Moving from eco-marketing to sustainable consumption RIT workshop Ágnes Zsóka PhD Senior Assistant...

Moving from eco-marketing to sustainable consumption

RIT workshop

Ágnes Zsóka PhDSenior Assistant ProfessorCorvinus University of BudapestDepartment of Environmental Economics and Technology

Ágnes Zsóka 2Department of Environmental Economics and Technology

Structure

Definitions Comparison of eco-marketing and sustainable consumption Sketching the shift from eco-marketing to sustainable

consumption (SC) Discussing the obstacles and opportunities of sustainable

consumption

(Main source for SC: The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption, edited by Tim Jackson, USA and UK, 2006)


Definitions of eco-marketing Wicke et al. (1992): Eco-marketing contains tools which

intend to maximally contribute to the survival of the company, with minimal or no harm to the natural environment.

Coddington (1998): Environmental marketing is a responsible corporate marketing activity which considers the issue of environment protection as a development and growth opportunity of the enterprise and enforces it in all operational fields.

Belz (1998): „Eco-marketing 2005 concept”– transformative (developing ecological markets),– normative (questioning basic assumptions of marketing),– strategic and operational eco-marketing (ecological mass market,

performance sales)


Definitions of sustainable consumption

consuming „not unsustainably” changing lifestyles constraints by environmental limits consuming less more efficient production of more sustainable products consuming more efficiently

→ from „change lifestyles” to „consume efficiently”(dominant institutional consensus)


Accepted definitions of SCOfstad 1994: „The use of goods and services that respond to basic needs

and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the lifecycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations.”

UNEP 1999: „Sustainable consumption is not about consuming less, it is about consuming differently, consuming efficiently, and having an improved quality of life”

National Consumer Council, UK, 2003: „SC is a balancing act. It is about consuming in such a way as to protect the environment, use natural resources wisely and promote quality of life now, while not spoiling the lives of future consumers.”


Focus

Eco-marketing How to sell environmentally friendly products and services? Corporate-driven activities

Shift is necessary from eco-marketing towards SC, because: Companies are profit-oriented, stress is still on inducing consumption Scope is micro-level →← sustainability is more complex and needs

holistic view Environmentally friendly products and services alone do not solve the

problem of sustainability

Sustainable consumption How to consume in a more

sustainable way? Society is responsible for action


Elements of the debate on SC concept I.

Critics about the concept of „changing lifestyles”: Subjective, too ideological, too value laden, too

intractable to be amendable to policy intervention intervening in consumer behavior would contradict

„sovereignty” of consumer choice reducing consumption appears

– to threaten a variety of vested interests – to undermine the key structural role of consumption in

economic growth– to undermine legitimate efforts by poorer countries to

improve their quality of life


Elements of the debate on SC concept II.

Critics about the concept of „consuming efficiently” : It tends to obscure the scale of resource consumption

patterns („rebound effect”). Tension: what should be (or should not be) consumed? Difference or congruence between material resource

consumption (see: resource scarcity and environmental degradation) and economic consumption (final consumers do not buy materials per se, they buy goods and services)?

→lifestyle change is essential not only desirable


Key issues of workshop discussion

Several roles of consumer goods and services → complexity Factors affecting consumption options → boundary conditions Links of consumption with human development Nature of the relationship between consumption and human

well-being (see: „life satisfaction paradox”) Driving forces behind modern lifestyles, underlying nature of

consumption itself → rethinking of patterns Critical areas to change How to persuade people? How to encourage „sustainable living”

and discourage unsustainable living?


Fig. 1. Happiness and Real GDP per Capita, United States, 1972-2002

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

2.20

2.40

2.60

2.80

3.00

1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year Source : Davis and Smith, 2002; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003.

Mea

n h

app

ines

s

15000

17000

19000

21000

23000

25000

27000

29000

31000

33000

35000

GD

P P

er C

apit

a (1

996

Do

llars

)Happiness

GDP per Capita


Life satisfaction paradox – causes (Easterlin 1974, Inglehardt & Klingemann 2000)

Relative income has higher impact on life satisfaction than absolute levels of income (see: neighbors, offset, aggregate happiness).

Humanistic psychologists’ view: the pursuit of material things damages us psychologically and socially.

The pursuit of income growth appears to have undermined conditions (family, friendship, community), which are inevitable for long-term well-being.

Experienced happiness depends mainly on personality and on the hedonic value of the activities to which people allocate their time. Life circumstances influence the allocation of time, and the hedonic outcome is often mixed. Conditions that make people satisfied with their life do not necessarily make them happy.


Happiness enhancers


Who feels better, who is more satisfied?


Critical areas to change

1. Ethical crisis

2. Changing lifestyle

3. Using the market as a lever for positive action

4. Focusing on community action

5. Understanding the patterns, obstacles to practical progress

6. Upshifting and downshifting in a global economy


Has sustainable consumption a future?Trends in civil action for SC (Robins & Roberts, 2006)

Traditional:1. Lifestyles: voluntary simplicity2. Markets: boycotting the bad3. Communities: Household by

household4. Patterns: stress on personal

morality5. Global responsibility: north

first

Emerging:

1. Lifestyles: social justice2. Markets: promoting the positive3. Communities: collective

facilities for consumption4. Patterns: understanding the

drivers of demand5. Global responsibility: common

action


Rethinking the patterns of consumption, determinants of demand

Income levels and distribution Demographic trends (age, gender, education, etc.) Cultural norms and habits Technological innovation Producer interests Physical infrastructure

Sustainability is the problem of both the economic design and individual morality

→ change of conditions is necessary→ lifestyle change is necessary


How could this shift be feasible?

1. Mission statement2. Setting objectives3. Identification of participants responsibilities competences4. Establishing institutional conditions5. Campaign: how to persuade people? → overcome barriers6. Best practice and proven advantages7. Feedback, system development

Moving from eco-marketing to sustainable consumption RIT workshop Ágnes Zsóka PhD Senior Assistant...

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