Stephanie Crump

BIS RESEARCH PAPER

Implementing Sustainability Into American Culture

In 2009, Americans trashed about 161 million tons of material. You can

imagine this clearer by noting that that is about three pounds of garbage per

American, per day. With the population and consumption rate increasing, you would

think it would be a more important issue to us to save our planet. As humans, we

value our culture and traditions and I believe in order to successfully make this

transition into a sustainable future, sustainable living must become a way of life, a

part of our culture. The problem I am focusing on is if we can increase sustainable

living by marketing it as a part of American culture to ultimately increase the

importance of sustainable living across the globe. This being such a complex

problem, it is easier to look at this issue through an interdisciplinary way of

thinking. As I am studying sales and marketing and sustainability, I find it easier to

make correlations between the two related to this issue, but I believe that

psychology, education, and economics also play an important role.

With large companies and the government becoming much more involved in

sustainable issues such as climate change, deforestation, and biodiversity loss it

could make this vision of a sustainable lifestyle more reachable than expected.

There are, however, many barriers to this concept. Although people and companies

are more accepting of sustainability as a term, few are applying it in the correct way.

Many companies use it as a way to attract customers and use it more as an

“efficiency plan” and most people like to think of themselves as sustainable, but

rarely include it in their every day lives. I think that these barriers are caused by

deep-rooted norms that get in the way of starting a behavior change. People want to

become more sustainable, but these habits override any new value starting to form.

Marketing sustainability to the people to create community, desire, and value in a

population could be the way to making “green living” an actuality.

“Going green” is what comes to mind for most American citizen’s when

thinking about the concept of sustainability when in reality, sustainability is a multi-

disciplinary concept in itself. The three pillars of sustainability, which are the

society, the environment, and the economy, all encompass the term and must

balance out in order to create a perfectly self sufficient and sustainable world. These

three pillars can be visualized as a Sustainability Venn Diagram where the center is

that sweet spot to a balanced way of living. However, I believe this sustainable

dream of a perfect world will not be accomplished due to Adam Smith’s theory of

the invisible hand, which is the fact that the people will usually act in their own

interest, (Schjeldahl, 2014). This is especially true in present day America.

What has been a lingering issue of sustainability is the ever-increasing

population of the world. According to the United States Census Bureau, by 2044 the

world population will have reached 9 billion people (International Data Base, USCB).

This is concerning to most scientists and environmentalists because “if the levels of

consumption that the most affluent people enjoy today were replicated across even

half of the roughly 9 billion people projected to be on the planet in 2050, the impact

on our water supply, air quality, forests, climate, biological diversity, and human

health would be severe,” (Hiltunen, 2013). With most American’s acting and

consuming in their own interest, without the thought that this consumption rate will

have a detrimental effect to our planet and future generations, it is no wonder that

sustainable living is being stressed.

Sustainability can mean many different things to different people. That is

especially true when applying it to a business model or marketing plan. Long-term

thinking, improving the quality of life while taking the environment into account, or

increasing the opportunities for future generations is all examples of how

companies generally use sustainability. Some companies will actually use a guide

called the Sustainability Framework to represent the consideration of sustainability

in a business. The Sustainability Framework encompasses the three pillars of

sustainability and a value chain, which includes supply, operation, distribution, use,

and fate, that reflects which issue is most important and at which point in time. The

framework also takes governance, structure, and culture into account when filtering

through issues. Every issue that is taken into account in reliant on the companies

values, policies, and practices and the business is required to ask many questions to

determine if the issue is “worth it” to their company. (Cabezas, Diwekar, 2012).

The Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review

collaborated to study “The Business of Sustainability” which is the reason why or

why not companies are moving towards a greater sustainability initiative. 1,500

corporate executives partook in a global survey and 50 executives were interviewed

about issues such as civil engineering, energy science, and management (Wireless

News, 2009). They concluded that the top issues that influence their company are

“government legislation, concern by customers, and interest by employees.” Closely

following these top three issues in descending order are “pollution, exhaustion of

non-renewable resources, social pressures, water supply and access issues, global

political security, population growth, and climate change” (Cabezas, Diwekar, 2012).

