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Principles Of Marketing

17th Edition

ISBN:9780134492513

Author:Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, Gary (gary M.)

Publisher:Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, Gary (gary M.)

Chapter1: Marketing: Creating Customer Value And Engagement

Section: Chapter Questions

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Any thoughts and how this relates to marketing management

Transcribed Image Text:X Bb untitled east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn. Copy CONSUMPTION CHOICE People Fair Trade Figure 1. Environment Ethical Issues Animal 11/17 | | - Ethical Fair Trade X Voluntary Simplicity Consumers Green + === 67% Community 1.xythos.prod/58249d599753b/1138605?X-Blackboa... Q + | @ » A Fair Trade Choice Complexity Identity 363 price, quality and convenience must also be managed (Peattie, 2001). Research has found that as a coping strategy concerned consumers prioritise the ethical issues they are willing to address through their consumption choices (Shaw and Clarke, 1999). Therefore, a decision not to purchase fair trade products may not mean that an individual is not concerned about this issue- they may have prioritised animal welfare as a more important concern for them due to factors, such as, price or availability. In light of this, strategies which bundle ethical concerns together, such as, fair trade and organic in one purchase may help the consumer address multiple concerns in choice, while broadening product appeal. Indeed, the marketing strategies of a number of retail organisations who appeal to concerned consumers adopt this approach, such as The Body Shop (animal rights, the environment, human rights, natural health, etc.), Wild Oats Markets (organic, socially environmentally sustainable, natural health, and fair trade) and The Cooperative Bank. We suggest 'fair trade' in Figure 1 could be replaced with a whole range of other ethical issues sharing the same key conceptualisations. Indeed, as noted in Figure 1, the central focus of fair trade could be substituted with a range of other ethical issues. Thus, it is vital that marketing strategies consider these issues in decision making. Fair trade does not exist in isolation and organisations seeking to orient towards this market must recognise the existence of other concerns in decision-making. Even those consumers new to ethical concerns will find themselves faced with multiple issues over time. In the context of fair trade consumers are seeking to make choices which will positively affect producers in the Third World. Developing an understanding around ethical concerns more broadly may serve to strengthen the trust between organisations and individuals (Crane, 2005) through more broadly defined practices of social responsibility particularly at a time when many organisations are concerned with openly seeking to express their social responsibility. Consumers that trust organisations are arguably less likely to set out to disrupt those organisations. CONCLUSION The growth of interest in fair trade provides a source of competitive advantage for organisations not wishing to risk losing out on growing consumer demand for brands with ethical credentials. Some organisations that have responded to the development and growth in areas of ethical 364 CONNOLLY AND SHAW consumerism continue to reap the benefits emphasising the important strategic gains that can potentially be achieved by responding to consumer demands. Important, however, is the recognition that fair trade is rarely a substitute for considering the broader ethical concerns in consumption but rather a complement to it. This diversity in perspective and behaviour means that concerned consumers present marketers with niches rather than a single niche. Often companies do not have a clear understanding of their customer's ethical beliefs and values beyond survey findings which, while valuable, often seek to segment consumers into discrete homogenous groupings. The range of ethical issues that concerned consumers identify with mean that they do indeed hold these concerns as survey research would suggest. However, the need to prioritise concerns when issues can conflict and product alternatives may not be readily available can result in a strategic neglect of some issues when purchasing. NOTE One of the challenges for future research will be to fully recognise and explore further the role of different ethical concerns and their interaction in consumer decision-making. This paper has been invaluable in highlighting and illustrating the inextricable link between fair trade and other ethical concerns. The issues identified will have important implications for the development of strategic marketing communications directed at this increasingly significant consumer group. www.fairtrade.org.uk Q £ ✰ ✰ REFERENCES V Anderson, T.W. and Cunningham, W.H. (1972) The socially conscious consumer. Journal of Marketing 36, 23-31. Antil, J.H. (1984) Socially responsible consumers: profile and implications for public policy. Journal of Macromarketing 4(2), 18-39. Balderjahn, I. (1988) Personality variables and environmental attitudes as predictors of ecologically responsible consumption patterns. Journal of Business Research 17(1), 51-56. Beck, U. (1999) World Risk Society, Cambridge: Polity. Bedford, T. (2000) Ethical consumerism: everyday gotiations in the construction of an ethical self. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Geography, University College London. Berger, I.E. and Corbin, R.M. (1992) Perceived consumer effectiveness and faith in others as moderators of environmentally responsible behaviours. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 11(2), 79-89. Berry, H. and McEachern, M. (2005) Informing Ethical Consumers. The Ethical Consumer (pp. 69-86), London: Sage. Bird, K. and Hughes, D.R. (1997) Ethical consumerism: the case of 'fairly-traded' coffee, Business Ethics 6(3), 159-167. Bohlen, G.M., Schlegelmilch, B. and Diamantopoulos, A. (1993) Measuring ecological concern: a multi- construct measure. Journal of Marketing Management 9(4), 415-430. Brooker, G. (1976) The self-actualising socially conscious consumer. Journal of Consumer Research 3, 107-112. Brown, J.D. and Wahlers, R.G. (1998) The environmentally concerned consumer an exploratory study. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 6(2), 39-48. Browne, A.W., Harris, P.J., Hofny-Collins, A.H., Pasiecznik, N. and Wallace, R.R. (2000) Organic production and ethical trade; definition, practice and links. Food Policy 25, 69-89. Connolly, J. (2004) Describing green consumption: exploring the theory of reflexive ecological modernisation. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Marketing, University College Dublin. 1 ± 6

