G. M. R. Hasan Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Dhaka, Bangladesh e-mail: [email protected] A. R. Faroque School of Business and Management, LUT University, Lappeenranta, Finland e-mail: [email protected] M. O. Gani Graduate School of Humanities and Social Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_26

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This is where Honest comes in, one kind of a thrift shop, who offers different products with affordable price tags that anyone can buy. Ever since they emerged in the market, they’ve helped plenty of people to get the taste of products they never thought of getting. However, the problem here is Honest mostly runs on donations from higher-class people. At one time or another, they face a lack of funds. But as stated at first, Bangladesh is a developing country, which is full of growing organizations who need more focus on Corporate Social Responsibility. By partnering with Honest, they can provide sufficient never-ending funds, considering there isn’t a shortage of companies. This business model can help benefit both these companies and the people of Bangladesh. The companies are getting their name out in the world, strengthening their brand reputation. Also, they are helping the people in the name of CSR activities. For a country like Bangladesh, focusing on making necessary items is far more efficient than decorating roads and bridges. On top of that, Honest as an organization will be gathering more funds to operate with more efficiency.

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HONEST---A Sustainable Business Model

Syed Mohammad Abu Daud, a senior government officer (Commissioner of Income Tax) by trade, introduced this new concept in the industry. He is popularly known by his pen name “Badal Syed.” The role of HONEST is selling online to support people in need which perfectly matches with their “Stop selling-Start helping” theme. Nearly 17,000 middle and lower-middle-class individuals benefit from it.

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Source HONEST This business model is a framework for how HONEST creates value for its customers. Ultimately, it answers fundamental questions about the problem they are addressing, how they are solving it, and the growth opportunity within the given market. They are placing their value proposition through providing high quality products for a lesser price to their target group through an online platform and a Facebook group where they upload images of their selling items. Word-of-mouth works as an influential factor here. Their customer segment is divided into two parts where small merchants and local artisans are the main sellers and middleclass and higher-class people are the actual donors. The interesting part here is the revenue stream where they only keep 40% of the profit for office maintenance and other charity works. The remaining 60% is offered to the buyers who make the purchases. 2.1

Why a Sustainable Business Model?

Every company needs to grow its profit. But the ultimate way to grow their profit is growing their business. A sustainable business model can be a great way to make a business and its profit grow. Every company

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is getting inclined to do CSR activities. It is not improving their brand image but also motivating employee engagement. It is helping to engage with more clients and collaborate with other businesses. Honest is a platform where corporate organizations can make their investment worthwhile. As many companies get influenced by the Honest project, it will really help them to sustain and even in a broader aspect in the future. Sustainability initiatives can contribute to an organization’s success in addition to achieving transformative change. Spending more money on sustainable business practices may seem contradictory in terms of increasing profits, yet studies show that the most sustainable businesses are also the most successful. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators are frequently used to assess an organization’s ethical and long-term sustainability. Sustainability methods may be a short-term investment, but they can pay off in the long run. 2.2

HONEST: Why Socially Responsible Enterprise

This question may be addressed ethically by considering the goals and obligations of organized corporate entities. Analyses of the rights and privileges accorded business practices, as well as the interrelationships between these activities and societal well-being, may be included. Most businesses are beginning to specifically react to the principle of social responsibility and are doing so because it is strategically beneficial to the company’s reputation and financial success. However, there is a distinction to be made between a public relations stunt and a genuine attempt at social responsibility. Businesses create and adhere to very clear and far-reaching standards of conduct covering multiple facets of their social and environmental “footprints” in order to accomplish the above. HONEST is one such new business model and they named it “Business for Humanity” This is a company in which the investors do not benefit, capitalize, or return on their investment. The whole benefit would go into social work. They have made plans to sell donated items through a website network. They would be able to use the money raised on social work if people donate used/unused corner items such as bags, belts, shoes, jewelry, books, clothing, shoes, or something else. Many people would benefit from people’s donations. They can inbox them or send the items to the above-mentioned address if they have any queries or products to donate. HONEST would cover the expense of the courier.

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Using Corporate Social Responsibility as an Advantage

-Stop Selling, Start Helping.

This is the tagline of Honest. They call their business, the business for humanity. Without giving any focus on gaining profit, they are solely dedicated to providing lower and middle income people with affordable products. Needless to say, their tagline speaks everything of CSR or corporate social responsibility. Although there’s a problem. Honest was founded by a government officer. Even with donations from high income people, the lack of funds is certainly noticeable. This is where other organizations come in. There are plenty of corporate organizations who are willing to invest in organizations like Honest to increase their brand recognition and reputation. On top of that, they are performing their CSR activities. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The only problem is Honest isn’t that good with their external communication. Many organizations still know nothing about Honest and how they’re operating. Once they start prioritizing on their brand recognition, they’ll be sure to see rapid growth as there aren’t really any competitors. Missions undertaken by Honest. Helping underprivileged people by providing quality necessary goods at a lesser, affordable price. . Create and encourage entrepreneurs to sell products through us with a minimum markup. Usually, they are to sell us their item with a lower price than they sell in the usual market. . Ensure students living on a limited budget get necessary items and good food without breaking the bank. 2.4

Pay It Forward Initiative (Real Wallet)

HONEST has also launched a new initiative called “Pay it forward.” It provides required items to needy individuals in this category completely free of cost. This is their way of spreading kindness. In business terms, it’s called a real wallet. Assume you purchased something worth Tk.1000 from a company and received a Tk.10 cash refund. However, the company will not pay you

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in cash. It will be credited to your account, and when you go to buy a product from that company, you will receive a 10 Taka discount. Your cashback deposit, for example, is 1000 Taka. You can later purchase products from that company for Tk.1000 or receive a Tk.1000 discount on any product. You will not get that money, and you will not be able to spend it elsewhere if you need to. But what if a company created a “real wallet” for its customers? They can use it to get cash if they need it for an emergency, to pay for their child’s schooling, or for other things. There is no cost obligation on the part of the company that makes this wallet. It is similar to taking money out of a bank. It is up to the owner to spend it as he sees fit. Normally, no company creates such a genuine wallet for its customers. Because the buyer will not be able to be held accountable. HONEST, a charitable business organization, plans to create a “real wallet” for its members. ‘HONEST’ has opened a restaurant where food from other restaurants which costs around 400/500 taka will be sold for only 100 taka. Through this restaurant, they will create a “Real Wallet” for its patrons. If a customer spends 500 taka (5 meals) here, he will receive 10 taka in his wallet in exchange for a code number. The buyer has the option of withdrawing the money immediately or saving it and withdrawing it at a later date. The money will be given to the customers in cash. This charity arose from a desire to help the middle class, to whom they wish to provide delectable food. Even though the amount of “cashback” appears to be small, it is given without profit. This restaurant has made yet another thoughtful gesture as no one will be hungry when they leave the restaurant.

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SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is a technique to assess the 4 states: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, of a company. Over the years HONEST Bangla has developed its strong points; however, it still has many weaknesses. There are also unprecedented opportunities for the management to grab in the market and threats that they should be aware of. This can be summarized in a SWOT analysis below-

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Strengths

i. Word-of-Mouth Marketing (A Noteworthy Cause) Honest has a noteworthy cause that boosts their word-of-mouth marketing. While they do need to spend on marketing campaigns, the word-of-mouth marketing will always be an advantage for them. ii. No Direct Competition Currently, Honest doesn’t have any competitor. This means they can utilize the entire market if they can manage to acquire adequate funds. 3.2

Weaknesses

i. Lack of External Communication ‘Honest’ needs to create a buzz in the market to manage investors. Without the help of investors or corporate organizations, they won’t be able to expand to the larger target base. ii. Poor Online Presence Even if you Google “Honest,” the result isn’t satisfying. Moreover, their website isn’t up to mark for an organization of this scale. If they want to reach more people, they need to focus more on these factors. iii. Not Enough Profit Charity organizations never really focus on making profit but they still need something for the operational costs. However, Honest has somewhat of a disadvantage as they also have the Pay It Forward initiative. But they can easily solve this problem with investors.

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3.3

Opportunities

i. Expanding Their Product Range Because of budget shortage, Honest can’t focus on a lot of products. But if they can manage investors, focusing on other products can expand the organization. ii. Develop Partnerships/Sponsorships As of now, Honest isn’t partnered with any large-scale organization. They’re operating mostly with donations from higher income people. But gathering sponsorships can really give their operation a jumpstart. 3.4

Threats

i. Emerging E-commerces The primary advantage of Honest is they can provide products within an affordable price range. But nowadays, e-commerces are emerging where they are offering products at extremely cheap prices even though the delivery takes some time. ii. Corrupt Businessmen Simply placing an ad in a newspaper can cost a lot, and that does not guarantee that it will be effective. For the business to be known, a variety of strategies must be used, many of which cost money, but the organization must do that in order to catch the attention of their customers and also the donors.

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Methodology

Ethnographic or go-along interviews on social media sites are potentially one of the easiest ways to communicate with people who live in some far geographical areas or who way of eliciting rich data situated in specific leisure settings while building rapport and are pressed for time to perform a lengthy interview in one sitting. Go-along interviews are a great way

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to address the power imbalances that can characterize traditional interviews. It is also one of the safest ways to conduct the research in this time of great uncertainty. Conversational interviews, also known as go-along interviews (Burgess-limerick & Burgess-Limerick, 1998), involve a casual exchange of ideas. For this report, Gmail was used to communicate with five Bangladeshi respondents who were asked to answer three general research questions. The interviews were conducted in an informal, conversational tone via email. Respondents had ample time to ponder and answer questions that came up throughout the discussions, or they could choose to ignore ones they didn’t want to answer. Ethnographic interview was chosen because in this case the real environment needed to be observed. The customers of Honest need to be observed for a few days without disrupting their activities to come to the conclusion that their business model is actually helping people to maintain social stability. The observations of the research were matched against the business model and social theories to scale the findings of the project. It also helps to gain user experience, business development and for further ideation. So, an ethnographic group was chosen to gain new geographical experience via social media. The inquiry was done via social media because their platform was created on social media sites and their most sales was completed via online presence. A systematic sampling strategy was used to choose the respondents. The goal was to learn from people who have hands-on experience with e-commerce, sustainable company methods, and socially responsible consumption. Five of the eight people that were chosen and contacted agreed to receive mailings about the topic. Six primary concepts emerged from the online conversational conversations with the five respondents. Among the topics discussed were sustainability, a socially responsible approach, corporate social responsibility, secondhand shops, COVID-19, and an integrated approach. Following the data collection, a structural review was conducted, which included reading and re-reading each line of the transcripts. A clear initial classification was done on the most common terms and phrases repeated by respondents, as well as the sense in which they were represented.

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4.1

Exploring the Sustainable Socially Responsible Approach

This case study looks at the concept of a socially conscious business model that works to raise awareness and spread kindness. Organizations in various contexts can recognize various imperatives to address as time and position change. Simultaneously, there are basic human needs and a basis of action without which a call for social responsibility becomes empty and ineffective. It is important to distinguish between a publicity campaign and a sincere attempt at social responsibility. To achieve the above, businesses build and adhere to very specific and far-reaching standards of behavior that cover many aspects of their social and environmental footprints. HONEST does a lot more than just selling products for less money. They have a profit-sharing policy and support a diverse range of programs. This money comes from sales of goods and charity money from donors. HONEST also faces some unique challenges when it comes to attracting customers and converting sales as an online store. However, it also has a fantastic opportunity and a one-of-a-kind offering. It has a lot of unique pieces as well as a lot of collections. Many consumers would enjoy and be drawn to it because it is a more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to quick fashion. 4.2

Questions

Based on the whole concept of socially responsible approach, the following research questions were asked to this end: RQ1: RQ2: RQ3:

What underlies this growth of concern for socially responsible businesses such as HONEST? How are socially responsible approaches from HONEST being applied in practice? What are the challenges and possibilities of such a charity organization that support social causes to improve the community’s welfare and to protect the environment?

Here are the name and other participants

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Respondents’ Name (Pseudonym)

Position

Date

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Person Person Person Person Person

Brand Manager Marketing Specialist Head of E-commerce Digital Marketing Executive Senior E-commerce Officer

26 27 24 26 02

A B Z X Y

May May May May May

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The case study here addresses an example of a social business model focused on working for the society. While several case studies have been performed on national or foreign marketing strategies focused on purchases, such as the Komen’s Pink campaign or the Product RED campaign (Banet-Weiser & Lapsansky, 2008; Kuehn, 2009), few studies has concentrated on how a charity shop that works online performs its business and the effects of socially responsible consumption.

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Findings

The first research question asked respondents to explain why customers are becoming more concerned about socially responsible business. The majority of respondents claimed that businesses are conscious of their company’s reputation and that by enhancing it through social responsibility, they are growing awareness of their company. RQ1 created two overarching concepts: sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The majority of respondents agreed that socially responsible organizations that deal with social awareness initiatives may be successful in increasing company awareness because social responsibility interacts with audiences, especially younger audiences, and creates a sustainable atmosphere for the company. During the online discussions, respondents often discussed sustainability, societal marketing, cause-related marketing, and socially responsible organizations. As one of the respondents put it: Companies are strengthening their societal marketing game because it interacts with a wider audience and reaches the general public by word-ofmouth marketing.

Another respondent, who has worked as a brand manager for more than two years, said,

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This generation is very conscious of “social responsibility. We established a corporate social responsibility program last year that dramatically improved the company’s reputation and increased brand awareness.

The third respondent, a Head of marketing, stated: A socially responsible approach makes the whole company more trustworthy and therefore more easily activates a line of trustworthiness, and in this era of competition, acquiring a brand reputation among the group will work like magic.

Other respondents agreed, stating that when businesses strategically plan their cause-related marketing campaign and establish a sustainable socially responsible strategy, their main emphasis is on “creating knowledge about the company within the target audience.” The second research question looked at how HONEST’s socially conscious approaches are implemented in reality. Secondhand shopping and socially responsible consumption emerged as a major trend. Many people agreed that secondhand shopping could play an important role for a socially responsible business like HONEST. According to one respondent, the founder of HONEST, HONEST’s role is to sell online to support people in need which perfectly matches with our “Stop selling-Start helping theme.