There are still those companies that confuse the word sustainability with efficiency

or social responsibility. Most employees of these organizations believe that as long

as we are making a profit and laying the track towards a successful and long lasting

business, then that is sustainable business. Fortunately now more and more

companies are switching gears towards a business plan that embodies the three

pillars of sustainability. One example is a term called “Sustainable

Entrepreneurship” that focuses on “new solutions or sustainable innovations that

aim at the mass market and provide value to society” (Weidinger, Fischler,

Schmidpeter, 2014).

This emerging business concept is a great way to intertwine business and

sustainability and possibly create a profit, however, what truly makes a business

successful? To me the answer is the people. Creating that connection to society and

their culture makes a huge difference between todays fad and a company that lasts

generations. Companies like Coca Cola, Nike, or Wal-Mart connect to their customers

to not only solve their customer’s problems and create relationships, but also

capture their audience’s values and beliefs to turn their products into a way of life. If

this marketing procedure is possible, then shouldn’t it be possible to apply the same

concept to sustainable living?

There are many barriers to changing the values and beliefs of American’s to

take on a sustainable lifestyle. I believe that Professor van der Leeuw of Arizona

State University describes it best with his story of his visit to Papua New Guinea

where many of the village’s lives depend on a central fire heat pit where most of

their food is cooked. One village created a tool out of bamboo to grab the plates from

the fire so it would not burn their hands. However, the other village down the road

did not use this tool, instead they used their bare hands to pull out their plates

resulting in burnt fingers. Being that both of the villages interact regularly, Professor

van der Leeuw wondered why the second village does not use the method of the

first village and create a tool to pull the plates from the fire. He claims that it is

because these people have “blind spots” where they do not try to fix the problem if

they do not recognize the problem. A bigger problem that he explains is that the

reason we do not notice these problems is because they become a part of our

culture, values, beliefs, even habits, and tend to not think about them.” Like pulling

dinner out of the fire barehanded, we even come to think of them as ‘natural’, at

least in much of the West and hence to accept them as ‘the best way to do things’ or

at least ‘the least bad way’, without really considering any alternatives,” (van der

Leeuw, 2014).

There are very few companies that market their brand as a connection to a

culture and I believe one brand that does this specifically well is Coca Cola. It seems

on each television channel, a commercial s coming on to tell you to “Share A Coke”

with your friends, neighbors, or someone you haven’t even met yet. It is encouraging

their community to become involved and help others. Most people would like to see

themselves as someone who would share their drink or lend a helping hand,

therefore the brand relates to the people on an emotional level, making them feel

good about themselves and purchasing the product. Applying a marketing plan like

Coca Cola’s to an idea like sustainability can be difficult, but if you target the right

influencers in the beginning, the idea can work it’s way through the community until

eventually it becomes something they feel comfortable doing and encouraging other

to do.

Another company that does a great job of influencing the community and

becoming a part of one’s lifestyle is Nike. Nike produces premium sporting wear and

goods to people all across the globe. Through their marketing they encourage

people to push harder, be better, and “just do it.” Like I said above, once people

purchase their products they feel inspired and better about themselves, resulting in

a love for the company and a long lasting relationship. What has also impressed me

with Nike is their sustainability initiatives. Nike’s brand is all about innovation and

they show that through their constant updated green technology and persistence to

reduce carbon emissions. Mark Parker, Nike’s President and CEO stated "We believe

business has a critical role to play in meeting the challenges of a changing world -

addressing climate change, preserving the earth's constrained resources, enhancing

global economic opportunity - not by reducing growth but by redefining it,”

(Wireless News, 2014). Now that consumers are understand the benefits of

becoming more sustainable and purchasing sustainable products, they are willing to

pay more or go out of their way to find these products. NIELSON conducted a survey

where 55% of global surveyees said they’d pay more for services and products that

are committed to making a positive social and environmental change, which is a

50% increase from 2012.

Marketing sustainability like those companies market their product as a part

of culture may seem difficult, but I think the main focus and starting point to this

should be with our early education system. Many schools are teaching students in a

traditional lecture manner that does make sustainability sound important, but

doesn’t encourage any action. By making sure sustainability is a part of their

lifestyle from an early age at home and in school can ensure that it becomes a

lifestyle that is passed down from generation to generation. What is taught about

sustainability is also important. Background information and tools to how to be

sustainable are key, but what’s also important is for children to see how what their

doing is making a difference. By observing that their one small act of recycling, or

any other sustainable act, is saving the planet can induce an emotional connection

that inspires and spreads.