Transcribed Image Text:CONSUMPTION CHOICE /blackboard.learn.xythos.prod/58249d599753b/1138605?X-Blackboa... Q 9 / 17 | – 67% + @ » 361 (Connolly, 2004; Sheppard, 2002), and ethical consumers (Shaw and Shiu, 2002), the role of fair trade brands in supplying symbolic material to consumers should not be underestimated. FAIR TRADE AND SYMBOLIC CONSUMPTION Previous work in this area by Shaw et al. (2000) argued that the role of self-identity and ethical obligation were particularly pertinent in ethical consumer decision-making given the importance of ethical considerations to many of today's consumers. In reference to fair trade they state, 'while many consumers acting in a rational self-motivated manner may select coffee on the basis of factors such as price and taste, those concerned about ethical issues may be guided by a sense of obligation to others and identification with ethical issues, where concerns such as providing a fair price for fair trade producers take priority' (p. 889). Identity, therefore, was suggested to be an important antecedent to the purchase of fair trade products. This self-symbolic (Elliott, 1997) role of fair trade consumption is poorly addressed within the literature. Only McDonagh (2002) presupposes that the use of anti-slavery/fair trade labels permit consumers to engage in a variety of fair trade symbolic actions, such as for their own personal symbolic actions. Developments in fair trade, such as Cafedirect, are designed to allow consumers to engage in such symbolic actions while benefiting from a quality product. In this regard, fair trade labels are not only purveyors of 'choice' information but important signifiers providing the material symbolism required for self and social identity communication. Indeed, it could be argued that towns, such as Garstang in Lancashire (see Jones et al., 2003) and Clonakilty in Ireland, are now positioning themselves and creating a marketing proposition around the concept of 'fair trade towns' (Fairtrade Foundation, 2005). Renard (2003) maintains that the power of fair trade 'emanates from the social relationships that sustain it, which are its social capital, and from the strength of the label, its symbolic capital. It is about power which springs from the creation of social relationships and its symbolic capital which, in turn, are translated into economic benefits through premium prices' (p. 94). As such, one of the more promising marketing activities employed in this regard is the enactment of the life histories of the producers of fair trade products in labelling and promotion. With the increasing creation of experiential brands via the marketing communication methods used by marketers for conventional commodities, story telling and life histories provide a means to create an emotional and experiential link with consumers. Indeed, story telling is now seen as central to marketing communications aimed at building brand equity (Holt, 2004). The narratives provided in many fair trade brands often allow substantial geographical distances to be transversed. Through this, growers and their labour are made visible and tangible to consumers. This visibility is manifested through the discursive tactics of label text and images, which are part of the concerted marketing efforts now employed by Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and the fair trade movement (Goodman and Goodman, 2001). As such, Raynolds (2002) notes Fair Trade groups draw on consumers' attachment to far off places and traditions, infusing products with information regarding the peoples, places, and cultures engaged in the production of particular commodities. Interestingly, this unfolding of life histories of producers and the social and material conditions under which the goods are produced tends to be absent from other conventional, organic and ecolabelled-organic products (Goodman and Goodman, 2001). According to Raynolds (2002), in embedding commodities with social and environmental information, fair trade labels function as a mirror for the consumer in securing the benefits of self- expression and positive social