Nearly 17,000 middle and lower-middle-class individuals profit from it. People need to be socially more responsible and seek for opportunities to make socially responsible consumption a habit. Another respondent believes that secondhand shopping will affect socially responsible consumption if the message is delivered correctly by the business in question. Another respondent, who is well-versed about HONEST, gave the following example: Look at HONEST with all the socially responsible approaches. They are providing a profit share option with their customers and recently also planned to launch a Real Wallet through which their customers can easily withdraw the profit share or cashback money.

Another respondent who went through their Facebook group and website said:

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Globally organizations like HONEST are nowhere to be seen. This is a relatively new business model that is focused on charitable donations and offers a wide range of products at a low price on their online platform. They have started a program called “pay it forward, in which they donate free products to those who cannot afford to meet their basic needs.”

The final research question asked respondents about the difficulties and opportunities of a charitable organization that supports social causes in order to improve the health of the community and protect the environment. COVID-19 and Integrated Approach were the two main trends that emerged. When addressing issues or opportunities to connect with local communities, respondents used terms like hyper-hygienic activities, unclean products, community aid, secondhand items, DIY-ing, and antique products. Almost all respondents seemed to think that COVID19 was a big setback for HONEST because they offer a section where secondhand products are sold to the market. When asked about the essence of approach or how best they believe HONEST could bring a social change or face challenges, one respondent said “One enduring stigma associated with these types of stores is that they sell unclean items.”. “In a time when people are afraid of invisible bacteria, the handshake has become redundant, and constant hand washing is the standard, management must carefully consider how to market the picture of a secondhand goods shop” The most successful measures will be to actually make this accessible to students and wealthier community of people who would be most interested in the antique items as part of revenue generate stream,

a respondent said while explaining the opportunities that lie ahead for HONEST. This would make it easier for HONEST to represent a wide variety of people who need their support. The responses gathered from the interviews seemed to agree that socially responsible businesses are now more than ever a necessity for society, endorsing the notion that businesses would solve social issues to enhance community health and protect the environment.

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Discussion

Charity Investment businesses have taken on a whole new life in the last decade, especially among Generation Z. In comparison with previous

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generations, Gen Z and Gen Y are said to be more concerned about social issues and changes. “Nine out of ten Generation Z consumers believe companies have a responsibility to address environmental and social issues,” according to McKinsey’s “The State of Fashion 2019” report. As a result, charity business organizations like HONEST are becoming increasingly popular among them. Moving forward, HONEST could launch a DIY-ing clothing project to attract Gen Z and Gen Y customers by selecting plus-size clothing and transforming it into more stylish pieces. This project’s profit can be donated to “Pay it Forward.” Another intriguing method is to attract the attention of these potential wealthy customers by emphasizing on vintage picks. Many people prefer charity shops to look for antiques and vintage items. HONEST could take advantage of this by dedicating a section of their website to vintage items. They should make sure it is prominently displayed on the home page so that vintage shoppers know where to look. Such an expansion of their category may necessitate the use of online visuals, which is a common practice of incorporating visual elements into an online store to enhance the shopping experience. Of course, the website’s aesthetics play a part, but online visual strategies are about more than just having a nice-looking website. They will also want to make sure that their website is simple to use. However, HONEST also has a fantastic opportunity and a oneof-a-kind offering. It has a wide range of unique items as well as many treasures. Many customers will appreciate and be attracted to it because it provides an environmentally sustainable option and alternative to fast fashion.

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Competitive Advantage of HONEST Bangla

Consumers shop in a number of stores for a variety of reasons. Each type of store, from boutiques to charity shops, has its own distinct distinguishing characteristics that expose its competitive advantage. As opposed to other outlets, HONEST, as a socially responsible organization, have some competitive advantages: 7.1

Low Prices

One of the most well-known strategic benefits of running a store like HONEST is the opportunity to sell goods at a reduced price. Low-cost

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products can appeal to a wide variety of buyers from the target groups, from college students to families looking for clothes and accessories or their daily needs. 7.2

Inexpensive Inventory

HONESTs’ management, unlike boutiques and other stores, spend less on inventory. Larger second hand shops, customer gifts, estate sales, and donated storage units will all provide items to HONEST. As a result, overhead expenses are reduced, allowing company owners to pass significant savings on to their customers. 7.3

Word-of-Mouth Marketing

HONEST’s activities regarding the whole approach are actually very appreciable as well as an example. As a result, it receives attention from local newspapers and websites, as well as regional features, which enhances their visibility and traffic and allows more donations from larger organizations.

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Challenges

When it comes to breaking into a new market, innovative business ideas have an element of unpredictability. Companies face a variety of difficulties in their day-to-day operations. When it comes to their actions, Honest also faces some difficulties. These are the main challenges: . Lack of Platform Awareness Developing the platform in order to realize its full potential is essential for the success of the company. In a country like Bangladesh, many people from lower-middle-class or poor households are responsible for their own expenses. The majority of people, particularly students, are financially insecure. Platforms like “Honest” aim to work with and for these folks, yet they are often unaware of their existence. For the company’s benefit, the website has to be revamped. The platform “Honest” was discovered to be using a very unsophisticated webpage.

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. Significant Technological Gap Recognizing and bridging the technology gap between them and their target audience has not been their strongest suit. Their social media approach had a lot of inefficiency and technology gaps. Their social media management is unprofessional, and they don’t target the right demographic. . Weak Distribution Channel To make their items more accessible, they need well-designed distribution channels. The company’s products aren’t widely available across the country. As a result, only a small percentage of those who require this service are able to access it. . Lack of Communication: The ability of all parties involved to communicate is critical to their success. Since the beginning, Honest has lacked communication on that platform. Transparency among communicators must be ensured if more communities are to be attracted. . Neglected Social Media It’s critical that they keep their social media profiles and groups updated with new information. They appear to be oblivious to their social media presence and the communities to which they belong. Social media is an important tool for reaching out to today’s young. In that section, they have a low level of audience interaction. . Failing to Capitalize on COVID-19 In this period of immense uncertainty, strategy is extremely important. An already poor country infected with viruses may well be the perfect setting for honest people in terms of opportunities. However, they were unable to capitalize during this time since people continued to look for something like Honest. . Failing to Attract Partners/Sponsors

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Partnerships can provide a company with a bunch of new prospects. Partnering with Honest can help the other company build a positive reputation. Honest, on the other hand, can’t manage to attract strategic partners to their benefit. Overcoming these obstacles will determine whether or not this company succeeds. As a result, these concerns must be resolved.

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Recommendations

a. Platform Development In a country like Bangladesh, there are a lot of people who belong from lower-middle-class or poor families who have to bear their own cost. Most of the people, mainly students, face financial instability. Platforms like “Honest” want to work with these people, for these people but unfortunately these people are not even aware of these platforms. So, “Honest” should inform people about their platform and it should be developed both online and offline. b. Website It was found that the platform, “Honest,” has been using a very basic website. The website mostly focuses on the product selling rather than campaign awareness. It should promote their campaigns through their websites so that it can attract corporate holdings regarding CSR. Website should be developed so that it can be run in a consumer friendly way. c. Technological Gap Although “Honest” served 17,000 people, there was a lot of inefficiency and technological gap in their social media approach and proper supply chain management. Their social media management lacks professionalism and lacks proper audience targeting. This audience can be targeted via community-based surveys and find out people who are in need. For efficient supply chain management, “Honest” can collaborate with any logistics company for proper distribution. It will help the logistics company regarding CSR and “Honest” for proper supply chain management simultaneously. d. Well-designed Distribution Channel Most of the time the website and social media shows unavailability of products. It is because they don’t have a proper distribution system. The resources are inadequate. Direct distribution strategy can be applied for available resources. Indirect distribution strategy can be

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applied for unavailable resources. Here “Honest” will work as a middleman and the product will be directly sent to the consumer from the seller. Selective distribution strategy can be applied for selective people who are in need of that specific product rather than making it available for all. e. Proper Communication The teams should work in a hierarchical way. Several teams need to be created for effective communication between donors and consumers. It has been lacking in that platform from the beginning. Transparency between communication must be ensured so that it can attract more communities. f. Maintenance To work in an effective manner, the team needs to be led by a skillful leader. System needs to be updated every month. Every channel and chain needs to be evaluated every month. Also try to mitigate channels that are trying to take advantage of the platform in an unethical way. g. Pandemic Strategy The pandemic, COVID-19, impacted all the ventures. Although many ventures could not find a way to make profit, “Honest” can use the opportunity to serve more people. During the pandemic more and more people went jobless and faced financial instability. So “Honest” can make more public offerings about their campaign. h. Sponsors for Sustainability Without stable financial support the platform won’t sustain for long. “Honest” should invite companies and donors for financial support. Honest should integrate with organizations regarding CSR.

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Honest does not yet have a way for donors to donate using digital banking. Digital banking or a digital wallet would be a fantastic addition to their system. Bkash, Rocket, and Nagad can be a good place to start. It can also serve as their real wallet. Going digital with the payment system can improve the accessibility of transactions from and to the company. More people will be encouraged to donate to the cause. When it comes to paying tiny amounts after a set period of time, certain partners may be able to make payments through these payment methods.

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Conclusion

Social responsibility is not a one-dimensional way of acting. Organizations in various contexts will identify various imperatives to address as time and place change. At the same time, there are basic human needs and a foundation of behavior without which a call for social responsibility is meaningless and hollow. Developing and implementing practical approaches to measuring and reporting on the social and ethical dimensions of an organization’s performance as a means of improving it has been a challenge over the last decade. The challenge for the next decade will be to integrate the numerous approaches that are currently available. Integration is more than just a matter of “tidiness.” It is a prerequisite if an organization’s social and ethical responsibilities are to become and remain as obvious as the need to understand and improve its financial performance. Approaches like “HONEST” can be a great way to make the world a better place to live and spread kindness in the future.

Teaching Note: HONEST Case Study Case Summary HONEST Bangla started their journey and introduced a whole new concept of being a charitable business organization. They showed how an online selling platform can turn out to be a perfect support for the people in need. The organization tried to mitigate the problems of those who are in desperate need of help to meet their basic necessities of life by following socially responsible consumption. This case study focuses on a sustainable socially responsible business model and how they are operating as an organization to grab the opportunities and face the challenges. It shows that thinking about society and following a socially responsible approach can be great for an organization. The study shows a sustainable business practice from a socially responsible organization which is trying to spread kindness among the people and also be a medium for those people who want to help. It also highlights some of the problems they faced while operating and also focused on the future projects and opportunities that are available for the organization to capture.

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Teaching Objectives This case appears to be primarily concerned with socially responsible business practices, such as the application of HONEST’s business model and PESTEL analysis to different activities. However, the case also tries to emphasize the importance of a sustainable solution. At the end of the exercise, student should have a clear understanding of the following issues: . The importance of a socially responsible approach. Topics of relevance include sustainability, socially responsible consumption and corporate social responsibility. . Organizational structure, analysis and work environment of a charitable business organization. . Discuss the possible challenges of a socially responsible company in such a competitive industry. . Explore the process of integrating sustainable socially responsible approaches into business practices. . Apply sustainability and corporate social responsibility practices in Bangladesh. Target Audience This case is appropriate for undergraduate students in their final year of Bachelor of Business Administration who are required to draw on a broad range of topics for a single case (i.e. corporate social responsibility, socially responsible consumption, second hand stores, etc.). The case also serves as an example of a socially responsible company successfully managing demographic challenges, development and ongoing management for small social organizations and corporate organizations. Students at the masters and MBA levels could have a more in-depth review, as they will be forced to think creatively about the business’s next moves in terms of future directions and succession planning. Discussion Question Following are key issues or questions to raise to encourage discussion about this case:

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1. How did HONEST Bangla use their business model to create a socially responsible platform for their target group? Suggest other ways that would appeal and create value for a newer target group. 2. Describe the supply chain management system for an online platform like HONEST. If you were hired as their supply chain manager, how would you improve their supply chain management system? 3. Online selling platforms are continuously coming up with new and innovative ideas to gain competitive advantages for their companies. Explain what HONEST is doing to create competitive advantages for the company and suggest some other marketing strategies for HONEST that might be helpful for them to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Suggested Teaching Strategy Theoretical Model: Sustainable Business and Socially Responsible Consumption Two of the most well-known themes in industry are synonymous with the ideas of socially responsible business practices. Profitability, environmental concern and social engagement all coexist in a sustainable sector. Running a sustainable company includes, for example, making efficient use of internal resources and minimizing negative environmental effects. Consumers who engage in socially responsible consumption buy goods and services that they believe would have a positive (or less negative) effect on the environment or use their buying power to address a current social problem. These two theories in practice are applied thoroughly in business practice of ‘HONEST’. Recommended Approach to Teaching the Case Instructors should begin discussion of the HONEST Bangla case by providing an overview of socially responsible business and its practices in Bangladesh and other developed countries. Then, in the first half of class, teachers and students can discuss the case’s theoretical validity as well as core issues in current research. Leading up to the case study, the course instructor will talk about sustainability, socially responsible approaches, corporate social responsibility, secondhand purchasing, COVID-19 and an integrated marketing approach. This will make it easier for students to connect to the case study’s material. To keep it interesting for the students, the course instructor should display some conceptual videos about sustainability, corporate social

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responsibility and sample videos of businesses working to ensure their social responsibility, which will give them a better understanding of why businesses are actively taking measures in the social responsibility field. After that, the second half of the class can be used to learn about the challenges and opportunities of such a company in the sense of the Bangladeshi marketplace, as described in the case. The case is designed to be discussed in a 90-min class; however, some classes may require more time to cover all of the materials listed in the review portion. The teacher will concentrate on broad topics such as a social enterprise’s business model or the implementation of particular methods to address the issues that HONEST encountered in the beginning. If students have already studied the fundamental principles of socially responsible business, sustainability and corporate social responsibility, a lively debate on potential heuristics can be sparked. The case analysis’ modular nature gives the teacher the requisite versatility in constructing the classroom discussions. Before beginning a discussion on the questions, the course teacher can ask students about their opinion on the severity of colourism in Bangladesh based on the video. 1. When discussing Discussion Question 1, the initial part can be answered by going through the case. For the second part of the question, the course teacher can ask the students to think from the perspective of business development strategists and come up with ideas that would appeal and create value for a newer target group. 2. For Discussion Question 2, the course teacher can urge students to think from the perspective of a supply chain manager of eCommerce or an online shopping platform and think of ideas that can be integrated to improve the overall supply chain process. 3. For Discussion Question 3, the course teacher can ask students about their observations about how traditional paper is replaced with digital media in their daily life and incorporate it in their strategy recommendations. Suggested Answers 1. How did HONEST Bangla use their business model to create a socially responsible platform for their target group? Suggest

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other ways that would appeal and create value for a newer target group. HONEST created a sustainable socially responsible business model through their online selling platform. It has worked as a medium for the donors to donate their money for a good cause and as a reliable medium for the poor or needy people from where they can buy daily necessary products at a much cheaper rate. In addition, the revenue model is also designed thinking about the social responsibility side of the business. They share 60% of their profit with the customers and retain only 40% for other charity works and business operations. There are some other ways through which the organization can appeal and create value for a newer target group: . They can open a new section where the target customers will be the wealthier section of the society. They are mostly interested in antique and unique products. HONEST can capture this group by introducing unique and antique product segments. . Today’s generation is more active on social media. HONEST can create a strong social media presence to capture attention of Generation Y and Generation Z. . Emotional campaigns and stories to grab attention of the people and reach potential donors.