Sustainability is becoming more and more widespread, but there are still

many Americans who might have a general understanding of what it is, but don’t

understand the problem it’s solving or why it’s so important. By creating a

marketing plan for sustainability to connect, educate, and provide for the American

society, we can implement a change in American values to a more sustainable

lifestyle.

There is a misperception that occurs when sustainability activists are

opposed capitalists when in reality markets use sustainability to create success.

Being that my two concentrations are sales and marketing and sustainability, I plan

to identify the perspectives of each of these concentrations and using Repko’s

integration process, I hope to better understand a way change the views, attitudes

and behaviors of American’s regarding sustainability and to mold it into a way of

life.

I will start by looking at my two concentrations separately and distinguishing

how they play into my argument. From a sales and marketing perspective, there can

be two different ways of looking at things. From one side, many companies refuse to

implement sustainability into their business due to costs made in the present, but

from another standpoint, many companies are on board with sustainability because

of the popularity of “going green” and the long-term effects of doing so, such as Coca

Cola and Nike mentioned above. When looking at sustainability as a singular

discipline, I will look into how sustainability plays into culture now, not only with

businesses, but also with individuals. When looking into each discipline I am going

to be asking “how” and “why” questions deepen my thinking and possibly inspire

biased answers. By getting a mix of biased and unbiased perspectives I can truly

understand the issue.

In order to obtain insights through theories I plan to use scholarly journals

found online, particularly on Arizona State University’s library database. One of the

most important steps Repko explains is to evaluate insights of the disciplines. (pg.

5758) Once I gather my articles I plan to follow these complimentary steps by

collecting the data, methods, and phenomena that are used as evidence for the

insights.

For my sales and marketing discipline I would like to focus on case studies

with major companies that have used sustainability in their business model to their

advantage like Nike or Coca Cola. Creating a sustainable marketing plan helps the

company look towards the future, while providing jobs, making a profit, helping the

environment, and bettering the future of the company. When people notice these big

brands connecting society with sustainability, it creating a positive connotation and

increases awareness. However, there are still markets out there that argue

sustainability is just another word for “efficiency” and think that if they do

incorporate sustainability, it would just be a social responsibility instead of an

actual value, which is the behavior that I am looking to change.

One sustainability theory that I will be focusing on is going to be the 4 Capital

Model, which encompasses sustainability as a whole with a balance of society, the

environment, and the economy. The model contains 4 parts including natural

capitol, human capitol, financial capitol, and manufactured capitol. An aspect of

sustainability I would like to refer to is the Sustainability Venn Diagram that

explains this balance between the three pillars; society, environment, and economy.

Some insight might be to include culture as it’s own pillar to truly involve

sustainability in America’s values and beliefs.

The next step in Repko’s reading explains that I need to create insights and

find common ground between my two disciplines and integrate them to better

understand my problem of changing the values of American’s to incorporate

sustainability into their lifestyle, professionally and recreationally (pg. 6254). There

are three conditions that must be used in order to successfully integrate two

disciplines. Through sales and marketing, American’s can market to the people

through successful products and services the benefits of living a sustainable

lifestyle. People notice recognize these successful brands and people are usually

drawn to companies that do better for the world, in this case, through sustainability.

In my other discipline, education is the number one factor in spreading the idea of

sustainable living. There is another theory called The Invisible Hand that claims that

people will act in their own interest. By switching this belief to acting in the best

interest of society as a whole, possibly through a specific marketing plan used for

American’s as a target audience, it could benefit not only America, but also the

world’s society, economy, and environment. I plan on using these conditions to

identify integration then use the broad model to ask the right questions (pg. 6231).

The last step is to find common ground between my two concentrations

pertaining to my problem. After doing some research, I think that the main common

ground is the psychology of the people. In sales and marketing, the main aspect is to

create a desire for a product by working with and possibly altering the way a

consumer thinks. With sustainability, the invisible hand is a selfish barrier and

psychological aspect that needs to change in order to start and maintain a change to

a sustainable behavior.

