Cristina Cuyegkeng's Blog

In his blog, Ted talked about how TOMS’ marketing concept of sharing is changing the “egocentric” practice of shopping. I agree with this statement in the sense that TOMS is one of the first clothing companies that really made its practice of giving back transparent to customers. I believe that it is precisely because TOMS’ practice of social responsibility is the backbone of the company that customers believe in the TOMS One for One Movement. However, I am not entirely convinced that this changes the “egocentric” practice of shopping.

It is definitely a good thing that society is putting more emphasis on giving back to the community. This is most evident in the trend of Corporate Social Responsibility that has really come to be a major marketing tool for many companies. Why? Because in our current economic situation, we consumers need to know that we’re really getting value out  of our money. Knowing that some portion of our purchase contributes to the less fortunate definitely gives value in the sense of “feeling good.” It makes consumers feel good about their purchase and even justifies it. But does this make the practice of shopping less self-centered? Is purchasing goods like TOMS shoes really about giving to the less fortunate or making ourselves feel better for spending on ourselves? Or maybe, companies have marketed their practices of giving so effectively that consumers believe that they’re actually buying a product because they care about giving back and not only because it is fashionable to do so.