2. Describe the supply chain management system for an online platform like HONEST. If you were hired as their supply chain manager, how would you improve their supply chain management system? Supply chain management for an online platform like HONEST focuses on procurement of raw material, manufacturing and distribution of the right product at the right time. It includes managing supply and demand, warehousing, inventory tracking, order entry, order management, distribution and delivery to the customer. An efficient supply chain accelerates the growth and processes to meet customers’ expectations. If I were hired as the supply chain manager, I would integrate a number of strategies into the supply chain management system of HONEST:

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. Reverse Logistics: Reverse logistics is defined as the planning and execution of the movement of goods from the point of consumption to the point of origin. It is inevitable that businesses provide the facility of exchange and returns. This increases the need for logistics. . Real Time and Smart tracking: The systems are used to automatically identify and track the location of objects or people in real time, usually within a building or other contained area. It improves organizational performance and creates transparency within the organization. . Lower delivery cost and time: Customers normally expect to receive a product within the shortest delivery time frames. Companies need to be responsive by getting their orders to them quicker and at a lower cost.

3. Online selling platforms are continuously coming up with new and innovative ideas to gain competitive advantages for their companies. Explain what HONEST is doing to create competitive advantages for the company and suggest some other marketing strategies for HONEST that might be helpful for them to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. HONEST is continuously trying to improve their services and gain competitive advantages over their possible competitors. One of the strategies they followed is the introduction of ‘Real Wallet’. Many companies are creating virtual wallets for their customers but there is a clause attached here as customers can only use the virtual wallet for that certain company. HONEST in this case is creating a difference with their Real Wallet theme where customers will get the cashbacks and they can withdraw or use it to fulfil their need and there is no obligation to use it to get services from HONEST only. They can use that money to buy from other companies as well which is a new and improved service provided by the organization. Here are some other marketing strategies they can follow to gain competitive advantage: . Personalization approach: There is no denying that personalization is the key factor responsible for good customer experience. 84% of

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customers refer to being treated like a person and not just a number as an integral part of winning their business. . Database Marketing: Database marketing is an important tool to support relationship marketing. It enables organizations to ensure their survival and gain competitive advantage in the digital economy and leads to better organizational performance.

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Socially Responsible Consumption of Information Technology Equipment: Case Studies from the Australian Banking Sector Imran Ali, Ngoc Dang Khoa Nguyen, and Ahmad Arslan

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Introduction

Contemporary organizations have been facing increasing pressure to alleviate ecological deterioration and ensure more socially responsible consumption of products and services. However, many business leaders consider environmental issues detached from their daily business activities and behavior patterns. Among others, the pervasive use of IT equipment by some large corporates, such as banks, has been enormously contributing to environmental problems and ecological footprint (Asvija

I. Ali (B) · N. D. K. Nguyen School of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia e-mail: [email protected] N. D. K. Nguyen e-mail: [email protected] A. Arslan Department of Marketing, Management and International Business, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_27

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et al. 2019). Electricity-intensive consumption by IT equipment such as PCs and data centers result in an onerous burden on our electric grids leading to increased carbon emissions (e.g., Das and Mao, 2020). Inefficient technologies, uninformed behaviors or poorly designed systems lead to socially unethical consumption—wasted power and high cost in most cases. Further, IT equipment has a short lifespan, and hence disposal of IT hardware leads to toxic hotspots (Koronen et al. 2020; Nazir 2018). Also, heating and cooling systems continue to be a thorny issue, despite options of virtualization and decreased server acquisition (Jenkin et al. 2011). Hence, a drive toward socially responsible consumption of IT by the banks, through energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable recycling of used hardware, has been gaining increasing attention over the past two decades. Against this backdrop, the concept of Green IT (Information Technology) has been introduced to realize environmentally friendly and socially responsible consumption. Green IT is the implementation of IT initiatives by using renewable energy to power data, designing energyefficient virtualization, promoting reuse and proper recycling, and eliminating harmful chemical usage in computing equipment. The far-reaching effects of Green IT, which plays an indispensable role, can directly mitigate the negative IT influences on the environment and society. It can also play an indirect role by deploying IT as an economically viable tool to accomplish more environmentally friendly performance such as diminishing obsolete equipment-associated waste, consolidating servers using virtualization, and enhancing energy-efficient data centers and hardware (Jenkin et al. 2011; Singla and Singh 2020). In essence, through Green IT, organizations are obliged to design, manufacture, consume, and dispose of IT with minimal or no impact on the environment to help generate more sustainable environments. With this in mind, IT professionals are also trained to hold their IT infrastructure and operations more environment-friendly and harness their power efficiently (Murugesan et al. 2013). According to Sahu and Singh (2016), the current corporate social responsibility drive has been increasingly encouraging the banking sector, which is among the major users of IT equipment in their daily business operations, to diffuse socially and environmentally responsible behaviors through financing green projects. Hence, numerous leading banks have already moved to Green IT solutions to ensure sustainable (Butt and Ali 2020) socially responsible use of technologies. However, numerous banks

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have yet to adhere to conventional IT infrastructures. A lack of information on the key concept, benefits, strategies, and challenges of Green IT for socially responsible consumption of banks could possibly keep slowing down or impeding its adoption process. This chapter, therefore, offers insights into the contemporary concept and significant role of the Green IT concept, benefits, and the best operations to develop a more sustainable and socially responsible consumption of IT equipment in the context of leading Australian banks.

2 2.1

Conceptual Background Green IT—Conceptualization

Green IT refers to the practices of using computers and other information technologies in environmentally and socially friendly manners. Given the massive consumption of computers and other electronic equipment, electronic waste adds potentially harmful materials, such as lead and mercury, used in electronics production. However, the application of Green IT ensures the designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, hardware, storage devices, printers, and servers with minimal or no impact on the environment and society. In addition, today, all organizations are dependent on technology for routine activities, where computers and computing use a considerable amount of power (Imasiku et al. 2019). Green IT initiatives, however, can help reduce energy consumptions through disposing of old equipment, the auto turning of unused devices, and cloud computing. Specifically, cloud computing allows multiple organizations to access the same data pool; thus, reducing a large amount of energy consumed to perform the same task at various computers separately (Singla and Singh 2020). Hence, Green IT application directly contributes to socially responsible consumption by the organizations implementing this model. Furthermore, paper-based faxing and marketing end up in huge trash to landfills. Green IT practices also involve responsible consumption of papers for printing, such as eliminating unnecessary printing and extra pages with only a disclaimer footer. The application of Green IT also ensures the shopping of new products in eco-friendly packaging and reduces waste. Green IT, thus, involves environmentally friendly consumption and sustainable business operations while using computers and other electronic equipment (Asadi and Dahlan 2017; Ristic et al. 2015).

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2.2

Importance of Green IT

There are several key reasons for using Green IT practices, for example, lowering costs, reducing energy consumption, improving system usage and a lower environmental impact, ensuring socially responsible consumption behaviors. Murugesan (2008) demonstrates that both enterprises and individuals take advantage of financial and other benefits when adopting Green IT initiatives. Today, a whole range of professionals acknowledge that Green IT is vital in enterprise operation and influences the organization’s bottom line directly and positively, such as the cost of processors and data centers, which consume a large amount of energy. In particular, the data center is an inevitable part of an entrepreneur’s overall strategy when eliminating an ecological footprint (Singla and Singh 2020). While data center’s cooling consumes much energy, Green IT can be used as a sustainable alternate technique. To this end, the heat dissipation problem can be tackled with water cooling, which is a more cost-effective solution (Wang et al. 2020). In addition, the green grid as the glue is deemed an economically viable solution to hold data centers more environmentally sustainable together. The hot-aisle and cold-aisle concept applications are among the other effective techniques for air-cooling of servers, which maximize cooling by making the servers face different directions. Such techniques enable organizations to achieve more efficient and eco-friendly solutions in the long run (Philipson 2011; Ristic et al. 2015). Moreover, today both current cost and total cost of ownership (TCO), such as running costs, upgrades, maintenance, have become integral components of the cost of doing a business. According to Khuntia et al. (2018) TCO over the entire life of IT equipment, such as personal computers (PCs), could be much higher than the original purchase price. It is also noticed that TCO-based computations are more significant now because the power consumption of data centers incorporates substantial electricity costs. The companies, therefore, need to take the power costs to run IT equipment into consideration (Philipson 2011). However, it is financially viable to achieve greater energy efficiency through green initiatives, such as IT operations, when power is at a premium, and its rates are significantly increasing. Further, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a robust regulation in the context of environmental sustainability, enabling organizations to build their brand awareness,

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differentiation from competitors, and customer loyalty. The green initiatives improve corporate image and environmental responsibility following meeting compliance and regulatory requirements by offering eco-friendly products or services (Bose et al. 2018; Sarma and Roy 2021; Sahu and Singh 2016). In addition, server virtualization, thin-client computers, and energyefficient PCs can be widely considered well-documented solutions to mitigate electricity consumed by IT. The enabling effect of IT equipment is becoming more imperative to alleviate greenhouse gas emissions from an enterprise by endorsing more energy-efficient and cost-effective operations, such as innovative IT systems, enhanced supply chain management, and teleconferencing. As such, Green IT cuts the operating expense of that data center and enables every corner of the enterprise to reduce the carbon footprint (Asadi and Dahlan 2017; Philipson 2011). 2.3

Green IT and Socially Responsible Consumption

Sustainable and environmentally sound operations mean that the organizational activities are conducted considering corporate social responsibility thereby avoiding harmful impacts on the surrounding environment or ecosystem. When using IT, some common environment-friendly operations include, among other things, virtualization, green data centers, think-client computer, and energy conservation with ICT cost engineering (see Fig. 1). 2.3.1 Virtualization Virtualization is creating a virtual version of a device that allows hardware (processor, storage, memory) of a single computer to be shared among multiple computers. That is, one physical server hosts multiple virtual servers that get better hardware usage, consume less electricity, and simplify the data center. In doing so, virtualization plays a pivotal role to lower power consumption from data centers. It also enables the data center to reduce floor space and energy demands making better use of computing power. Many progressive organizations have been increasingly employing virtualization for curbing data centers’ runaway power consumption (Asvija et al. 2019). Additionally, cloud-based services can be part of virtualization since the use of cloud computing allows storage and server virtualization to reallocate or allocate resources quickly and increase energy efficiency. For example, a non-profit group, Green Grid,

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Thin client computers

Virtualization

Energy conservation

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ICT cost reengineering Fig. 1 Sustainable and green operations for socially responsible use of IT equipment (Source The authors)

was launched by leading IT entrepreneurs to determine and disseminate the best energy-efficient practices in data center construction and operation and establish technology standards such as Energy Star 4.0 via vitalization (Asadi and Dahlan 2017; Chauhan and Saxena 2013). As such, the acquisition of virtualization ensures that the organization consumes IT resources in a socially responsible manner. 2.3.2 Green Data Centers In recent years, data centers have become more and more prevalent due to the burgeoning development of the internet and web applications. Aggregate electricity that is used by servers is almost doubled, leading to the steady increase in the operational cost of data centers over the past decade. The statics show that global data centers consumed around 205 terawatthours in 2018 compared to about 180 terawatt-hours in 2010 (Energy Innovation Policy and Technology, 2017). The constraints involving practical, financial, and social pressure influence organizations to cut energy consumption from these centers. Consequently, companies need to consider improving airflow management to mitigate cooling through

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innovating energy resources, redesigning air management, curbing power consumption from data centers, and optimizing server efficiency. To this end, liquid cooling is gaining attention as a more efficient method, yet it is not used by many contemporary organizations, perhaps due to its complexities. Nonetheless, data center professionals need to tackle the high-density IT infrastructure compatible with liquid cooling. In addition to this, other alternatives include saving power through server virtualization, improving floor air-conditioning efficiency, and shutting down features, which are effectively deployed to mitigate the negative impact of IT equipment on the environment and society (Atkinson et al. 2014; Murugesan 2008; Ristic et al. 2015). 2.3.3 Thin-Client Computers Thin-client computers aim at running applications from the main server. Such applications are monitored and maintained by network administrators on a specific server or small group of servers rather than on each PC. The users can access the server on the go from any internet-connected device. Thin-client computers are smaller and hold lower microprocessors and lower memory requirements than PCs (Coughlan et al. 2018). More importantly, thin-client computers have a massive range of benefits for the using organizations. For example, the cost of operations and maintenance is less than that of PCs. Also, the use of thin-client computers with a central server can significantly lower TCO (Joumaa and Kadry 2012). It should be noted that end-users with active participation and wholehearted willingness are encouraged to utilize thin-client computers, cost-effective and environmentally friendly power-generation equipment. Organizations must guide their staff toward optimizing energy efficiency through their computer behavior changes, and such organizations subsequently get feedback and handle concerns from their employees as well as motivate them to participate in going green initiatives (Asadi and Dahlan 2017; Joumaa and Kadry 2012). 2.3.4 Energy Conservation The cost of power spending on cooling is very high, which accounts for approximately one-third of the operating costs of a data center. The IT industry invents several state-of-the-art technologies to address this problem (Asadi and Dahlan 2017). For instance, such technologies as nano fluid-cooling systems, in-server, in-row cooling, and liquid cooling have been implemented by many leading IT entrepreneurs such as IBM,

