Barriers to Advocacy of Sustainable Consumption - Coursework Example

Barriers to Advocacy of Sustainable Consumption Introduction Sustainable consumption appears to be one of the principal aspects that contemporary companies are adopting in a bid to attract modern consumers. This is primarily due to the fact that, individuals are increasingly becoming aware of the environmental changes around them and consequently trying to make amends by adopting sustainable practices. One of these practices is sustainable consumption, which refers to the purchase and usage of commodities or services that have little or no negative impact on the environment (Brulle and Young, 2007, p. 522). These products or services are also deemed economically feasible and socially equitable. Sustainable consumption is not limited to certain economic sectors, individuals or countries. Rather it is a practice that should be adopted by virtually everyone, irrespective of their social or economic status. However, the universal adoption of sustainable consumption is not broadly evident, in the sense that, some people are opposed to it, while others are willing to embrace it but they encounter diverse impediments (Arbuthnott, 2009, pp. 55-57). This paper seeks to give insight into some of the barriers that make it difficult for companies to persuade buyers to embrace sustainable consumption. Barriers to Advocacy of Sustainable Consumption Research has shown that unsustainable consumption habits are ruining the contemporary socio-economic and even the physical environment. This is due to depletion of natural resource reserves and inequitable distribution of the same (Jackson, 2005, p. 32). As a result, the unsustainable practices have contributed toward the social problems that characterize the modern society such as widespread poverty, diminished development efforts and wide disparity between the economic conditions in one place or nation compared to another. In contrast, sustainable consumption is capable of complementing sustainable manufacturing practices and achievements. Despite having knowledge about these cons and pros of sustainable consumption, a great proportion of the global populace is yet to make it a habitual consumption pattern (Heinberg, 2011, pp. 23-27). Price One of the principal impediments to convincing customers to adopt sustainable consumption is price and the perceptions they wield about the cost of sustainable products and services. Research shows that more than sixty percent of American consumers consider environmentally sustainable goods and services to be too expensive for them to purchase. This is because, as the pricing of these commodities has shown, majority of them have a higher price compared to conventional products. The high pricing applies to virtually all consumer products ranging from basic household amenities like detergents and organic foods, to electronics and other secondary goods. In most cases, the premium price range puts the sustainable products beyond the financial range of ordinary buyers, who make up the bulk of the contemporary consumer products market (WBCSD, 2008, pp. 10-15). The high price becomes a rather significant hurdle particularly during economic slumps. Even though some sustainable products are not necessarily expensive, the perception that they are, has spread extensively becoming a common belief and making it difficult to convince buyers otherwise. Marketers and companies in general can address this barrier by focusing on the other elements of the marketing mix including product, promotion and place. The other potentially effective way of dealing with the hurdle is by finding ways to lower it. This is a key aspect to take into consideration, when attempting to convince buyers to approve and assume sustainable consumption, since price reduction is capable of attracting a great proportion of individuals to purchase environmentally friendly commodities. Alternatively, marketers can try to show customers how the goods and services can enable them to save a lot in the long term. For instance, it would be feasible to convince a customer to buy an energy saving bulb at a slightly higher price than the usual bulb and, in turn, save on energy costs by having lower power bills. Performance Potential buyers of sustainable commodities are usually skeptical about their performance. This is because many uphold the misconception that, in the effort to make the products environmentally favorable, manufacturers end up undermining their quality. Therefore, marketers have the difficult task of trying to convince buyers that sustainable products are of high quality and they perform perhaps more efficiently than popular unsustainable consumer commodities. The challenge of proving that green products perform effectively is accentuated by the fact that, they do not have a proven track record of exemplary performance (Ajzen and Fishbein, 2002, pp. 65-70). Instead, a historical analysis of sustainable products shows that they have performed poorly over time. For example in the later part of the 20th century, the environmental friendly laundry detergents manufactured with the intent of eliminating phosphates in ordinary cleaning agents, turned out badly. These green detergents made clothes rigid and grayish in colour, thus losing popularity instantly. The same applies for organic food commodities that have always been associated with bad taste and texture. Such commodities have ingrained a negative mentality of green products in many customers’ minds. This negative perception of consumer products’ performance is indicated to influence the purchasing habits of about half of the global population. To overcome this challenge, marketers must strive to emphasize the conventional benefits of sustainable commodities and also demonstrate the effectiveness of such products (Azen, 2005, pp. 47-49). This is because the products have continually undergone improvement over the years. Such demonstration of product efficacy is likely to be instrumental in overcoming prevalent customer skepticism (WBCSD, 2011, p. 17). Behavioral Change The tendency of consumers to adamantly stick to their usual purchasing habits is perhaps one of the primary barriers to advocacy of sustainable consumption. This consumption pattern is founded upon consumer behavior, which is one of the most contentious business elements under examination. Behavior of consumers and their willingness to change it has been studied under different disciplines including marketing, sociology, psychology, and economics (Timmer, Prinet and Timmer, 2009, p. 12). Consumer behavior is, therefore, a principal concern when it comes to analysis of sustainable consumption and readiness of buyers to purchase and use green products. Many customers avoid buying green products because they are too used to consuming the usual commodities to cease buying them. Others find it hard to consume sustainable commodities because