To get a better understanding of the way people understand, feel, and apply

sustainability is through multiple disciplinary research methods. In this class, we

learned about qualitative, quantitative, historical or archival research, and

ethnography. Qualitative methods are usually in the form of an interview. For the

issue I am looking at, I think that focusing on interviewing a specific community or

city would give me a better idea on how the beliefs, values, and norms of that

community alter to the sustainability of that population. In an interview, one is

trying to create knowledge though understanding the interviewee’s experiences and

feelings (See Appendix 1: Proposed Interview Guide 1). I can do this by

incorporating specific types of questions such as substantive and procedural

questions. With substantive questions I can analyze their answers according to my

research. These types of questions would be great in understanding the psychology

behind their sustainable decisions. Procedural questions would be a little scarcer

than substantive, but would be necessary to keep the interview moving along. After

the interview I will analyze my information through the process of categorization. In

the first step of categorization I must establish categories of analysis which are

usually behavior that help me solve my issue and the second step is to code or

analyze the data by creating evidence through their words and phrases. Most people

like to believe or act like they are more sustainable than they are so I believe that

this step will help me understand the true value of my problem. Once my first round

of interviews are finished, I then hope to interview a second round from a different

city, possible one like Portland, Oregon that is known for being sustainable and

compare the thought process and lifestyles of each community (See Appendix 1:

Proposed Interview Guide 2). I think that comparing each group will give me a

better understanding of if marketing sustainability to create community,

encouraging it as a part of a lifestyle, and observing if people are more accepting of

it if it is a part of community will alter the beliefs, values, and norms of others.

The second research method is a Quantitative method. This method requires

a large and diverse group of people chosen through random sampling in order for

the information to be more reflective of the people, more significant, and that can be

better generalized. Using my hypothesis that people will include sustainability into

their lifestyle when they feel an emotional connection to sustainability issues can be

used to create variables and questions pertaining to those variables. There are two

types of variables, independent and dependent. For example, people experiencing

an emotional connection to a sustainability issue would be independent. Whether or

not they make sustainability a part of their daily routine would be dependent upon

whether they felt that connection. My questions will revolve around these variables

so that once the people are through with the surveys I can quantify the data and

start my analysis through bivariate and multivariate analysis. These types of

analysis will allow me to use my interdisciplinary skills to further my understanding

of how and why people act the way they do regarding sustainability (See Appendix

3: Proposed Survey).

I believe that one of the most important aspects of grasping a problem and

solving it is to know the background history of how the problem started and what

efforts have already been made to solve it. One article I enjoyed is “ Do Global

Attitudes and Behaviors Support Sustainable Development” by Anthony A.

Leiserowitz, Robert W. Kates, And Thomas M. Parris. This article supports my

hypothesis that in order for us to switch from a materialistic lifestyle to a

sustainable one, the values, beliefs, and norms of the population must change. They

also claim that not only must these traits alter, but we must also transform from an

anthropocentric worldview to an ecological worldview and must change our vision

of “the good life” or as we have called it in this class, “The American Dream.” A

second article explains what sustainable development is and offers some ideas on

how we can accomplish it. A third article looks at the history behind behavior

change and influencing attitudes which includes experiments or case studies of

consumer motivation and psychological warfare.

Another method that could be used to further my research is ethnography. If

I observed and researched a specific place, like Mesa, Arizona, my hometown, on

their sustainable efforts and how they live their daily lives, I could understand what

needs to be done to connect with them on a personal level and slowing influence

sustainability into their lifestyles. By getting to known their values, like if they heat

their pools during the winter because they enjoy the luxury of swimming when

they’d like over water conservation in the desert, I can understand what’s important

and how to market to that specific need in a more sustainable matter.

By implementing sustainable lifestyle values, beliefs, and norms into the lives

of children today, we can ensure that the future is a bright and healthy one not only

for the future generations, but also for out planet.

REFERENCES

Cabezas, H., Diwekar, U. Sustainability: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives. SAIF Zone, Sharjah, UAE: Bentham Science Publishers. (2012). ProQuest ebrary. Web. 21 November 2014.

Companies lean towards sustainable practices favored by consumers. (2014). The Food Institute Report, 87(25), 3. Retrieved from http://bi.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/global/article/GALE%7CA382087189/0751ee2a7e7142a501336c5db5e89e5c?u=asuniv

Farley, H., Smith, Z. Sustainability : If It's Everything, Is It Nothing?. Routledge. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=510561

Hlitunen, E. Foresight and Innovation: How Companies are Coping with the Future. Palgrave Macmillan. Nov. 9, 2013. Pg. 51.

MIT Sloan Management Review, Boston Consulting Group: Corporate Execs Believe Sustainability-related Issues Will Impact Business. Wireless News. (2009). Retrieved from http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/210281943?accountid=4485

Nike posts sustainability report. Wireless News. 2014. http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1526043768?accountid=4485.