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Hewlett-Packard (HP) and SprayCool. Particularly, IBM has achieved significant energy savings by implementing liquid cooling hardware and fluid-cooling systems. HP deployed the fluid-cooling systems in their data centers for carbon footprint and energy consumption optimization (Ristic et al. 2015). SprayCool utilizes liquid cooling and nano fluid-cooling systems to remove heat from the data center and improve power-saving processors and servers (Surana and Sharma 2020). Other innovations of making a data center more sustainable entail employing innovative servers and hydrogen fuel cells as eco-friendly energy alternatives as well as adopting virtualization technologies that make servers cooler. Since old mainframe computers require a lot of cooling, migrating applications from mainframes to servers is another key strategy for IT professionals interested in dealing with energy conservation challenges (Asadi and Dahlan 2017; Murugesan 2008). 2.4

Business Applications

Organizations are adapting to a growing number of IT business applications, and therefore the use of business process management (BPM) is emerging as an essential management tool with its five stages: Design, Modeling, Execution, Monitoring, and Optimization. It depends on the range of the sector; nevertheless, typical applications involve enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), and financial management information systems (FMIS). The specialized or custom applications are deployed by many entrepreneurs for making a substantial profit and gaining a competitive advantage. Additionally, IT plays an essential part in those applications that are more vitally specific BPM practices. The fewer transactions made, the more efficient the system is—and efficiency leads to sustainability. This is because Green IT is becoming a crucial role in enhancing the performance of business processes, including electricity distribution, construction, engineering, and manufacturing based on the operation scale (Atkinson et al. 2014; Mohan et al. 2011; Philipson 2011). The following section discusses a central application approach.

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2.4.1

An Overarching Green IT Application and Socially Responsible Consumption To promote overarchingly and efficiently Green IT and socially responsible consumption, both organizations and individuals need to adopt a holistic method with the four feasible ways (see Fig. 2): . Green design—Designing components, PCs, servers, and cooling equipment in an eco-friendly and energy-efficient manner. . Green manufacturing—Developing and manufacturing new IT infrastructure or products with no or little impact on the surrounding environment and natural resources.

Green design

Green disposal

Green IT and socially responsible consumption

Green manufacturing

Green consumption

Fig. 2 Overarching Approach to Green IT and socially responsible consumption (Source The authors)

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. Green consumption—Utilizing IT resources in environmentally sound ways to reduce power consumption. . Green disposal—Refurbishing an existing resource or recycling ewaste in environmentally sustainable manners. By taking thoroughly and strategically the four fronts into account, companies can reach their goals by reducing costs and making IT greener through their entire lifecycle (Asadi and Dahlan 2017; Murugesan 2008).

3 Green IT and Socially Responsible Initiatives of the Australian Banking Sector IT equipment is one of the major sources of electricity consumption within modern organizations. Given the high electricity demand, many G20 countries excessively consume fossil fuels to generate electricity (Fig. 3). Among others, Australia produces 89% of energy with thermal coal power stations based in each state, which heavily consume fossil fuels (Deloitte, 2014). Given the detrimental impact of sustainability, several measures have been under consideration to reduce the excessive consumption of fossil fuels. Intending to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, leading Australian banks have launched various corporate social responsibility and sustainability-associated business initiatives to meet their today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Pearce, 2020; Visontay, 2020).

Fig. 3 Electricity generation from fossil fuels (Source Deloitte [2014])

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Commonwealth Bank (CBA), for example, pays a tremendous concentration on digitalization with 80 percent of its home lending using Property Exchange Australia Limited (PEXA). By implementation of the effectiveness of cloud-based technology, CBA mitigates the TCO of IT business operation and provides IT professionals and customers’ experience toward an innovative, digitally settlements process for improved performance and growth. Optimistically, investment in trading platforms and data centers in a cloud computing environment allows to diminish operational risk, ensure compliance with new regulations, and protect customers against security risks. CBA takes advantage of capturing low costs, high performance, and flexibility by the implementation of a standards-based multi-provider cloud model (Schlagwein et al. 2014). To illustrate this, CBA runs approximately 3500 applications in the public cloud for remarkably slashing carbon emissions by 25 percent and increasing IT infrastructure resilience of financial banking systems. By doing so, CBA is recognized as one of the most sustainable and socially responsible institutions in Australia by the Global 100 Index (Pearce, 2020). Furthermore, National Australian Bank (NAB) has implemented Avanade for Windows Server virtualization to lower energy consumption. The virtualization allows NAB to accomplish tangible business outcomes (e.g., improved energy efficiency, easier technology management, and smaller server footprint). It is expected that the IT environment constituted more than 90 percent of the NAB’s total power costs. With the adoption of this server virtualization, NAB reaped substantial benefits such as power consumption, cost savings, improved business agility following sustainability, and compliance requirements (Avanade, 2009). Moreover, moving to a tri-generation cooling initiative not only takes carbon out of the bank’s footprint but also lowers power consumption (Banks, 2010). Additionally, as part of an international transition to a net-zero ecological footprint, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) adopted VMware AirWatch to securely manage its fleet of mobile equipment and reimage banking experience. ANZ customers today do not need to wait in line at the bank; they can make digital appointments instead. This is because, with mobile banking solutions, both customers and bankers directly take its digital banking experience through using AirWatchmanaged iPads. Such a solution has become an indispensable part for ANZ to reinvent its business, realize efficiency gains and meet customer

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Table 1

Carbon footprint summary of ANZ from 2016 to 2020

Five-year summary

2020

Environmental Footprint (tCO2 e) Total scope 1 & 2 GHG 134,093 emissions Total scope 1, 2 & 3 GHG 203,700 emissions

2019

2018

2017

2016

156,568

171,012

180,993

193,569

250,857

266,906

273,216

299,224

Note tCO2 e = tons (t) of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) equivalent (e) Source Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (2020)

satisfaction (ANZ, 2020). ANZ also implemented thin-client machines that are hosted externally on central servers. Given the greener computing initiative, ANZ can accomplish climate change mitigation objectives (Bajkowski, 2007). According to the annual report, the levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in ANZ reduced (Table 1) gradually between 2016 and 2020 (ANZ, 2020).

4 Case Studies on Green IT Application in the Australian Banks It is timely that organizations, particularly the Australian banking sector players, should consider embarking on clean energy projects along with significant technological advances to economically accomplish a net-zero footprint by 2050 (Briggs and Mey 2020). This is because the banking industry is among the biggest in IT-based daily transactions, operations, and customer services. While numerous banks are at a very early stage to take Green IT programs, some good examples of Green IT practices toward socially responsible behaviors can be seen in the few leading Australian banks. These case studies provide practical insights and a strong premise for the other banks aiming to launch Green IT initiatives.

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Case Study 1: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Green IT Initiatives1

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) or CommBank, established under Commonwealth Act in 1911 in Australia. It is considered one of the leading financial institutions with operations in multiple nations such as Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and worldwide. CBA currently has over 800,000 shareholders and employs 52,000 staff members. The bank has been undertaking several initiatives to ensure socially responsible consumption of IT equipment and minimize carbon footprint, effectively utilizing natural resources and reducing costs related to those resources (Commbank 2020). CBA, for instance, reduces energy waste by adopting a web server platform model and concentrates on higher-value innovative work. Specifically, with a cloud-based website, CBA now spends approximately A$30,000 a year compared to the past of spending of about A$650,000 on dedicated hardware. CBA’s cloud-based infrastructures, along with virtualization, have become a strategically important solution to harness ethical consumption of IT. Also, blueprint standards have facilitated several lower infrastructure provision and maintenance costs by 40%, thereby enabling CBA to reap effectiveness and savings gains. CBA’s climate change mission outlines that the bank aims to achieve zero-emission by 2050. CBA was the first Australian to launch a renewable energy program in 2017 with solar panels in 34 locations across Australia. Further, CBA’s move to the public cloud will not just lead to lower the cost of ownership of IT infrastructure (e.g., operation and maintenance), but also allow to provide an unrivaled experience for IT professionals and customers digitally. For instance, as part of CBA’s ongoing simplified efforts, about 3500 applications are currently deployed for slashing the carbon footprint by 25 percent thereby leaving positive social and environmental impact (Commbank 2021; Pearce 2020). Overall, CBA is one of the leading Australian financial institutions that

1 The case study was written based on the information from the following sources:

https://www.commbank.com.au/guidance/newsroom/cba-g100-most-sustainable-com pany-in-australia-2018-201801.html; https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/invest ors/annual-reports/annual-report-2020.html?ei=tl_2020-annual-report; https://www. computerworld.com/article/3526479/cba-aims-to-slash-its-application-footprint-by-25per-cent.html.

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have undertaken various socially and environmentally sustainable initiatives such as: Strong commitment to 100% environmentally friendly energy usage by 2030; enormous investments of $15 billion to implement low carbon projects by 2025; low emissions intensity (King, 2021). Given such green initiatives, CBA is today recognized by the Global 100 Index for corporate social responsibility and sustainable business operations. 4.2

Case Study 2: National Australian Bank Green IT Initiatives2

National Australian Bank (NAB) is one of the four leading Australian banks for serving a wide range of customers. NAB employs over 30,000 staff members serving 9 million clients with over 900 sites throughout Australia, New Zealand, and globally. The ambition of NAB includes generating a digitally simpler and more seamless bank, developing harmonious connections between clients and the public, and delivering sustainable outcomes for customers and the community with minimum resource consumption. Given this ambition, NAB aimed to consolidate its IT infrastructure to lower environmental impact while enhancing socially responsible consumption (NAB 2021). In this regard, NAB deployed tri-generation plant in the data center within Victoria as Victoria is recorded the highest greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. The implementation of tri-gen cooling initiative has become a promising environmentally and socially sustainable solution. In the interview with CIO, a NAB data center manager reported that the installation of tri-generation cooling plant enables the bank to save 20,000 tons of carbon annually, and this ground-breaking strategy gradually leads to eco-friendly work. Fundamentally, this tri-generation cooling plant enables NAB to generate energy and lower power consumption, which further brings down the energy expenditure. By doing so, NAB encourages other institutions to implement this plant to achieve energy-efficient and cost-effective goals.

2 The case study was developed based on the information from the following

sources: https://www.nab.com.au/about-us/social-impact/environment/environmentalproducts-and-services; https://www.nab.com.au/about-us; https://www.cio.com/art icle/3495380/green-it-week-nab-tri-gen-plant-saves-20-000-tonnes-of-carbon-pa.html; https://www.avanade.com/-/media/asset/point-of-view/server-virtualization-paper-final01-14-09.pdf.

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Furthermore, NAB has also implemented virtualization to consolidate their server hardware and lower energy consumption. The virtualization allows NAB to accomplish many tangible business outcomes such as improved energy efficiency, easier technology management, and smaller server footprint. IT environment constitutes more than 90 percent of the NAB’s total power costs. With the adoption of this server virtualization, NAB reaped substantial benefits such as reduced power consumption, cost savings, improved business agility following ethical consumption of resources. 4.3

Case Study 3: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Green IT Initiatives3

The merger of Union Bank of Australia Limited and Bank of Australasia created the Australia and New Zealand Banking (ANZ) in 1951 (ANZ 2020). It is an Australian global banking and financial services organization with headquarter in Melbourne, Australia. ANZ has been enormously supporting customer experience at a lower cost by implementing flexible and resilient digital infrastructure over many years. Digital solutions such as mobile and internet banking are considered to make banking simpler and faster and allow to serve customers anywhere anytime. To prepare for a more digital future, ANZ needs to finance the institution while continuing to reduce costs and ensure corporate social responsibility (ANZ 2020). As part of a technology overhaul within the 800 ANZ branch retail network, a fleet of 29,000 desktop computers across was replaced by thinclient terminals. Traditional desktop computers deploy their own chips to process data, while thin-client computers with a lack of hard drives and expansion slots are hosted externally on central servers. The thin-client machine typically runs a virtualized software environment and uses about 5 watts through power-over-ethernet instead of being plugged into mains electricity. It is one of the most considerable sources of energy-saving

3 The case study was derived based on the information from the following sources:

https://www.anz.com/content/dam/anzcom/shareholder/ANZ-2020-Annual-Report. pdf; https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/anz-pushing-for-greener-techno logy-20070807-jdjok; https://www.vmware.com/radius/vmwares-airwatch-helps-anzbank-reinvent-digital-banking/;https://www.vmware.com/company/customers/anzbank.html

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and reducing negative environmental, economic, and social impacts. The green initiatives enable ANZ to utilize innovative technology solutions for reduced energy usage, lower CO2 emissions, and improved product life cycles and material sustainability (Bajkowski 2007). Additionally, the implementation of mobile banking applications called AirWatch allows ANZ to save energy use while delivering an excellent customer experience since both bankers and customers access the information and make their transactions on the go via their tablets or smartphones in convenient and quick manners. At the same time, the application allowed ANZ to reinvent its business, realize efficiency and gain more sustainable business operations. Further, in 2014, ANZ was the first bank in the world to introduce green bonds aiming to improve the environmental performance of several organizations. The investment through green bond included various energy-efficient technologies such as upgrading computing equipment, new heating and cooling systems and rooftop solar photovoltaic program, thus ensuring socially responsible consumption of IT resources.

