Our Project
My team and I worked very well together and created a good presentation! In our first meeting, we brainstormed topics on the whiteboard about different types of pollution to give us a better understanding of what we as a team wanted to combat. We all agreed on plastic waste and found LOOP whose mission is to reduce single-use plastic waste. I am excited to work with them for the rest of the semester. I enjoyed doing this project because I was enlightened by the numerous ways companies are implementing sustainable practices. I felt there was an emphasis on combating plastic waste. Print Your City is a unique concept that I hope gets adopted into the United States. It makes the “problem visible” and is a hands on concept that people can see, touch, use and be a part of.
Affordability
The only project that strikes me as being affordable for the majority of the population is “Imperfect Food.” As stated in “The Third Generation Corporation”, I believe it is imperative that companies look for a way to make environmentally friendly and more sustainable products available to the lower class. The world’s population is mostly lower income, especially in other countries. If governments truly want to combat pollution and climate change, regulations will have to be put in place to help companies offer sustainable solutions at a for profit price range that is affordable for a majority of the population. Currently, sustainable products are only affordable by those who highly prioritize the environment and/or have the disposable income to spend on those products.
Adjusting Consumer Behavior
Imperfect Food stresses a similar concern my team and I stated about having a dent in the LOOP package. This is a change in consumer behavior. Will consumers be willing to purchase something that is unpleasing to the eye or faulted in some way? People are so concerned about the outer image of products. If there is a small dent in a refrigerator at Lowe’s, the price is automatically dropped (not speaking from experience…) Yet, nothing is wrong with the functionality of the refrigerator, it just doesn’t look flawless. I was reassured in class when we discussed classmate’s concerns over the ability to adjust consumer behavior because you stated that consumer behavior has changed over the past 50 years already. It used to be customary for one to come home from work, grab a cigarette and have a drink. Consumer behavior has shifted and those two evening activities are no longer customary.
KEAP: Will it survive?
Again, another expensive, high end product with strong sustainability practices. The target market is so small, I am uncertain how successful their business will be. How do they, and other companies, enforce customers to return containers to the company to be recycled? Is there an incentive for the consumer or is the company relying on consumer ethics?
Must Benefit the Consumer
An important aspect that we study in marketing is the power of making an emotional connection with the consumer. Emphasizing and building on the human benefits of buying sustainable products is the most important factor. Companies need to be able to genuinely create an emotional connection to the positive benefits of the product. As we discussed in class, there needs to be a benefit for the person buying the product. Is it cheaper, does it make their life easier, does it solve a need/want?
Conclusion
I applaud all these companies and people who are taking initiative to care for our environment. I see a need to provide a consumer service that is sustainable while being affordable to those in the lower class. Will my team be able to achieve this? It is a lofty goal, but we will do our best.