As global warming and environmental pollution become prior issues in the society nowadays, more and more companies start to follow this trend as well. Some common activities involve cleaning up supply chain and switching from conventional resources to more environmental sustainable ones. Moreover, some companies also adjust their core strategies and reposition themselves to the position of a leader in sustainability. However, not every company chooses to promote their sustainability plan and make their efforts noticeable to others.
It is a common misunderstanding that consumers will be more likely to purchase products that are related to sustainability. According to the news article, a study of the online presence of 133 leading brands, such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s and General Mills, only 35 had mentioned sustainability issues from September to December in 2013. The study used the “like” system of Facebook to measure the impact of green conversation. Nevertheless, the result is far apart from what they have expected. Among the 450 million likes, only 113 million came from the 35 brands. Surprisingly, 78 million of the 113 million likes solely came from one single brand, Coca-Cola. Thus the result of the research reveals the fact that green and sustainability do not necessarily raise brands’ awareness. However, it is fair enough to argue that the impact of sustainable improvement would not likely to be seen in short-terms since it is a long term investment.
Additionally, until recently many companies started to shied away from addressing the efforts they have put into developing and promoting sustainability. There are many researches indicating that not every company is suitable at bringing their green efforts on the table. As mentioned in the earlier class, sales of gasoline companies tend to decrease if they have mentioned green and sustainability in their communication.
Overall, it is crucial to understand the current economic environment and the characteristics of the market in order to make the right decisions. Every green marketing activity should be carefully implemented. Sometimes undersell the green effort might bring more advantages the company.
Raman Johal
March 21, 2016 — 7:36 pm
Hi Jas. You have presented an interesting take on the commonly discussed topic of greenwashing, good job! There certainly is a trade-off at work here. While the data you brought up seems to suggest that communicating sustainability efforts may decrease sales, I think it is important for companies to discuss them as they can influence others in the industry. What are your thoughts on this balance?
A couple of points to note: I would include media of some kind, either a photo or video, to break up the “wall of text” effect. Also, please link to any articles you mention in your post.
joellim
April 8, 2016 — 4:59 am
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jas. I myself have blogged about a similar topic. You, however, touch on valuable concepts regarding the merits of understating sustainable efforts. You described some pretty interesting statistics – it seems to be that the less you talk about your responsibility, the louder the actions speak for themselves. I think, consumers are more willing to acknowledge the well intentions of companies that speak less about their actions, because they feel it is unpretentious.
However, it is a little unfortunate. If a company desires to do good, and is passionate about sharing its views, such politics prevent it from being vocal. To put it simply, consumers have shifted the onus of actioning change to businesses with their support behaviour. As such, companies looking to further sustainable causes must, for the most part, do so quietly.