5

Conclusions

The purpose of this chapter was to elaborate on the fundamental concepts of Green IT, its significance, and application for socially responsible consumption of IT equipment undertaking case studies from some large Australian Banks. The literature review and real-world evidence highlighted a massive increase in IT equipment, particularly in the service industries, including the banking sector. Traditional application of IT equipment has been posing harmful impacts on the environment and natural resources. For example, IT systems such as laptops, PCs, iPad, and data centers consume a massive amount of electrical energy. The excessive amount of energy is often produced by burning fossil fuels where harmful carbon dioxide levels are emitted into the surrounding environment. The enhanced greenhouse gases through carbon dioxide trap the heat from the sun causing global warming. In addition, IT equipment contains heavy metals and toxic chemicals that cause soil and groundwater contamination when dumped into landfills. Runoff from these landfills also contaminates water used for drinking purposes. Such issues call for a Green IT solution—the practice of environmentally sustainable computing. Green IT helps minimize the negative impacts of IT operations on natural resources by designing, manufacturing, consuming, and

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disposing of computer-related products in an environmentally and socially friendly manner. Some Green IT initiatives include, but are not limited, to virtualization, green data centers, thin-client computers, and renewable energy. We focused on three case studies (CBA, NAB and ANZ) from the Australian banking sector to demonstrate Green IT application experience. Our review of case studies shows that, for instance, CBA has been increasingly investing efforts toward Green IT solutions ensuring corporate social responsibility. In this regard, CBA was the first Australian to launch a renewable energy program in 2017 with solar panels in 34 locations across Australia. Further, CBA’s move to the public cloud will not just lead to lower the cost of ownership of IT infrastructure (e.g., operation and maintenance), but also allow to provide an unrivaled experience for IT professionals and customers digitally. The other initiatives included web servers which allowed CBA to spend A$30,000 a year compared to the previous spending of around A$650,000 on dedicated hardware. Given these environmentally friendly business initiatives, CBA is today recognized by the Global 100 Index for corporate social responsibility. NAB is another prestigious bank for launching various Green IT and eco-friendly business activities. Some promising examples include implementing the tri-gen cooling system, enabling the bank to efficiently generate energy and lower power consumption. The system allowed the NAB to save 20,000 tons of carbon annually. NAB has also implemented virtualization to consolidate their server hardware and lower energy consumption. The virtualization allows NAB to accomplish many tangible business outcomes such as improved energy efficiency, easier technology management, and a smaller server footprint. Likewise, ANZ has been increasingly investing in numerous Green ITrelated sustainable business activities. A great example of a Green IT solution is ANZA’s application of thin-client terminals/computers. As part of a technology overhaul within 800 ANZ branch retail network, a fleet of 29,000 desktop computers across was replaced by thin-client terminals. Traditional desktop computers deploy their own chips to process data, while thin-client computers with a lack of hard drives and expansion slots hosted externally on central servers. The thin-client machine typically runs a virtualized software environment and uses about 5 watts through power-over-internet instead of being plugged into mains electricity, thus ensuring that IT infrastructure has minimum impact on the environment and society.

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It is further important to stress that along with the practicalities and operational benefits of green IT application in the case firms, the strategic element is also important to consider in this context. Green IT application in all three banks has the potential to strengthen their positioning as socially responsible organizations in the eyes of different stakeholders including the current (and future) customers. It is a fact that the consumers of service firms are also increasingly looking at the socially responsible consumption of resources by the organizations that they are dealing with. Sustainable and socially responsible operations of service organizations (i.e., banks) have been found to further enhance consumer loyalty and strengthen organizational services’ poisoning as being a sustainable brand (e.g., Hwang and Lyo 2020). Due to the specific nature of banking operations, showing environmental and social responsibility and a sustainable approach is different from other service firms like retailers or airlines. Hence, along with financing green initiatives; an aspect that is being increasingly stressed by scholars recently (e.g., Taghzadeh-Hesary and Yoshino, 2020), green IT banking is another area for the banks (including our case banks) to further strengthen their position in this regard.

6 Implications, Limitations, and Future Research Directions A key theoretical implication of our study relates to the identification of four critical elements which encompass all aspects of Green IT and its application in the banking sector (as well as other sectors) toward socially responsible consumption of IT equipment. The elements of green design, green manufacturing, green consumption, and green disposal can offer bases for further theorization and empirical testing of the application of Green IT in different sectors and industries. We further enrich the socially responsible behavior and sustainability literature streams by highlighting the importance of the interlinked factors of virtualization, thin-client computers, energy conservation ICT cost-reengineering, and green data centers. The dynamics associated with these factors could vary across different industries and sectors, and hence, our chapter also builds a basis for their future theorization and exploration in other contexts. Similarly, for the managerial audience, a major takeaway from our chapter relates to understanding the importance of Green IT, as a key lever

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for socially responsible consumption of a resource, is a major requirement of an increasing number of banking consumers these days, and lack of compliance can lead to reputational damages. Moreover, a holistic approach where sustainable disposal is part of the Green IT application is helpful to the managers in the banking sector to have a strategic view of sustainability in their organizations instead of looking it at from the functional and short-term perspective. Our chapter has some limitations like any other research endeavor. Firstly, it focuses on Green IT in the specific context of the banking sector, and hence the associated dynamics in other sectors are not considered. Also, the case studies are based on publicly available reports, news articles, and internet websites. Hence, lack of primary data collection can also be considered another limitation of our chapter which offers an opportunity for empirical research. Despite this, our chapter is a pioneering study highlighting the importance of Green IT for socially responsible consumption of IT equipment in the banking sector and stressing its important role in reducing the carbon footprint. Future studies can build on our chapter to explore both technical as well as human dynamics associated with the implementation of Green IT in the banking sector in different countries. Finally, future studies should undertake Green IT-specific theorization within the larger topic of sustainability so that understanding of this multifaceted phenomenon is enhanced and its importance further engrained in the sustainability literature.

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Imasiku, K., Thomas, V., & Ntagwirumugara, E. (2019). Unraveling green information technology systems as a global greenhouse gas emission game-changer. Administrative Sciences, 9(2), 43. Jenkin, T. A., Webster, J., & McShane, L. (2011). An agenda for ‘Green’information technology and systems research. Information and Organization, 21(1), 17–40. Joumaa, C., Kadry, S. (2012). Green IT: case studies. Energy Procedia, 16, 1052– 1058 Khuntia, J., Saldanha, T. J., Mithas, S., & Sambamurthy, V. (2018). Information technology and sustainability: Evidence from an emerging economy. Production and Operations Management, 27 (4), 756–773. King, B. (2021). Australia’s greenest banks. Online available at: https://www.fin der.com.au/australias-greenest-banks. Koronen, C., Åhman, M., & Nilsson, L. J. (2020). Data centres in future European energy systems—energy efficiency, integration and policy. Energy Efficiency, 13(1), 129–144. Mohan, K., Ramesh, B., Cao, L., & Sarkar, S. (2011). Managing disruptive and sustaining innovations in Green IT. IT Professional, 14(6), 22–29. Murugesan, S. (2008). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and practices. IT professional, 10(1), 24–33. Murugesan, S., Gangadharan, G. R., Harmon, R. R., & Godbole, N. (2013). Fostering green it [guest editors’ introduction]. IT Professional, 15(1), 16–18. NAB. (2021). About Us. Available online at https://www.nab.com.au/about-us. Nazir A. (2018). Contribution of green computing towards IT for providing sustainable development. International journal of advanced research in computer science, 9 (2), 222–227. Pearce R. (2020). CBA aims to slash its application footprint by 25%. Available online at https://www.computerworld.com/article/3526479/cba-aimsto-slash-its-application-footprint-by-25-per-cent.html. Philipson, G. (2011). A comprehensive and practical green ICT framework. In B. Unhelkar (ed.), Handbook of research on green ICT: Technology, business and social perspectives (pp. 131–145). IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA. Ristic, B., Madani, K., & Makuch, Z. (2015). The water footprint of data centers. Sustainability, 7 (8), 11260–11284. Sahu, G. P., & Singh, M. (2016, September). Green information system adoption and sustainability: a case study of select Indian banks. In Conference on eBusiness, e-Services and e-Society (pp. 292–304). Springer, Cham. Sarma, P., & Roy, A. (2021). A Scientometric analysis of literature on Green Banking. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 11(2), 143–162. Schlagwein, D., Thorogood, A., & Willcocks, L. P. (2014). How commonwealth bank of Australia gained benefits using a standards-based, multi-provider

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Further Reading Ali, I., & Gölgeci, I. (2020). Managing climate risks through social capital in agrifood supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 26(1), 1–16. Ali, I., Arslan, A., Khan, Z., & Tarba, S. Y. (2021). The role of industry 4.0 technologies in mitigating supply chain disruption: Empirical evidence from the Australian food processing industry. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1–11. doi:https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2021.308851. Ali, I. (2019). The impact of industry 4.0 on the nexus between supply chain risks and firm performance. Paper presented at the AOM 2019: Understanding the inclusive organization, Boston, USA. Ali, I., & Aboelmaged, M. G. S. (2021). Implementation of supply chain 4.0 in the food and beverage industry: perceived drivers and barriers. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, ahead-of-print (aheadof-print). doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-07-2020-0393.

Methodology Article

Are They Actually Sustainable? The Social Desirability Bias in Sustainable Consumption Surveys ˙ Ahmet Durmaz , Inci Dursun , and Ebru Tümer Kabadayı

1

Introduction

Consumption patterns contribute to various environmental problems, including but not limited to climate change, acidification, eutrophication, diffusion of harmful chemicals into the environment, waste problems, dehydration, noise disturbance, and depletion of non-renewable resources (Ölander and Thøgersen 1995). In the early 1990s, the need for an urgent shift in environmentally destructive consumption patterns was recognized as a critical objective for sustainable development, and this

˙ Dursun · E. T. Kabadayı A. Durmaz (B) · I. Faculty of Business Administration, Gebze Technical University, Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] ˙ Dursun I. e-mail: [email protected] E. T. Kabadayı e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_28

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need led to the introduction of the “sustainable consumption (SC)” concept. Since then, numerous research has been conducted in various scientific disciplines to explain sustainable and unsustainable consumption patterns and to explore prominent indicators. These studies frequently opt for focusing on rather specific topics. However, we still lack collective research that would improve our understanding of values, attitudes, norms, intentions, and their impact on environmental behaviors (Peattie 2010) to understand their intricate intertwinement (Jackson 2005) and culture-based acclimatization (Dolan 2002). Meanwhile, a wide range of national and international environmental policy measures, including legislative, economic, and communicative instruments, have also been employed to promote SC behaviors (Pape et al. 2011; Reisch et al. 2016). In addition, many social marketing campaigns have been deployed to change consumer behaviors toward a more sustainable lifestyle (McKenzie-Mohr 2000; Kennedy 2010; Tkaczynski et al. 2020). Measurement of SC has been a crucial prerequisite for both assessing all those interventions’ effectiveness and scientific analyses of the behavior (Lange and Dewitte 2019). Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers need to know how frequently or intensively a target consumer group engages in a specific or a collection of SC practices; or what is the extent or strength of the consumers’ intention or attitudes to those practices. Various measurement approaches comprising self-report measures, field observation, or laboratory assessments can be used to measure SC (for a review see Lange and Dewitte 2019). Self-report measurement is the most common method owing to its convenience and effectiveness. However, the method comes with some challenges for accurate measurement that make it a target of criticism (see Paulhus and Vazire 2007). One of these challenges is the social desirability bias (SDB hereafter), which is described as a general tendency to give desirable answers on self-reports (Paulhus 2017) stemming from social approval and acceptance needs of individuals (Crowne and Marlowe 1964). Appositely, it is reported that there is a significant gap between what people are willing to do and what they actually do (Peattie 2010; Prothero et al. 2011). SDB appears to be a threat to the validity of measurements, especially when it comes to sensitive topics (Näher and Krumpal 2012). When the research topic is perceived as sensitive by the respondents, they are more likely to over or underrate their responses to survey questions in a way that adjusting their image due to the need for social approval (Paulhus 1991).

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The crucial question for SC researchers, practitioners, and policymakers is the questionable nature of their measurements in terms of validity which subsists in distinct sensitivity perceptions of respondents. When testing pro-environmental attitudes and SC behaviors, these varying perceptions can significantly alter the vulnerability of these constructs to SDB. Literature provides contradicting findings regarding the issue. In their literature review, Dursun et al. (2020) present a list of constructs in consumer behavior that are sensitive to deteriorative impacts of SDB, which covers pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes. Accordingly, consumers are likely to overreport about their SC attitudes, preferences, and practices. On the other hand, Mayer and Frantz (2004), for example, found that pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes were not impacted by SDB. Similarly, Raineri and Paille (2016) found no influence of SDB over the measure of environmental citizenship behaviors. Moreover, Milfont (2009: 267) concluded in his research that “…socially desirable responding is not a problem in measures assessing environmental attitudes and self-reported ecological behaviours” since the relation was too weak. These contrasting findings can partly be attributed to the discrepancy in SDB measures that are commonly used to detect bias. To detect SDB, researchers mainly use the parameter estimates (found as a result of correlation or regression analysis) revealing the relationship between the context variables and a particular SDB scale employed in the respective research. That being said, distinct SDB scales (e.g., Marlowe-Crowne and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding scales) and their different forms (various short versions with the different number of items) are employed for SDB detection. Thereby, empirical findings may not align due to varying vulnerability levels of environmental attitudes and behaviors to SDB combined with different SDB scale usage. Hence, a more scrupulous exploration vulnerability of SC measures to SDB is needed. To address this critical issue, the present study uses an experimental design to explore the sensitivity of SC-related attitudes to SDB. It is expected that this study will be highly useful to both researchers in their pertinent studies and practitioners who seek to evaluate the impact of implemented environmental policies, particularly while the prominence of SC all-time high due to increased consumption rates and industrial production. This study is composed of five sections. After the introduction, SC, SDB concepts are explicated. Afterward, the study proceeds to methodology and continues with discussion of the results. Finally, it is concluded with the synopsis and limitations of this study.

