(A Reflection, by Name)
The primary message of the authors is that a disparity exists between the number of consumers vouching for ethical products and the number of consumers actually buying them. The authors conclude that ethical concerns rank only second while making a purchase decision and the product’s economic properties are consumer’s priority. But, the authors also highlight the existence of a niche segment of consumers, who purchase products with ethical merits and it is only a matter of time that more and more consumers will follow the league. This offers scope for future marketing activities.
The message is primarily intended to manufacturers and suppliers of products and services, including the ones who adopt ethical practices in the process of delivering value to customers and the ones who do not. To the ones who adopt socially responsible practices, the authors send this message to highlight the need of keeping the consumers informed and empowered to make their decisions considering a products ethical merits. To the ones who lax in socially responsible standards, the authors want to send a message that the demand for ethical products is bound to increase in future. This message is being sent to the primary audience to inculcate a habit of producing and marketing ethical products in them.
The authors support their paper with the help of literature review, including understanding the debate on corporate social responsibility, consumer behaviour and statistics on purchases; real life scenarios, including examples of corporates like Unilever and e-commerce; primary research, which involved conducting in-depth interviews on 120 consumers from eight countries (Devinney, Auger, and Eckhardt, 2011); and incorporating opinions from the senior executives in this field, like the view of Drumond on consumer purchase behaviour.
The authors conclude that, in the present scenario, consumers’ economic priorities outweigh ethical merits of the product because consumers are usually ill-informed or less informed about merits (and demerits) of ethical (socially irresponsible) products. As this gap is bridging and consumers are being more involved and informed about social issues and ethical benefits of buying a product, the size of the niche segment of people buying ethical products is bound to increase. It is possible 10 or 20 years down the line that consumers base their purchases primarily on the ethical properties of a product. The hidden message for his target audience is that it is the right time that manufacturers and suppliers adopt corporate social responsibility in their product and marketing proposition to stand ahead of their competition.
The authors have put forward their message clearly, unambiguously and duly supported it with secondary and primary research. The authors have supported the need of adopting corporate social responsibility practices by corporates, which is imperative given the growing consciousness in people towards ethical way of living. The corporates have a lot to gain from this paper as it gives them a perspective of consumer behaviour in future and the corporate actions that can provide them a competitive edge and help in gaining market share. Overall, the paper succeeds in building a relation between values and value. Ethical values are not against consumer value, it is just the next step to the perceived economic value. It is a means through which corporates can gain competitive advantage. Absence of responsible practices can be detrimental for corporates. It can be used against them by other corporates and socially responsible entities.
References
Devinney, T., Auger, P. and Eckhardt, G.M. (2011). Values vs. Value. Strategy+Business, 62, p.1-3
