Event - 2014 Cause Marketing Conference: Innovating for Impact

The Cause Marketing Conference is a must-attend cause marketing conference of the year. Innovating for Impact is the theme of this year's conference. Attendees will gain access to changemakers who are pushing the envelope of cause programs.


Speakers

People like TOMS' Blake Mycoskie, DonorsChoose.org's Charles Best, Purpose's Jeremy Heimans and Children's Miracle Network Hospitals' John Lauck to name just a few (click here to see all of this year's speakers).

Program

This year's conference will be infused with enhanced networking for you to connect with and learn from your peers (click here to see the full program).

Registration

It's a new year and a new opportunity to invest in your professional development. Click here to register today!

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Educating Consumers about Sustainable Consumption

Businesses need to address consumer confusion about sustainability. A 2011 WBCSD report reviews how business can help to take sustainability from a niche market to the mainstream. As reviewed in the report, businesses need to be part of the effort to explain sustainability to consumers. Ultimately consumers need to understand that sustainability is about a pragmatic approach to solving the climate change crisis we are facing.

One of the chief obstacles that businesses face has to do with the false choice between the economy and the environment. Many consumers fear that sustainable consumption will translate to a decrement in their standard of living. However, sustainable consumption does not have to mean a lower standard of living, just a higher level of intentionality about encouraging more sustainable products, systems and services.

There are conflicting numbers about the amount of people who actually make buying decisions based on sustainability. According to 2010 Natural Marketing institute statistics 83 percent of US adults are associated with green purchasing in one way or another. However, this includes those who make very occasional green purchases.

The WBCSD's report found that only 20 percent of consumers make choices about their shopping habits based on the sustainability of a product. The inference of this study is that a great deal of work still needs to be done informing consumers about the merits of sustainability.

If we are to educate consumers we must have clear definitions of what we mean when we advocate sustainable consumption. One very useful study characterizes sustainable consumption as smart growth (decoupling commercial success from environmental impact), smart use (minimizing impacts associated with product use and disposal), a better choice of choice (manufacturers offers customers better choices) and positive social impact (purchasing promotes well-being on multiple levels).

Consumers have a long way to go, but they are moving in the right direction. We can radically transform our world through educating consumers to make more responsible buying decisions. Businesses have an important educational role to play advancing the green economy by informing consumers about what sustainability really means.

Forward thinking companies are not waiting for green consumer demand, they are using their power to create this demand. Companies like Sainsbury’s and Unilever are already actively involved in efforts to educate consumers.

By encouraging consumers to make more responsible buying decisions we can liberate market forces that can significantly advance the green economy. Educating consumers is the key to facilitating the adoption of green products and services..

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The Frugal Green Consumer

During the recession we have seen evidence that consumers are shifting their focus from premium green products to frugality. While there is demand for green products and services, people are price conscious and cost is an impediment to wider adoption.

Frugality is an important element shaping today's green consumer. The increasing number of people growing their own food, and reusing things they would have otherwise discarded are illustrations of the point. People are increasingly buying only what they need and making purchases that are designed to last. Essentially people are looking for good value for their money

The recession and slow recovery is changing our behavior and making consumers more value conscious. Value is not just a buzzword in business, it reflects a growing trend that an increasing number of consumers are demanding.

People want more for less. The implication is that people want green products and services that have a smaller footprint, but they do not want to pay more.

Frugality is a key characteristic of the new green consumer attitude. To capitalize on this trend marketers need to find price points commensurate with consumer cost concerns.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Sustainability is the Future of Consumption

According to research entitled ‘Consumer Futures 2020’ the future of consumption is going to be radically different from what we see today. This research presents four scenarios exploring possible patterns of consumption in 2020, all of which indicate that consumerism will become more sustainable.

Based on these two parameters, Prosperous vs. Less prosperous – by 2020 will our economy be flourishing or subdued? And Do-it-yourself vs. Do-it-for-me – will consumers take the initiative to satisfy their needs or expect brands to do this for them? They created a two-by-two matrix, which in turn enabled them to create four scenarios:

My way – Mainstream consumers buy locally, strengthening their local economies. Vertical farming is widespread, producing more food per unit of land. Sustainable living is high-tech and easy; products such as the personal energy micro-manager help reduce energy consumption and build personal relationships via on-line competitions.

Sell it to me - Brands and businesses have taken a lot of the hard work out of being sustainable, driven by resource scarcity and a global deal on climate change. Retailers have taken unsustainable products off the shelves and smart products and services are commonplace – all designed to reduce their in-use impacts.