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2 2.1

Literature Review

Sustainable Consumption and Measurement

For reducing environmental problems such as ozone depletion, global warming, loss of species, and water and air pollution, an alteration of current consumption patterns is documented as a requisite as well as for the development of cleaner and more efficient production technologies (Tanner and Wölfing Kas 2003).“Sustainable consumption” concept has emerged in 1992 when Agenda 21 was published. Since then, it has been an ambiguous term and has various definitions such as; preserving resources for future generations, improving consumption efficiency, and reducing waste harmful to environment (Jackson 2014). The extant ambiguity of SC probably subsists in its multidisciplinary structure and being at the intersection of theories and methodological approaches. The topic of SC is a prominent subject in a number of research areas such as behavioral economics, sustainability marketing, and historical studies (Reisch et al. 2016). Social science researchers generally focus on motivations and intentions of individuals that affect their consumption behaviors (Geiger et al. 2018) whereas studies in another major area of natural sciences intrinsically revolve around the material and economic aspects of the goods produced for consumption (Lorek and Vergragt 2015). In line with this demarcation, SC is commonly examined under two distinct segments. The first of the two is called weak SC and denotes increasing efficiency in consumption activities (Fuchs and Lorek 2005). This segment requires substantial alterations in our current transportation, housing, recycling, or production systems (Lorek and Vergragt 2015). Latter is the strong SC which aims to decrease consumption levels by questioning the drivers and levels of consumption or changing consumption patterns (Fuchs and Lorek 2005) which this study fundamentally focuses on. Our current consumption habits are mostly unsustainable, creating unmanageable levels of hazardous waste (Dawkins et al. 2019). Particularly, household consumption has been identified as a prominent factor that creates environmental problems, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and depletion of energy resources (Pape et al. 2011). The impact of individuals in households on the environment comprises more than %70 of the total effect. Hence, it is imperative to understand the environmental behaviors of individuals and the underlying rationales (Klöckner 2013) further underlining the gravity of strong SC concept. Because the way humankind lives is mostly unsustainable, many measures have

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been taken or action programs have been deployed to increase environmental awareness or to enforce it (Pichert and Katsikopoulos 2008). The dramatic increase in industrial production has raised substantial public awareness about resource scarcity and environmental problems (Carfora et al. 2017). Owing to the inordinate increase in end-user consumption, it became evident that without addressing individual consumption habits and levels reaching sustainability goals would not be feasible, consequently making SC a prominent subject for policies and political agendas (Mont and Plepys 2008). Governments and non-governmental organizations design and implement policy measures to foster SC. Administrative and informative policies are two of the commonly employed instruments. While informative instruments focus on the education of students, residents, or businesspeople, administrative instruments mainly consist of strategic plans laid out to attain long-term goals (Dawkins et al. 2019). In addition, economic policies are also implemented (taxes or product charges) targeting primarily producers, but indirectly affecting final consumers. However, due to a lack of consensus on the definition and typology of SC, and constant increase in environmental problems, these policy instruments often remain incipient and indecisive (Mont and Plepys 2008). A multidisciplinary approach is required to render these programs and policies more efficacious (Peattie 2010). An important shortcoming of these policies or programs is the lack of result-and-effect assessment. Measuring the effect of human activities has been a contentious but prominent issue in the sustainable development of policies and environmental impact assessments. SC behaviors are dominantly evaluated through product-related procedures (Geiger et al. 2018). Thus, plans or policies of national or international institutions targeting behavioral aspects of consumerism often remain shallow without directly measuring the effects and results of their policies. They primarily rely on informational or educational instruments to resolve the predicament of unsustainable consumption (Pollex 2017). While some of the initiatives can be directly monitored (such as plastic bag consumption rate, see Prothero, et al. 2011), many others are difficult to observe. Hence, to what degree they deliver SC goals and targets is highly dubious (Dawkins et al. 2019). A more profound investigation of how these approaches or policies are applied or impacted the progress of SC is undoubtedly needed (Pollex 2017). The importance of the issue is also highlighted

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by (Heiskanen et al. 2014) with “knowledge-action gap” within the SC policies. Despite intensive administrational efforts, it is not easy to persuade consumers to alter their behaviors and engage in SC practices since these practices often involve some certain degree of physical, financial, psychological, and time cost on behalf of the consumer (Bolderdijk and Steg 2015). Nevertheless, social marketing emerges as a substitutive and advantageous concept for enabling voluntary behavioral change in favor of personal, social, and ecological welfare by utilizing commercial marketing principles (Kotler and Zaltman 1971; Andreasen 1994; Takahashi 2009; Kotler and Lee 2010). This approach stands on a multistep social marketing plan that starts with describing the social issue and analyzing the situation and ends with implementing the plan. Assessing the effectiveness of the social marketing campaigns requires measuring target audience responses, knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors in several phases of the implementation. Systematic measurement of environmental behavior is required to assess the impacts of both government policy instruments and social marketing campaigns. Three major methods are commonly used to evaluate environmental behaviors and their antecedents. Field observations are frequently used techniques to acquire information about behavioral determinants without relying on the subjective reports of observees, therefore providing a certain degree of objectivity. Data can be obtained via informants, trained observers, or designated devices. However, field observations can be costly and time-consuming (Lange and Dewitte 2019). On the other hand, laboratory-based studies allow investigating the behavioral characteristics of individuals without being disadvantaged by the limitations of self-report studies (reporting biases) or field research (no control over observee). They also enable researchers to apply various multifactorial designs and parametric manipulations (Lange et al. 2018). The final technique is the self-reporting survey which is the most commonly employed tool in marketing, consumer behavior, and other social science research areas owing to its convenience and effectiveness in measuring implicit constructs (Dursun et al. 2020). Data can be acquired at large samples, at a low cost via different platforms (interviews, e-mails, etc.), making this method highly efficient and flexible. But all these advantages are not without drawbacks. Answers given to survey questions are often not objective and hold disparate biases (Lange and Dewitte 2019).

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Among these biases, SDB is considered the most complicated and pervasive bias particularly while assessing sensitive concepts (Steenkamp et al. 2010). 2.2

Social Desirability in Self-Report Surveys

In self-report surveys, it is an arduous task to measure a concept (e.g., SC attitudes and behaviors) accurately since many factors may distort respondent’s answers and cause “response errors” (Sudman and Bradburn 1977) which can be random or systematic in nature. Response bias is a source of systematic error which can be defined as “any systematic tendency to answer questionnaire items on some basis that interferes with accurate self-reports” (Paulhus 2002: 49). SDB is one of the most prominent response biases. Because SDB causes a systematic measurement error, it is imperative to detect, prevent or at least minimize the effects of SDB for improved validity of the research data. SDB can be delineated as the tendency of respondents to adjust their answers in self-reporting situations in which they may look favorable with respect to cultural norms and standards (Ganster et al. 1983). The bias may occur as overreporting for socially desirable behaviors (or attitudes in general), and underreporting for socially undesirable behaviors (Bradburn et al. 1979). SDB impairs the validity of research by (1) misleading evaluation of entire measurement (spuriousness effect), (2) cloaking the relationships between variables (suppression effect), or (3) altering the relationships between other variables (moderation effect) (Ganster et al. 1983). SDB may be partially correlated with both independent and dependent variables, which in result may cause a spurious increase in the total value of the observed relationship. This unwanted increase is in essence, attributable to variables’ shared variance with SDB (Lönnqvist et al. 2007). To control spuriousness effect, SDB can be partialled out of from both criterion and predictor variables (Ziegler and Buehner 2009). When suppression effect occurs, a true and significant relation between two variables may not be detected because SDB conceals it. If SDB is controlled for, this time criterion and predictor variables might produce an elevated correlation (Zerbe and Paulhus 1987). The moderation effect of SDB, on the other hand, changes the dependent variable contingent upon the level of relation between SDB and predictor variable. The degree of moderation effect can be observed via hierarchical multiple regression analysis (Nederhof 1985). For more information see Lönnqvist et al. (2007).

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2.3

Vulnerability of Sustainable Consumption Measurements to Anonymity and Social Desirability Bias

SDB is considered a response error that stems from factors such as question and data collection methods, characteristics of respondents and interviewer (Coutts and Jann 2011), and the level of sensitivity of the topic. Literature provides evidence that some topics are relatively more likely to be contaminated by SDB because they are perceived to be more sensitive regarding certain ethical conducts (Schoderbek and Deshpande 1996) or cultural norms (Hult and Lafferty, 1999). Accordingly, topics about which an ethical or social/cultural norm exists are likely to be perceived as sensitive. SDB can be an issue for sensitive topics because admitting attitudes or behaviors inconsistent with those norms are considered as embarrassing or even threatening by respondents (Näher and Krumpal 2012). From this perspective, we can propound that SC-related attitudes and behaviors are vulnerable to SDB. This is because numerous studies are showing that various forms of SC are significantly affected by both subjective norms (e.g., Heath and Gifford 2002; Vermeir and Verbeke 2008) and personal norms (e.g., Stern et al. 1999; Kaiser et al. 2005). SDB contamination of SC-related variables is also empirically evident. Dursun et al. (2020) provide a review on concepts that are sensitive to SDB in marketing and consumer behavior research. Researchers categorise these constructs under nine groups termed; pro-social consumption, personality, values, religion, subjective well-being, abnormal consumer behaviors, consumer ethics, culture, and pro-environmental consumption. Accordingly, consumers are likely to overrate their environmental beliefs, concerns, attitudes, and various SC practices (such as recycling, conservation, green consumption) to portray themself as environmentally responsible consumers. Examining the “relationship” of context variables to a particular SDB scale is used as a method of SDB detection in those studies. In this convenient method of detection, researchers employ SDB scales in their surveys. They conduct relationship calculations (e.g., regression, correlation analysis) and check if there is a meaningful relationship between SDB and main scales and a significant relationship parameter is accepted as evidence for social desirability contamination. Here, the basic tenet is that individuals who claim desirable items and deny undesirable items of SDB scales statistically tend to respond in a fashion wherein an item’s

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desirability precedes its accuracy (Paulhus, 2002). However, findings of this detection method do not always converge in conclusions. Contrary to the studies listed in Table 1, some researchers, using the same detection method, found that pro-environmental behaviors and/or attitudes were not distracted by SDB (Mayer and Frantz 2004; Raineri and Paille 2016). Besides, Milfont (2009) reports a significant but weak relationship between environment-related variables and IM scale (a 20-item dimension of a two-dimensional SDB scale developed by Paulhus 1991) and concluded that SDB is not a serious problem in the measurement of environment-related variables. Alternatively, one can assess the SDB vulnerability of a variable by examining the variable’s behavior under anonymous and non-anonymous response conditions (Fisher 1993). The notion of anonymity can be defined as a condition wherein the identity of the respondents is concealed from the researcher (Ong and Weiss 2000). According to Richman et al. (1999) and Jong et al. (2010) assurances encourage survey participants to give honest responses to even annoying and harmful questions. Many researchers posit that anonymously collected data sets may be less contaminated with SDB (Richman et al. 1999; Lajunen and Summala 2003; Mühlenfeld 2005; Bell and Naugle 2007). It is also empirically evident that anonymity decreases social desirability and social anxiety scores (Joinson 1999). So it is safe to state that if a variable is SDB vulnerable, measurement scores under anonymous and non-anonymous response conditions will change in favor of respondents’ self-image. In this context, if sustainable consumption-related variables are vulnerable to SDB, respondents should overreport their pro-environmental attitudes, intentions, and behaviors while underreporting unsustainable consumption practices. Following the theoretical expectations and prior findings, we set forth the following hypothesis; H1: Pro-environmental intention scores will be higher in non-anonymous survey condition than in anonymous survey condition.

In addition to testing this hypothesis, we also aim to explore how distinct SDB scales are related to SC intentions. In this way, the paper addresses the scale dependency of SDB vulnerability and provides insights regarding the relative predictive power of popular SDB scales in the SC context.