of unavailability in their markets or shopping areas. It is, therefore difficult to try and tell customers to use green products yet they are not always available in the buyers’ locality (Brown and Kasser, 2005, p. 349). Majority would rather stick to the usual products that they can access at all times. Consumers also influence each other by either advocating or discouraging the purchase of sustainable commodities. For instance, if an individual discourages a counterpart from purchasing green commodities then such behavior is likely to spread from one person to the next until it becomes common to a broad base of customers. Therefore, it is imperative for marketers to take note of the social dynamics of consumers in a given place, in order to determine the best marketing strategies to adopt. This will ensure that customers re-evaluate their decision to avoid sustainable commodities and recognize the possibility that their advantages outweigh the disadvantages (Tukker, Cohen, Hubacek and Mont, 2010, pp. 35-39). Trends The need to understand consumer trend is hinged on the fact that, numerous sustainable practices necessitate consumers to modify their habits in order to adopt new ones. This is why the new trends that are being adopted in the business world have become a principal barrier to sustainable consumption. There is a huge urgency for people to keep up with new trends and that is affecting the changing behavior that consumers are adopting. This makes it difficult to market sustainable consumption of a good especially to the youths. The youths have become one of the most imperative customers (Daly, 1996, pp. 27-31). However, they are focused towards buying new and flashy goods that are on fashion or trending. That is why the new generation is referred to as trend setters because they are slow in adopting sustainability practices because they are always breaking from old habits. Trend is usually changed in order to suit the necessity of the consumer. For instance, a person can be able to change a phone and get a smart phone in order to enjoy better services. The new phones have been installed with new trends like cameras, applications, social media platforms and other imperative and trending settings. This may encourage a buyer to purchase a new phone in order to be one of the people with the newest and most trendy phone. However, this may discourage sustainability in consumption because people are constantly changing their items according to trend. To counter this issue, marketers should help consumers to adapt more quickly to new and trendy items and this is going to change the way the customer base is behaving (Jackson, 2005, pp. 61-63). Insufficient Product Information Sustainable consumption is comprehended to be a practice where choosing to buy commodities may be an issue of status and that means that a person pays more for the item. However, many people are not informed of the benefits of the goods or services they are purchasing. This is a huge barrier to sustainable consumption. When the marketers do not have ample information in regard to the factors that may influence the customer to buy and continue using the product, then it does not serve the intended purpose. Sustainable consumption of a god means that a customer is well informed of the product they are buying (Dominguez and Robin, 1999, pp. 33-38). This encourages them to continue buying the same commodity for a long time despite the fact that there are other products that are being introduced to the market every day. Consumers can either decide to adopt a new product or stick with the old product. The determining factor is that they have the knowledge of the product and also understand it advantages over the others (Lewis and Potter, 2010, pp. 45-51). Few incentives for sustainable consumption Another imperative barrier for buying sustainable goods is the fact that they are usually more expensive than the usual alternatives (OECD, 2008, p.14-15). Therefore, it discourages many customers from buying the item and they end up settling for the cheaper product. In many cases, the marketers may have the essential information about the product and this is an added advantage. This is because the customer is able to compare the product with the other products he/she has used before and like it (Heinberg, 2011, p. 56). However, the product price can be extremely high thus discouraging the customer to become a loyal customer. Sustainable consumption can only be encouraged when the consumers are able to buy and consume the product freely and more regularly. Additionally, there are few incentives for sustainable consumption. This is because people are unable to deal with the price range and there are no incentives that are offered to them to encourage future purchase of the goods (Sanne, 2002, p. 237). Requirements of Many Consumers This is another huge barrier to sustainable consumption. It is required that joint efforts of numerous individuals should be made in order to make a momentous difference. This means that individual consumers can feel like they are insignificant and that their buying decisions have diminutive impact on sustainable consumption (Knight and Rosa, 2011, pp. 935-9937). Therefore, there is a communication issues which is extremely important since the purchase of such goods is only well advertised by the word of mouth. When there are many consumers, there is a chance that an individual will hear the advantages of the good and end up buying it. However, when the consumers are limited, people are not able to pass the news to new potential clients. This is attributable to the fact that there are three principal aspects that consumer value and that is calibration, consumer knowledge, and product credibility. These aspects are able to foster sustainable consumption without necessarily requiring a lot of people (Maniates, 2001, p. 35). Conclusion In order to foster, sustainable consumption, there are diverse aspects that should be considered. First and foremost, there is need for marketers to frame environmental product features that will satisfy the consumer. Additionally, the marketers should ensure that they create an engaging as well as educational platform where the customer will learn of the product and its usage, advantages and features. Lastly, creation of product credibility encourages people to indulge in sustainable consumption and that is extremely imperative. Therefore, they should make sure that their products are of quality and adequately compel the consumers. By taking into consideration all of the above factors, marketers will be able to counter the barriers and encourage individuals to consume sustainably. Bibliography Ajzen, I. 2005. Attitudes, personality and Behaviour. (2nd ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Ajzen, I., and Fishbein, M. 2002. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 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