From Me to You – Communities are again strengthened by local food and energy production. Resources are valued much more highly than today because they are scarce and expensive, and there is little or no waste. Goods exchanges are mainstream, encouraging recycling and re-use of goods and resources, from fridges to grey water.

I’m in your hands – The product to service shift has become mainstream. Retailers and brands lease a lifetime’s supply of key goods, and now also provide heat, water and nutrition. Strict government legislation and economies of scale mean that these leasing models are highly sustainable. Consumers take a “waste not want not” attitude and expect government and business to take the lead on delivering sustainability.

According to this research sustainable consumption is unavoidably moving from a niche market to the mainstream.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The Revolutionary New Model of Consumption

There is a revolution underway that is transforming consumption. If the twentieth century was marked by hyper-consumption the twenty-first century will be marked by collaborative consumption. This new form of consumption is being facilitated by a wide range of technological innovations. Social media is a great example of technologies that contribute to the new model of consumption. Examples include things like localized bartering and exchange, gifting and freecycling, local networking clubs, and websites that help people to find what they are looking for.

Craigslist is one of the best examples of the new model of consumption. The DIY movement is another example of the new model of consumption. People are doing things for themselves this both reduces costs and minimizes consumption. Even the ways we access information are being radically transformed by new technology. The extraordinary growth of citizen journalism and the proliferation of online content shows how information is being disseminated without having to buy a newspaper or magazine.

Crowdsourcing and carrot-mobs are other ways that consumers are changing traditional paradigms of consumption. People now have direct digital access to millions and they are using these technologies to find what they want often without ever stepping foot in a store.

We can expect that entrepreneurs will continue to develop new ways to help people find what they want. Albeit without necessarily being conscious of the implications, they are dramatically and irrevocably changing our patterns of consumption.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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The World's First Global Carrotmob Campaign

The carrotmob is a powerful new way that people can influence business to be more responsible. In a Carrotmob campaign, a group of people spend money to support a business that engages in socially redeeming initiatives.

An Overview of the Carrotmob Model:
1) organizers of a campaign make an agreement with a business
2) a mob of people spend money at the business
3) the business makes a change to its practices to become more responsible (eg sustainable)

On Monday, September 10, 2012, Carrotmob launched its first ever, global campaign with Thanksgiving Coffee company, an artisan coffee roaster in Northern California. The family-run company buys from small farms and cooperatives around the world, and already embraces cutting edge sustainability practices. They are determined to make their coffee as Earth friendly as possible. These efforts includes a novel initiative to transport their coffee beans by wind-powered shipping instead of using container ships fueled by oil.

Global shipping currently accounts for more than a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Since coffee is the most widely traded agricultural commodity in the world, the potential impact of this campaign is vast. Small coffee companies have already transformed industry practices as proven by the increase in fair trade sales over the past decade. A move by small coffee companies to wind-powered shipping could be game-changing not only for the coffee industry but other industries like chocolate, sugar, tea and more.

Thanksgiving has agreed to embark on this journey if people buy $150,000 worth of coffee through the Carrotmob website. The funds will initially be spent on having Thanksgiving Coffee hire a researcher to determine exactly how they can feasibly transition to wind-powered shipping, and also develop a business plan which will be shared with the public. Any remaining funds will go towards buying a sailboat. 

Since its launch in 2008, Carrotmob has become a global movement, with hundreds of campaigns at small businesses in over 20 countries around the world.

"We hope to prove the concept that this model will soon work with the largest companies in the world" says Brent Schulkin, founder of Carrotmob. "We believe that we can get millions of people to organize their purchasing behavior in order to change policies and practices at big businesses."

The Thanksgiving coffee carrotmob campaign concludes on September 30, 2012.

For more information on the campaign click here. 

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Pessimism is Impeding Environmental Advocacy

While it is easy to understand why so many environmentally concerned people are fearful and pessimistic, these attitudes detract from the goal of improving our environment. Fear is well warranted, we are on the verge of a widespread ecosystem collapse and we have reached 400 ppm of atmospheric C02 in the arctic. However, rather than just ask how bad things are, we should be asking how we can best address the calamities we face within the time we have available.

Fear mongering does not move us forward, if anything, it alienates people who most need to be brought into the discussion. The reaction to Rio+20 is a great illustration of the point. The summit in Rio has been justifiably described as “weak,” ”remarkably listless,” and a ”disappointment.” Sometimes the zeal of some environmentalists makes it hard for them to recognize progress. The business community’s commitments were the one bright spot at Rio, nonetheless they too were subjected to a barrage of harsh criticisms.  One article suggests that progress at Rio was derailed by big business. Some even dismissed the entire process, claiming that the summit was hijacked by powerful corporations.