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Table 1 Brief Demonstration of SC related concepts that are empirically found to be vulnerable to SDB Study

Variables found to be significantly related to a certain SDB scale used in the respective study (p < .05)

The scale used to measure SDB

Milfont (2009)

– Environmental attitudes including – Enjoyment of nature, – Preservation, – Personal conservation and Environmental activism, – Attitude toward organic products – Environmentally friendly behavior – Concern for the environment, – Pro-environmental action, – Institutional trust – Normative beliefs in pro-environmental product buying context – Willingness-to-pay for pro-environmental products – Recycling – Perceived effectiveness of one’s action, – Environmentally conscious purchasing behavior – Reasons for using reusable shopping bags (quality, specifically environment) – Green consumption behavior

10-item scale adapted from Paulhus’ IM scale

Larson (2018) Maxwell-Smith et al. (2018) Wheeler et al. (2019)

Barber et al. (2016)

Cojuharenco et al. (2016)

Yeow et al. (2014)

Wu and Yang 2018

SDS-17 Reynolds’ MCSD Selected 18 item version of BIDR

Ballard’s MCSD

Selected 11 items of MCSD

MCSD original

Reynolds’ MCSD

Paulhus’s IM (impression management) scale: 20 items of Balanced inventory of Desirable Responding Scale developed by Paulhus (1991) MCSD original (Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale): 33 item original form of social desirability bias scales constructed by Crowne and Marlowe (1960) Reynolds’ MCSD: A short (13-item) version of MSCD adopted by Reynold (1982) Ballard’s MCSD: A short (13-item) version of MSCD adopted by Ballard (1992) SDS-17: A social desirability scale developed by Stöber (2001) Source Dursun et al. (2020)

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543

Research Design

To test the vulnerability of pro-environmental intentions to SDB, a single-group pre-test, post-test design was used in which the anonymity condition of the survey was manipulated. 3.1

Sampling

A convenience sample of undergraduate university students was selected in Turkey during the 2019 academic year. The sample consists of 129 participants and comprises both junior and senior students. Due to the intricate nature of experimental research design and the availability of undergraduate students, they were chosen to be the sample of this research. Data were obtained with specially designed surveys and during group sessions managed by interviewers who were particularly instructed according to the needs of this study. After the implementation of the surveys, acquired data were examined for outliers and missing data. After this initial examination of the data, 11 observations were identified as outliers and omitted. The remaining 118 observations were subjected to further analysis. 3.2

Instruments

In this study, pro-environmental intention was used to represent sustainability consumption tendency. Besides, pro-environmental personal norm which is one of the well-documented antecedents of SC was included. A nine-item scale was drawn from (Antil 1984) to measure proenvironmental intention and a four-item pro-environmental personal norms scale was adapted from Minton and Rose (1997) and Steg et al., (2005). The questionnaire also included a four-item measure of copyright infringement (Vitell and Muncy 2005) for checking anonymity manipulation. These content scales were chosen because ethical conduct is affected by social desirability (Schoderbek and Deshpande 1996; Dalton and Ortegren 2011). All constructs were measured using five-point Likert-type scales (Strongly Disagree = 1 and Strongly Agree = 5). The questionnaire also contained two prominent SDB scales including Marlowe-Crowne (Crowne and Marlowe 1960) and Balanced Inventory Desirable Responding (BIDR) SDB (Paulhus 1988) scales. Short

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versions were chosen specifically to prevent respondent fatigue, frustration (Benet-Martinez and John 1998), and habituation bias (Tellis and Chandrasekaran 2010) which might stem from the excessive length of questionnaire. Deciding the best short form for MC scale proves difficult because there are several studies with mixed results in the extant literature. Loo and Loewen (2004) posit that Ballard (1992)’s composite subscale for the MC short form can act as the best substitute for full version of MC scale among others. Due to valid and robust results obtained from various goodness-of-fit indexes, authors inclined and decided to implement Ballard (1992)’s short form of MC scale. The second SDB scale used in this study is two-dimensional 40-item Balanced Inventory Desirable Responding (BIDR) scale (Paulhus 1991). These two dimensions are Self Deception Enhancement and Impression Management, having 20 items each. Five studies so far have proposed a short and two-dimensional version for BIDR scale (Steenkamp et al. 2010; Bobbio and Manganelli 2011; Hart et al. 2015; Asgeirsdottir et al. 2016; Suboti´c et al. 2016). Close examination of these short versions reveals that only four of five models were formed by analytic approach. After the comparison of these four studies, the model propounded by Hart et al. (2015) was deemed suitable to be utilized in this research. The fundamental reason for selecting this particular model is due to its superior correlation coefficients and proper model refinement procedures. All of the scales used in this study are, as their original form, in English language. Items of these scales were translated into Turkish language for Turkish participants. To improve the fathomability of the items, translation process comprised two parts. First, items were translated by a specialist and controlled by a native for errors. Afterward, a team of four academicians examined every single translated item whether they remain true to their original form and also hold cross-cultural and condition/environment-realistic conformity. 3.3

Procedure

To test the vulnerability of SC intentions to SDB, a single-group pre-test, post-test design was used in which the anonymity condition of the survey was manipulated. First Session: At the first session, undergraduate students of two universities in Turkey who enrolled in the consumer behavior and engineering courses were asked to participate survey in their classes

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before their lectures. A total of 149 students participated in the survey. The questionnaire did not include any personal information to enable an anonymous condition. Furthermore, the lecturer gave a brief introduction about the survey and left the class when the researcher, unfamiliar to students, arrived. There was no observation while students were filing the questionaries. A number code for each participant was generated based on their sitting locations to match pre and post questionnaires by a student who knows the participants and voluntarily assisted the survey process. Second Session: For the second session, the survey was conducted again four weeks later, in a non-anonymous condition. A total of 118 students, who completed the first session, took part in the second session at their classes again. 85.6% of the participants were male, and the majority (40.8%) of them were between ages 20–21. In the beginning, it was announced that the survey was conducted for the second time because of some database errors. To manipulate the anonymity, the lecturer delivered the questions and monitored students while they fill the questionaries. More importantly, the respondents’ detailed personal information such as name, surname, and student number was asked at the beginning of the questionnaire. The remaining part of the questionnaire included scale items that are identical to the first one. At the end of the second session, participants were scrupulously notified about the nature and aim of the research.

4 4.1

Analyses

Validity and Reliability

The validity of pro-environmental personal norms, intention, and copyright infringement scales was evaluated through a series of exploratory factor analyses (EFA) conducted on the first and second session data sets separately. At the first stage, 17 items were subjected to principal components analysis using varimax rotation. The analysis resulted in a four-factor solution explaining 63% of the total variance. After eliminating three problematic items (due to cross-loading and low factor loadings), EFA resulted in a three-factor solution explaining 63% of the total variance. The same analysis process was employed for the data set of the second session. Consistent with the first session results, a three-factor solution

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Table 2

Factor Loadings and Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients

Variables/Items

First session data seta Factor Loadings

Pro-environmental intention PS3 PS5 PS6 PS7 PS8 PS9

Cronbach’s alpha Factor Loadings

Cronbach’s alpha

.86

.86

.662 .691 .705 .770 .781 .729

Pro-environmental personal norm EB1 EB2 EB3 EB4

.570 .738 .610 .673

Copyright infringement CI1 CI2 CI3 CI4

.693 .691 .721 .623

Second session data setb

.659 .710 .671 .725 .720 .711 .82

.87 .627 .724 .601 .754

.75

.78 .760 .764 .764 .631

a Anonymous survey condition b Non-anonymous survey condition

explaining 65% of the total variance was found after the elimination of three problematic items. It is safe to state that anonymity manipulation did not have a systematic impact on the scales’ psychometric properties. Table 2 displays factor loadings as well as Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients which are calculated to assess the internal consistency of the measures. These findings revealed that all factor loadings of individual items to respective latent constructs were all larger than .5, providing support for construct validity. Besides, all scales had Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients greater than .7, signaling adequate reliability (Nunnally 1978).

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547

Manipulation Check

Before further analysis, the anonymity manipulation effectiveness was checked through copyright infringement behavior, which is considered unethical consumer behavior. Literature provides abundant evidence that ethical behaviors are subject to SDB. Studies showed that respondents are prone to overrate their ethical judgments, intentions, ideologies, and behaviors while they underreport their unethical behaviors because due to social desirability (Bateman and Valentine 2010; Dalton and Ortegren 2011; Valentine and Bateman 2011; Mudrack et al. 2012; Valentine et al. 2014; Kwak et al. 2019). So, it is safe to expect a relatively lower score for copyright infringement in non-anonymous conditions. A paired sample t-test was conducted to explore the average difference in copyright infringement scores between conditions, namely before and after anonymity manipulation. The results showed that infringement scores decreased (M t1 = 3.1832; M t2 = 3.0230; p < .08), signaling the manipulations of anonymity was achieved. A relatively low level of difference between experimental conditions can be attributed to the respondents’ potential under ratings about copyright infringement behaviors even in anonymous conditions. 4.3

Results

After the manipulation check, a paired sample T-test was performed to test the first hypothesis postulating a higher pro-environmental intention score in non-anonymous survey condition than anonymous survey condition. As displayed in Table 3, analysis results showed that in the nonanonymous survey condition, respondents’ pro-environmental intention score was 3.8244 vs. 3.5793 (p < .05). So, H1 was supported. Table 3

Paired Sample T-test Comparison for Pro-environmental Intention Mean

Anonymous survey condition Non-anonymous survey condition

Std. Deviation

Std. Error M

t

df

Sig. (2tailed)

3,5793

.91,978

.08,540

−3,245

115

.002

3,8244

.87.069

.08.084

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We also examine a relationship between pro-environmental intention and SDB scale in non-anonymous condition. Correlation analysis was conducted for two conditions, and results are presented in Table 4. Results revealed that the pro-environmental intention is positively correlated with the most prominent SDB scales in non-anonymous survey condition. Accordingly, all SDB scales share a similar portion of variance with pro-environmental intention. One other important point about the findings is that pro-environmental intention is subject to the SDB even in anonymous survey condition, since it was found to be significantly related to MC and BIDR image management SDB scale. Regression analysis can be used to determine the SDB related variance from residuals (Fisher 2000). Therefore, a hierarchical regression analysis was then performed to assess the amount of unique variance in the proenvironmental intention that could be explained by the alternative SDB scales in addition to a context antecedent. The first analysis was employed for the first session data set. At the first step, personal norm, which is a well-accepted antecedent of pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., Stern et al. 1999; Kaiser et al. 2005) was included in the model as an independent variable for the first session data set. This model was significant (F = 47.462, p < .01), and consistent with earlier empirical findings, the norm was found to encourage pro-environmental intention (Std. beta = .526 p < .01). In the second and third steps, MC scale and BIDR self-deception scale was entered in the regression analyses, respectively, but there was no significant increase in the explained variance. In the last step, the BIDR image management scale was introduced to the model, which yielded a slight but significant increase in the explained variance (Δ R2 = .033; Sig Table 4

Correlation analysis

Anonymous survey condition

Non-anonymous survey condition

Pro-environmental intention MC scale BIDR scale self-deception BIDR scale image management **p < .01, *p < .05

.226* .157 .284**

Pro-environmental intention MC scale BIDR scale self-deception BIDR scale image management

.327** .339** .333**

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Table 5 Hierarchical regression analysis with pro-environmental intention as dependent variable in anonymous condition

Step 1 Adj R 2 = .288 F(1.114) = 47.462; Sig. = 0.000 Personal norm Step 2 Adj R 2 = .286 F(2.113) = 23.995; Sig. = 0.000; Δ R 2 = .004; Sig = 0.416 Personal norm MC scale Step 3 Adj R 2 = .280 F(3.112) = 15.887; Sig. = 0.000; Δ R 2 = .000; Sig = 0.794 Personal norm MC scale BIDR scale self-deception Step 4 Adj R 2 = ,.307 F(4.111) = 13.760; Sig. = 0.000; Δ R 2 = .033; Sig = 0.021 Personal norm MC scale BIDR scale self-deception BIDR scale image management

Std. Beta

t

.542

6.889**

.521 .068

6.272** .817

.526 .073 -.022

6.152** .851 -.261

.523 -.099 -.018 .250

6.236** -.887 -.215 2.340*

**p < .01 *p < .05

= .021). No multicollinearity problem was detected since tolerance statistics were all above 0.5 and variance inflation factors were lower than 1.89. Results can be viewed in Table 5. Four-step hierarchical regression analysis revealed that SDB scales, particularly BIDR scale image management, explain some unique variance in pro-environmental intentions when partialing for the strong influence of the personal norms. Considering the relative effects of SDB scales, the pro-environmental intention was better predicted by the image management dimension of BIDR than by MC scale and BIDR scale self-deception in anonymous survey condition. The same hierarchical regression analysis steps were employed for the second session data set, which came from the non-anonymous survey condition. The results of the analysis are shown in Table 6. At the first step of the analysis, the personal norm was found to promote proenvironmental intentions (Std. Beta = .468; p < .01). At the second step, MC scale was entered in the regression, and it was found to relate positively to pro-environmental intention (Std. Beta = .219; p < .01)

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Table 6 Hierarchical regression analysis with pro-environmental intention as dependent variable in non-anonymous condition Std. Beta Step 1 Adj R 2 = .212 F(1.115) Personal norm Step 2 Adj R 2 = .251 F(2.114) = .045; Sig = 0.010 Personal norm MC scale Step 3 Adj R 2 = .281 F(3.113) = .036; Sig = 0.017 Personal norm MC scale BIDR scale self-deception Step 4 Adj R 2 = .287 F(4.112) = .012; Sig = 0.171 Personal norm MC scale BIDR scale self-deception BIDR scale image management

t

= 32.197; Sig. = 0.000 .468

5.674**

.410 .219

4.924** 2.633**

.391 .141 .209

4.773** 1.605 2.420*

.385 .073 .183 .137

4.710** 0.722 2.084* 1.378

= 20.397; Sig. = 0.000; Δ R 2

= 16.130; Sig. = 0.000; Δ R 2

= 12.668; Sig. = 0.000; Δ R 2

** p < .01 * p < .05

while personal norm still has a significant influence (Std. Beta = .410; p < .01). The MC scale contributed to explaining the respondents proenvironmental intention by 5% (Δ R2 = .045; Sig = .01). At the third step, when the self-deception dimension of BIDR scale entered the analysis, the explained variance significantly increased (Δ R2 = .036; Sig = .01). Results revealed that personal norm (Std. Beta = .391; p < .01) and self-deception dimension of BIDR (Std. Beta = .209 p < .05) had a positive relation with pro-environmental intentions while MC scale had no significant impact. Finally, the BIDR image management scale was entered into the analysis, but no significant increase in the explained variance was found. This final step revealed that in non-anonymous conditions, only personal norms (Std. Beta = .385; p < .01) and self-deception dimension of BIDR (Std. Beta = .183 p < .05) have a significant positive influence on pro-environmental intention. Considering the relative effects of SDB scales, the pro-environmental intention was better predicted by the self-deception dimension of BIDR than by MC scale and BIDR scale self-deception in non-anonymous survey condition. Multicollinearity was

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not a concern given that there were no VIF values higher than 1.60 or tolerance statistics lower than 0.60.