Schjeldahl D. Sustainability: The "invisible hand" shapes next-generation location selection. Area Development Site and Facility Planning. 2014;49(1):81-84. Retrieved from http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1511966763?accountid=4485.

United States Census Bureau. International Programs. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/worldpopgraph.php.

Van Der Leeuw, S.E. Sustainability, Culture, and Personal Responsibility. Sustainability Science. Springer Japan. (2014). Retrieved from http://link.springer.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/article/10.1007/s11625-014-0249-5/fulltext.html

Weidinger, C., Fischler, F., Schmidpeter, R. Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Business Success through Sustainability. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. (2014). Retrieved 21 November 2014, from http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=517256

APPENDIX 1&2:

Research Question 1: In America, is sustainability considered a value or norm?

Interview Questions: What are some actions you have taken to become more sustainable? When you picture America in 20 years, what do you see? Please describe what sustainability means to you.

Research Question 2: Is an emotional connection to a sustainability problem a main reason why people make it a part of their lifestyle?

Interview Questions:

Tell me about a time when you felt an emotional connection to a global issue?

What specific incentives would cause you to become more sustainable?

Tell me about a time when a company’s commercial (or marketing efforts) inflicted emotional feelings.

If you saw a Nike video of athletes working hard to accomplish their goals, would this inspire you to purchase their products? If yes or no, why?

Research Question 3: Does the style of education of younger generations influence the amount of sustainable action taken by families with children?

Interview Questions: It is said that younger students are only being taught in a traditional

lecture sense, rather than educating through experience. What do you think of this statement and how does it make you feel?

If you experienced sustainable actions, such as recycling, every day while growing up, how do you think this would influence your sustainable actions as an adult?

How do you feel about providing mandatory sustainability experience classes in each elementary, middle, and high school?

Please tell me about any sustainable actions your parents taught you about while growing up.

APPENDIX 3:

I would appreciate your taking the time to complete the following quick survey. Your responses are completely confidential and will not be recognized by individual.Please circle either a, b, c, d, or e to answer question 1-10. Thank you for your time.

1. How often do you recycle?

a. Everydayb. Few times a weekc. Few times a monthd. Rarely to never

2. Does the sustainable efforts of a company sway your decision to shop there?

a. Yesb. Noc. I don’t know

3. Which of the following do you feel would influence you to become more sustainable?

a. Watching other people being sustainableb. If I was given financial benefits for being more sustainablec. If I was better educated on how to be more sustainabled. If I had grown up in a family that supported sustainability

4. Do you believe that there should be mandatory sustainability classes provided to elementary, middle, and high schools?

a. Yesb. Noc. Maybe

5. When you think of sustainability, what comes to mind? (Choose all that apply)

a. Improving America’s economyb. Saving the environmentc. Bettering societyd. Educating our childrene. None of the above

6. If you saw a Nike video of athletes working hard to accomplish their goals, would this inspire you to purchase their products?

a. Yesb. Noc. I don’t know

7. Please rate how strongly you agree with the following statement:

The state of America’s environment must improve in order for the happiness and success of our population to increase.

a. Strongly Agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly Agree

8. Please rate how strongly you agree with the following statement:

It is important that we educate younger generations about the benefits of including sustainability into our daily lives.

a. Strongly Agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly Disagree

9. Education Level:

a. High School Degree/ GEDb. Some Collegec. 4 Year Degree and aboved. None of the above

10. I am a:

a. Maleb. Femalec. Prefer to not answer

Thank you.

APPENDIX 4:

Article 1:

Leiserowitz, A., Kates, R., Parris, T. (2005). Do Global Attitudes and Behaviors Support

Sustainable Development? Retrieved from http://www.heldref.org/env.php.

Article 2:

Leiserowitz, A., Kates, R., Parris, T. (2005). Science and Policy for Sustainable

Development. Retrieved from https://myasucourses.asu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-

9696420-dt-content-rid-37589568_1/courses/2014Fall-T-SOS320-74319/

Katesetal2005_SustDevGoalsValuesIndicators%281%29.pdf

Article 3:

Zimbardo, Philip; Ebbesen, Ebbe B. (1970). Influencing Attitudes and Changing Behavior: A Basic Introduction to Relevant Methodology, Theory, and Applications. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED054640.