Peter Bakker is head of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and he flatly rejects the criticism that the 1,000 businesses that attended Rio were not serious about creating change. As Bakker points out, there are good businesses that work to be more sustainable and there are bad businesses that work to undermine progress.  “The 20 percent of really bad guys we need to regulate out of existence…You can go home from Rio totally frustrated and create absolutely nothing, but if you see the result as half full, despite the disappointment, you will see hooks for processes, dialogues and for agreements around targets,” Bakker said.

While governments and most private citizens are doing little, some businesses are showing leadership. There is no doubt that corporations like those in the fossil fuel industry wield far too much influence, but it is both irresponsible and inaccurate to dismiss the sustainability efforts of a growing number of companies. The business community is doing more for sustainability than governments and private citizens put together.

Although Rio+20 did not produce the kind of results that many had hoped for, the business community did provide some reason for optimism. There were a host of announcements worth noting amongst the 150 corporate sustainability pledges made in Rio, they include the Natural Capital Declaration, a public-private partnership to reduce deforestation through sustainable agriculture and the launch of the Clean Revolution campaign. In addition, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange will soon have to provide annual emission reportsand there is a plan to to reduce emissions through sustainable transport.

There was also progress on sustainable cities, (which is significant given the fact that cities are responsible for three-quarters of global GHGs). According to the mayors of major cities who gathered at Rio+20, there are already measures underway to reduce their combined GHG emissions by 248 million tons by 2020.

Selwyn Hart, a diplomat for Barbados, was amongst those who saw Rio+20 as progress. “The document represents a positive step forward. While it is not the major breakthrough we had 20 years ago, it puts us on the pathway to sustainable development,” Hart said. “The formal negotiations might be over but [we] need to focus on the implementation of some of the central issues dealt with in the document,” he added.

While there may have been some progress at Rio+20, we are still a very far way from creating a sustainable world. Given how far we are from the desired goal, one could easily conclude that the answer lies in providing more science-based information to people, politicians and business leaders. Others believe we need to make people aware of the horrors that await us in a world ravaged by climate change. However, a new study suggests that environmental action will not come from pessimistic fear inspiring facts about the environment. Research shows that positive appeals appear to be far more effective.

The kind of changes we need to see to save our planet will not be brought about by fear or even by science. The issue impeding popular support for progress on environmental policy is pessimism.

Research by historian Matthias Dörries examined the role of fear in our understanding of climate change. He explored how apocalyptic forecasting, estimates of mass extinctions and other fearful predictions have not produced the necessary changes. According to Professor Dörries, science invokes fear but does not auger a change in our behavior. Dörries concludes that the appeals for action on climate change are ultimately ”political and cultural,” not merely a matter of science and reason alone.

Decades of research show that appeals to fear can easily backfire causing recipients to reduce the fear without reducing the danger, perhaps by denying that there is anything to fear or concluding that the fear appeal was a manipulation attempt by an untrustworthy source.

As reported in Nature Climate Change, Paul Bain and his colleagues conducted a study with important implications for increasing climate change advocacy. The research of Bain et al shows that informing people about the expected impacts of climate change had no effect on their positions. What did change the positions was thinking about how limiting greenhouse-gas emissions might promote interpersonal warmth and scientific and technological progress.

Ultimately, people’s attitudes on climate change are directly related to different psychological strategies to mitigate fear. Climate change deniers reduce fear through a variety of techniques that reject climate change impacts. Their tactics include avoidance of the facts, highlighting scientific uncertainties, focusing on minor disagreements and maligning climate scientists. What makes opponents of environmental policies so dangerous is the fact that they seek fear reduction without doing anything to address the threat.

Bain’s research shows that approaches based on hope work far better than fear. More effective approaches stressed values of community good feeling and of scientific and technological progress.

If our goal is to bring about the type of change that will enhance our chances for survival, we must move beyond pessimism and fear. We must learn to engage people in a more psychologically effective fashion.  We need to work towards building consensus and curtail the rampant cynicism that only makes matters worse. Unless we can find a way to entice those not yet engaged in environmental action, we are simply preaching to the converted.

People are not receptive to negativity and this has profound implications for environmental advocacy. If we are to communicate effectively we must move beyond angry rants. If we want to effectuate change, we must acknowledge that pessimism is an affront to progress and an impediment to efforts to improve our world.

Source: Global Warming is Real
 
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