5

Discussion

The results of this study provide significant implications for researchers and practitioners. The most important finding is the significant differences acquired from the paired samples t-test pro-environmental intention in anonymous and non-anonymous conditions. According to the results, responses given to pro-environmental intention scale notably altered when survey was applied in non-anonymous condition. Respondents reported relatively higher pro-environmental intentions in nonanonymous survey condition. Thus, it can be concluded that proenvironmental behaviors are perceived to be sensitive by participants and for this reason the measurement is vulnerable to SDB. These results imply that survey anonymity can considerably impact the desirable responding in sustainable consumption-related measurements. Because anonymous environment mitigates SDB (Mühlenfeld 2005; Bell and Naugle 2007) SC researchers should consider taking precautions for an anonymized questionnaire environment to reduce or avoid SDB contamination. Results also highlight that SC researchers should detect and control SDB, not only in non-anonymous survey conditions but also in anonymous conditions since the pro-environmental intention was found to be significantly related to SDB scales in anonymous survey conditions. The critical issue here is to designate the appropriate SDB scale for each anonymous and non-anonymous survey conditions to detect the contamination in SC-related measurements. In anonymous survey condition, MC scale and image management dimension of BIDR were found significantly correlated to pro-environmental behaviors. However in non-anonymous survey conditions, namely when SDB contamination is high, all SDB scales were found to have similar degrees of correlation to pro-environmental behaviors. The regression analysis, in which the most prominent indicator of the pro-environmental was controlled and all SDB scales were included, provided more clear understanding concerning the relative power of SDB scales to explain the variability in pro-environmental intention measurement. Accordingly, for both non-anonymous and anonymous conditions, BIDR scale dominates MC scale in unique variance explained. Regression analyses provide another implication about the effect sizes of distinct

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dimensions of BIDR scale. Whereas image management SDB scale affects pro-environmental intention considerably only in anonymous condition, self-deception SDB scale is effective only in non-anonymous condition. Findings evinced that the choice of SDB scale evidently affects the process of measuring and evaluating SDB in SC-related measurement. BIDR scale is seemingly more effective in detecting the SDB in SC context probably owing to its two-dimension structure. Hence, researchers are encouraged to deploy Paulhus (2006)’s latest SDB scale, namely Comprehensive Inventory of Desirable Responding (CIDR). However, the outcome of the regression analysis regarding the BIDR scales is partially unexpected considering the contexts of BIDR dimensions. Impression management refers to conscious depiction of oneself in favorable light. In this condition, subjects tend to falsify test responses deliberately and dishonestly to create a positive impression (Zerbe and Paulhus 1987). Socially desirable or normative behaviors (e.g., voting, physical exercise, or consuming healthy food) are commonly overrated in order to manage impression (Brenner and DeLamater 2014). On the other hand, self-deception is favorable but honest self-portrayal that participants actually believe to be genuine (Fisher 2000). According to these descriptions, it would be normal to observe significant effect of image management scale in non-anonymous condition. The current result might be stemming from measurement error or another response bias. Further investigation is needed. Succinctly, the obtained results imply that even if anonymity is assumed, it would be prudent to examine SDB during analyses. Because the level of anonymity is a delicate subject (Ong and Weiss 2000), researchers ought to look out for possible SDB contamination stemming from anonymity particularly while investigating sensitive issues such as sustainable or environmental consumption. In addition, results posit that policymakers should consider SDB while evaluating their SC programs or plans on account of its accuracy distorting effect.

6

Conclusion

SDB is still a preponderant concern in self-report surveys owing to its negative attribution as a source of systematic error. The field of proenvironmental behavior is one of the domains wherein norms and values profoundly affect scores (Hynes and Wilson 2016) and contaminate the data with SDB (Dursun et al. 2020). In this context, this study seeks

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to shed light on the vulnerability of pro-environmental intention scales to SDB by implementing an experimental design in which anonymity is manipulated. We also included two commonly employed social desirability scales, namely Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale and Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding scale to further explore how distinct SDB scales are related to SC intentions. The results of this study signify the threat of SDB contamination in the pro-environmental measurements. Thus, it is crucial to abide by SDB guidelines (Durmaz et al. 2020) while researching such sensitive topics in order to register or minimize this systematic error. We opine that these results are particularly prominent because attention directed to individual environmental behavior is ever-increasing (Carfora et al. 2017). Researchers and policymakers must select SDB-tested scales while conducting their research. Even when such scales are chosen, controlling SDB would be sagacious for ascertaining the validity of the analyses and reliability of the outcomes. In that sense, the present study will hopefully promote consideration of SDB in environmental behavior research in a way that validity of data and inferences drawn can be ultimately improved. 6.1

Limitations and Future Research Directions

On the other hand, current research has several limitations that need to be mentioned. One of the important boundaries is the limited set of SDB scales and context variables used in this study. Although it would be impossible to include each and every SDB scale created into a single survey (Benet-Martinez and John 1998; Tellis and Chandrasekaran 2010), other SDB scales might produce diverse results. In addition, context variables used in this study are limited to normative and behavioral scales. These scales are also closely pertinent to environmental ethical conduct which is also affected by social desirability (Schoderbek and Deshpande 1996; Dalton and Ortegren 2011). Nonetheless, as stated by Paulhus and John, (1998) concepts and related scales regarding egoistic and moralistic tendencies can also be suitable candidates for capturing insight on SDB. More research is definitely needed to ascertain its disruptive effects. The final concern which might affect the deductions of this study is the lack of cultural diversification that the sample does not possess. Because the research was conducted within a collectivistic culture such as Turkey (Hofstede-Insights 2019), implementation of the same procedure

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may produce different results in individualistic countries. As discussed in Johnson and Van de Vijver (2003), the level of collectivism significantly impacts the social desirability levels. Therefore, in future studies, this notion should not be left out while drawing inferences from the results of conducted analyses.

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Index

A Accreditation, 262–274 Activism, 9, 134, 135, 542 Advertising, 11, 63, 104, 130, 139, 141, 143, 152, 161, 233, 235–241, 247, 249, 251–253, 434, 437 Australia, 59, 518, 519, 521–523, 525 Awareness, 4, 14, 22, 39, 42, 58, 62, 77, 84, 116, 119, 120, 122, 135, 136, 143, 175, 183, 188–191, 209, 210, 215, 216, 253, 273, 300, 308, 347, 351, 359, 362, 373, 374, 382, 391, 395–397, 445, 471, 474, 476, 490, 491, 497, 512, 537 B Banking sector, 510, 520, 524–527 Bicycles, 79, 390, 391, 395 Brand advocacy, 114, 115, 120, 122 Buffet, 170–175, 177 Bullying, 84, 89, 91, 94–96, 98

C Carbon footprint, 24, 198, 442–444, 448, 459, 513, 516, 520, 521, 527 Case study, 53, 134, 162, 182, 184, 189, 192, 315–317, 323, 342, 351–353, 362, 398, 458, 466, 475, 490, 491, 499, 501, 520, 524, 527 Charity Investment, 493, 503 Circular economy (CE), 4, 34, 38, 39, 41, 43–45, 327, 473 Collaborative consumption (CC), 52, 54, 55, 58, 60, 61, 69–79 Consumer assessment, 265 Consumer behaviour/consumer behavior, 38, 54, 56, 183, 184, 358, 534, 535, 538, 540, 544, 547 Consumer well-being (CWB), 104–107, 109, 111, 113, 117, 122, 123 Consumption, 9, 11, 34–36, 39, 40, 42–45, 52, 54, 56, 57, 61, 69,

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 J. Bhattacharyya (ed.), Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4

561

562

INDEX

71, 73, 79, 104, 106, 111, 129, 130, 149–151, 153, 156–159, 161, 162, 169, 170, 186, 190, 191, 198, 199, 201–203, 208, 209, 215–217, 219–221, 224, 232, 244–246, 248, 250, 251, 307, 320, 323, 326, 327, 329, 334, 335, 359, 384, 391, 397, 460–462, 476, 478, 499–501, 504, 510, 511, 513, 515, 516, 518, 519, 522, 523, 525, 526, 533, 535–537, 540, 541, 552 Corporate social responsibility advertisements, 232, 233, 235–238, 240, 243, 253 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), 8–10, 12–21, 23, 24, 26, 37, 120, 138, 143, 183, 231–238, 240, 252, 253, 261–264, 266, 268, 270–274, 279–284, 286, 288, 291, 292, 398, 458, 470, 476, 477, 482, 484, 485, 491, 498, 500–502, 510, 512, 513, 518, 522, 523, 525 Critical discourse analysis, 233, 237–239, 241, 252 Crowdfunding, 71, 280–282, 284, 286–289, 292, 349 CSR dimensions, 282–284, 289, 291, 292 Cultural heritage preservation, 461, 476 Customer engagement, 116, 117, 119, 122 Customer satisfaction, 104, 113–116, 119, 122, 442, 520 Customer value co-creation, 423 Cycling, 390, 392–395 D Differentiation strategy, 419, 421

E Eco marketing, 149 Emerging economies, 7–10, 12, 13, 17, 19, 21, 26, 27 Environmentally responsible behavior, 162, 510 Ethical consumption, 33, 197–199, 521, 523 F Fairtrade, 140, 262, 264–266, 268–273, 344, 347 Fashion, 134–136, 138–143, 159, 266, 269, 272, 282, 301, 302, 305, 307, 309, 327, 331, 439, 490, 494, 540 Food waste, 169–177, 199–202, 460 G GM foods, 199, 201–203 Good governance, 357–359, 363–369, 371, 373, 382–385 Green IT, 510–513, 516, 517, 520, 524–527 Green marketing, 150, 154, 184 Green purchase behavior, 150, 151, 160, 161 H Hashtag, 95, 132, 134–143, 240 Hunza, 458, 466–468, 470, 471, 473 L Local value-adding activities, 339, 342, 350, 353 M Marketing strategy, 96, 104, 111, 114, 117, 118, 121, 122, 328,

INDEX

333, 335, 343, 344, 350–353, 491 Millet consumption, 209, 211, 214, 217 Millet production, 209–211, 213, 214, 216, 220 Mindfulness behavior, 171

N Natural labeling, 202 Nature-Based Social Welfare (N-BSW), 34–36, 38, 40, 43–45 Nestle, 458, 466, 468–471, 473, 475, 477

O Organization, 8–10, 12, 13, 18, 25, 34–36, 42, 88, 89, 91, 92, 96, 97, 103, 106, 111, 115, 117, 121, 122, 133, 139, 140, 142, 183, 217, 220, 261–264, 266, 272, 273, 324, 327, 329, 332, 344, 347, 357–364, 368, 371, 376, 378, 380–382, 384, 385, 433, 434, 441, 445, 447, 449, 466, 470, 478, 482, 484, 485, 487, 488, 491, 493–495, 498–500, 503, 504, 509–515, 517, 518, 523, 524, 526, 527, 537

P Plastic waste, 433, 434, 443, 445, 446, 448, 458, 461, 463, 465, 466, 468, 469, 473, 475, 476 Positioning strategy, 404, 416 Positive influence, 550 Pro-environmental consumption, 540 Profit-sharing, 490 Psychological essentialism, 201

563

R Responsible consumption, 79, 327, 358–362, 366, 367, 382, 407, 457–460, 466, 474–477, 499–501, 511 Responsible marketing, 325, 470

S Second-hand consumption, 327–331, 334, 335 Sharing economy, 52, 53, 55–57, 60, 64, 70–72, 78, 79, 334 Situational analysis, 423 Social change, 23, 37, 71, 130, 135, 493 Social desirability bias (SDB), 534, 535, 539–544, 548, 551–553 Social desirability bias scales, 535, 540–544, 548–553 Socially responsible consumption (SRC), 4, 34, 36–38, 40, 43, 44, 357, 382, 383, 385, 489, 491, 492, 500, 501, 509–512, 517, 522, 524, 526, 527 Socially responsible marketing (SRM), 3, 8, 9 Socially Responsible Sports Consumption, 357, 358 Social marketing, 84–86, 88, 98, 116, 117, 122, 190, 474–476, 534, 538 Social media, 52, 54, 56, 58, 73, 75, 95, 103–106, 111, 113–123, 130–136, 138, 141–143, 191, 300, 304, 308, 317, 318, 321, 348, 488, 489, 496, 497, 503 Social responsibility, 11, 183, 187, 231–238, 241, 245, 249, 252, 253, 264, 266, 268–271, 358, 380, 382, 475, 484, 490, 491, 499, 502, 503, 526

564

INDEX

Social welfare, 11, 34–36, 38, 39, 44, 326 Sports events, 360, 390, 391 Stakeholder analysis, 416, 423 Strategic marketing, 415 Sustainability, 8, 10, 16, 24, 27, 36, 43, 54, 58, 70, 76, 130, 138, 141, 143, 150, 156, 181–183, 185, 187, 192, 197, 198, 200–202, 231, 234, 284, 290, 308, 309, 326, 327, 359, 361, 412, 413, 415–417, 433, 434, 441, 444, 448, 449, 460, 462, 475, 478, 484, 491, 500–502, 512, 516, 518, 519, 524, 527, 537 Sustainability marketing, 536 Sustainable cocoa, 265 Sustainable consumption (SC), 36, 37, 43, 57, 64, 72, 150, 151, 208, 210, 221, 315, 322, 324, 326, 327, 333, 335, 383, 384, 415, 416, 459, 460, 534, 536 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), 3, 24, 38, 208, 209, 221, 308, 362, 396, 412, 457, 459, 462, 465, 469, 470, 476 Sustainable supply chain, 216, 301, 459 Sustainable tourism, 413, 458, 460, 462–464, 468, 476, 477 T Text analysis, 283, 284

Themes, 13, 16, 26, 64, 97, 106, 114–117, 122, 123, 171, 236, 240, 251, 252, 371, 407, 501 Theories, 60, 61, 357, 363, 489, 501, 536 Tour de France, 390–398 Triadic framework of collaborative consumption, 78

U United Nations values, 3, 362

V Value, 4, 10, 15, 19, 22, 23, 38, 40, 52, 55–57, 60, 61, 63, 75–78, 85, 87–89, 97, 104–106, 113, 116, 119, 120, 122, 130, 155, 157, 159, 182, 184, 187, 189, 210, 214, 215, 217, 220, 221, 223, 236, 264, 274, 300, 324, 328, 331, 334, 340–342, 344, 347, 350, 351, 359, 361, 367, 373, 404, 405, 408, 412, 415–417, 433, 435, 441, 444, 447, 461, 462, 465, 483, 501–503, 534, 539, 540, 552

W Well-being marketing, 404, 419 Well-being tourism, 405, 412, 417, 423