CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Organizations in the United States and United Kingdom continue to concoct clever ways to convince their citizens that recycling is worthwhile.
In England, a new behavior change campaign is trying to reinforce that every little bit helps: If every Londoner recycled one extra plastic bottle a week for a year, enough energy would be saved to power Wembley Stadium for two years – a venue that can hold 90,000 people. So Resource London is asking Londoners to recycle “just one thing,” in its new “Recycle for London” campaign.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Millennials will lead the way for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in future conversations and efforts around conservation, energy efficiency and environmental stewardship, according to a new survey by Cox Enterprises.The second annual Cox Conserves Sustainability Survey found that Millennials have a huge appetite for sustainability and will drive adoption of these practices. Millennials showed greater knowledge about sustainability than other age cohorts and a strong interest in implementing sustainable business practices, but noted that in their current roles, they lacked the influence needed to effect change.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) released the first-ever industry materiality assessment in its 2015 Sustainability Report on Tuesday. Sustainability analytics firm Framework LLC conducted the assessment using data from across the sector’s value chain to map critical risks and opportunities, and found materials, transparency, and greenhouse gases among the top concerns for the $30 billion cleaning products industry.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
A new cup will use aromas and a patented “sweet taste technology” to trick people who prefer sugary drinks into thinking they are drinking a fruit-flavored water. The Right Cup, designed to help people drink more water, will launch its crowdfunding campaign in a few weeks.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Greenwashing practices, combined with claims of corporate social responsibility, have reduced the trust of U.S. consumers who are increasingly recognizing hotels’ green claims may be self-serving, according to a new study in the Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, as reported by Eco-Business. All of this could cause hotels to lose valuable repeat customers.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
The world’s most innovative leaders know that social businesses are more profitable businessesConsumers around the world, from Vancouver and Toronto to Shanghai and New York, believe that a company’s social role goes beyond simply meeting legal requirements, complying with ethical standards, creating jobs and paying taxes. Research shows that consumers everywhere expect companies to act as social leaders, using their business expertise to lead social change.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Despite profound economic, political and social challenges around the world, a rising generation of Aspirational consumers is optimistic about the future and sees brands and free market capitalism as a force for positive change, finds a new global study by BBMG and GlobeScan.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Nestlé’s Pure Life® Purified Water recently announced a new campaign dedicated to encouraging children to drink more water. A recent study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that a little more than half of all children and adolescents don’t get enough hydration. Although excessive dehydration — which is rare in the developed world — is associated with serious health problems, even mild dehydration can cause issues including headaches, irritability, poor physical performance and reduced cognitive functioning.1
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
While new surveys are emerging left and right attempting to find the pulse of the ever-elusive consumer when it comes to sustainability, that stubborn attitude/behavior gap still persists. So, let’s take a few steps back … Does the growing proliferation of “green” jargon really reach a mass audience? Do these buzzwords and terms carry political baggage? Do consumers understand their meaning? And more importantly, do they stir up positive or negative feelings? Do people associate them with increased expense or better health?
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Millennials are universally more engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, according to new research from Cone Communications. This includes everything from buying products associated with a cause they care about to using their online networks to amplify social and environmental messages.The 2015 Cone Communications Millennial CSR Study reveals that more than nine-in-10 Millennials would switch brands to one associated with a cause (91% vs. 85% U.S. average) and two-thirds use social media to engage around CSR (66% vs. 53% U.S. average).
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Package labels that clearly detail food product ingredients have become the norm, thanks in large part to demand from consumers who want to be able to make informed decisions about their purchases. But what about other information related to sustainability and how product packaging is sourced?Current product labels do not offer a sufficient or clear explanation of sourcing and sustainability information. We need to recognize, across all industries, that the materials used to develop the packaging of a product is equally as important as the ingredients that go inside a product. Consumers are demanding greater transparency and it is the responsibility of all of us, including manufacturers, regulators and third-party groups, to fulfill this obligation.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Fenugreen, 2013’s SB Innovation Open winner and creator of the potentially game-changing food-saving innovation FreshPaper, is one of 10 startup finalists in contention for the most coveted of TV spots: a Super Bowl ad.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Americans expect companies to make a positive difference in the world and have major concerns about corporate ethics, according to study results released this week. When it comes to earning their trust and support, they say communication from companies is key.
NEW METRICS -
Those of us in the field may share a deep-seated belief that sustainability efforts across the product value chain pay clear dividends — but it’s nice to have proof.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
One year after drugstore chain CVS Health stopped selling cigarettes, the company released new data that shows the decision has influenced tobacco sales across many types of retailers and announced a new school-based tobacco-prevention program.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Over 35,600 people have signed a Courage Campaign pledge to boycott several popular California produce companies after news that they may be using contaminated oil industry wastewater to grow their crops.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
A new study from the University of Bonn finds that consumers are willing to pay more for products with a Fair Trade logo, and they also perceive them to taste better. Published last week in Frontiers in Neuroscience, the research identifies potential neural mechanisms that explain why Fair Trade products are evaluated more positively.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Today the ethical consumer market hovers between 10 and 20 percent. These numbers haven’t moved much since the term was first popularized 25 years ago. Yet market researchers such as Edelman and Ipsos Reid tell us that more than 80 percent of Canadian consumers want companies to champion social causes, lead social change and stand for something. Companies that figure out how to tap into this latent demand for corporate social purpose stand to win big.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Recent studies suggest consumers are increasingly motivated to buy sustainable products, especially the rising generation of socially motivated millennials — that’s the headline in the sustainable business community. But we also know that it’s difficult to motivate consumers to act upon their best intentions. They may state their preference to buy organic, ethically produced products in the abstract, but their actual choice may be different at the point of purchase.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
A new survey suggests U.S. consumers are largely unaware of the severity of global resource scarcity, but their choice of packaging would be impacted if they had readily available information on how renewable materials mitigate climate change.