identity. Both McDonagh (2002) and Raynolds (2002) contend that the consumption of fair-trade-labelled commodities with high symbolic value offers an important 362 CONNOLLY AND SHAW opportunity for consumers to identify themselves as socially and environmentally conscious individuals. Such findings are supported elsewhere and extend to other ethical concerns held by consumers (Shaw and Clarke, 1999; Shaw and Shiu, 2003; Shaw et al., 2000). However, brand building exercises which seek to provide both material and symbolic features for identity purposes must also recognise that many green and ethical consumers in particular view themselves as part of a real or indeed imagined community (Halkier, 1998, 2004). BRANDING IN A DIVERSE IMAGINED COMMUNITY Fair trade brands must acknowledge that despite the individual connotations surrounding expressions of social identity, there is often a deep sense of personal responsibility towards global issues of unfair trade, ecological deterioration, etc. Shaw and Clarke (1999) found that many ethical consumers described feelings of 'responsibility to each other' as we don't live in glorious isolation' (p. 116). This highlights the notion of collective voting in the marketplace as an effective strategy for change (Beck, 1999; Friedman, 1999, 2004; Nava, 1991). Indeed, while the adoption of voting strategies emphasises feelings of responsibility to enact change, many consumers do not believe they have the power individually to produce change. Instead, Shaw (2004) found that many ethical consumers although acting individually believed that they were part of a wider collective of concerned consumers. This appears to support Halkier's (1998) contention that green consumers feel they belong to a diffuse, imagined community linked to other unknown consumers, whose consumption behaviour is as environmentally responsible as their own. It is this image of such a community of active co-consumers that allows individual consumers to make sense of their own consumption activities. They are, subsequently, dependent on one another's actions when it comes to pressuring producers and retailers. Indeed, Connolly (2004) notes that a defining feature of green consumers in his study is their belief in the efficacy of individual responsibility. This would appear to support Nicholls (2002) suggestion that the marketing communications of fair trade producers/ marketers should allow individual consumers to feel a sense of 'making a difference', in order to secure a commitment to regular purchase behaviour and to develop brand loyalty. ETHICAL INTERRELATIONSHIPS AND MARKETING IMPLICATIONS As we have discussed, competing narratives can in fact add to confusion in terms of selecting fair trade produce. These competing narratives, namely green consuming, ethical consuming, and voluntary simplicity and their respective interrelationships with fair trade as illustrated in Figure 1 have implications for the marketing strategies of fair trade organisations and indeed those organisations that view themselves as green or ethical organisations. As illustrated throughout this paper, ethical issues of concern to consumers are in many instances interrelated to others as one issue inherently raises the existence of other issues, for example environmental concerns of long distance transportation place issues of local production against Third World development. Indeed, in recognising the existence of multiple concerns for individual consumers an increasing number of fair trade products also seek to address organic concerns, thus seeking to find a balance between the multiple issues that consumers wish to satisfy. Rather than being distinct we find that notions of green consumers, ethical consumers and voluntary simplifiers in fact share much in common. All share a concern for issues concerning the environment, people and animal welfare. As noted, however, concerns themselves can conflict. The marketplace may not offer choices reflective of all or even some consumer concerns, while traditional purchasing criteria such as S

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