Chances are if you’ve stayed at a hotel lately, you’ve seen that suddenly ubiquitous little sign: “Dear Guest, Every day millions of gallons of water are used to wash towels that are only used once. You make the choice.”
Who would turn down such an earnest plea to help the environment?
When they hang their used towels on the rack, guests feel good about their decision to help the environment and stay at a hotel that is interested in conserving resources. The hotel benefits from being seen as “green,” even if its underlying motivation is saving on the water bill.
Not that motivations matter. The fact is, hyperconsumerism—the notion that the more stuff we consume, the happier we’ll be—has become increasingly unpopular as it has taxed our resources, advanced the obesity epidemic and muddied our priorities. In the aftermath of the recession, there are rumblings of a hyperconsumerism backlash: McMansions are a tough sell, as are gas-guzzling SUVs.
That’s why now is a good time for brands to woo the growing class of consumers who seek a more simple and sustainable lifestyle.
The Rise and Fall of Hyperconsumerism
Over the past 30 years, as the American economy boomed,
so did our hyperconsumerist culture. People indulged in extravagant purchases, flying off to expensive destinations, driving fuel-inefficient luxury cars and buying lavish homes. Because consumers had the means and were ready to buy, “excess” was an easy sell for brands and marketers.
“When hyperconsumption was in its heyday, we were experiencing the perfect storm. Companies were able to manufacture lots of merchandise cheaply due to low energy costs, and consumers were able to buy everything fast and furiously thanks to endless amounts of easy credit,” says Andrew Benett, CEO of the Boston advertising agency Arnold Worldwide and author of Consumed: Rethinking Business in the Era of Mindful Spending.
Indeed, consumption grew dramatically over the past five decades, up 28 percent from the $23.9 trillion spent in 1996 and up sixfold from the $4.9 trillion spent in 1960 (in 2008 dollars), according to The Worldwatch Institute’s 2010 State of the World Report.
But over the past several years, the shift in our thinking—and more importantly, our behavior—has forced us to re-evaluate priorities. According to the recent “New Consumer” study by Euro RSCG Worldwide, a marketing communications company, about one-third of Americans agree they would be happier if they owned less stuff
Two-thirds of respondents said most of us would be better off if we lived more simply.
“In the last decade or so, people started to place a greater emphasis on living a simpler lifestyle, whether it was participating in the rise of the slow food movement (or eating locally grown, organic food) or supporting their local farmers and artisans,” Benett says. “The global recession accelerated these trends, leading many to realize that rampant spending didn’t bring happiness.”
The Map to Mindful Consumption
Now that we’re moving toward an era of mindful consumption, where both buyers and sellers are more aware we live in a world with finite resources, brands must support sustainability both in the open marketplace and behind the scenes.
“Consumerism is a dominant pattern that shapes cultures around the world,” says Erik Assadourian, senior fellow at The Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C., research institute devoted to global environmental concerns. It stands to reason, then, that consumers’ preferences and dollars drive the products companies produce.
On the flip side, one cannot underestimate the huge impact media has on
consumer behavior. “Marketing is a dominant form of communication,” Assadourian says. “The average person watches four hours of television per day, and 85 percent of the world has access to a television, which is a powerful tool to cultivate desires.” As such, Assadourian says marketing has the potential to set the cultural standard and normalize the idea of a sustainable lifestyle.
For example, Zipcar, a car-sharing service that reduces consumers’ reliance on personal automobiles, has advertised its commitment to “offer a practical and actionable example of sustainable living that decreases the adverse effects of transportation.” This company appeals to consumers not only for the service it provides, but also because it markets the environmental good that it does: reducing emissions and significantly diminishing peoples’ need to own cars.
Even companies that aren’t green in nature have found ways to market to mindful consumers. For example, while Procter & Gamble’s Pampers disposable diapers are not recyclable, the marketing message to consumers is Pampers uses less material grown in sustainable forests and are manufactured using chlorine-free bleach and less packaging. S.C. Johnson’s Ziploc division started its “landfill diversion” initiative, an effort to offset the presence of its products in the waste stream, and now promotes its reward program for recycling bags from specially marked packages.
And Clorox offers a “Green Works” line of products that appeals to consumers’ heightened sense of responsibility to protect the environment. It’s a lesson from the hotel playbook: Don’t force your customer to abandon the lifestyle they value. Instead, make them feel good about their choices.
“Brands understand that corporate social responsibility is paramount to success in the future. They’re already shifting their behavior and the way they do business to become more transparent,” Benett says. Consumers are looking for brands that are doing more than just looking good—they have to do good, too. “More and more, consumers expect and support companies that adhere to environmental ethics, so it’s important for brands to let them know what they’re doing in this area,” Benett says.
In other words, brands are adjusting to consumers’ desire for less stuff not by offering less stuff, but by emphasizing the superior environmental responsibility of their products through marketing.
Setting Up a Dialogue
While media influences consumers, consumers’ voices in turn are a force for change in corporate behavior. “Mobile phones, tablets and computers are enabling consumers to do their research to make sure they are getting the best deals for the best products,”
Benett says. For many, the “best” products are healthy and sustainable.
One example of this is the ongoing controversy about high-fructose corn syrup. Michael Pollan, in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, cites the public subsidy in favor of corn, which became a major food additive and sweetener. An idea then percolated after the book’s publishing in 2006—and public opinion followed—that the dramatic increase in obesity and diabetes stems from our excess consumption of sugar. True or not, consumer revulsion with high-fructose corn syrup has altered behavior and resulted in companies changing their recipes and the marketing of their goods: “Heinz Ketchup, no high-fructose corn syrup!”
Some businesses operate in a more transparent way, which also fosters loyalty, Benett says. Brands such as Kashi, Ben & Jerry’s, Stonyfield and others have “eco-consciousness built into their DNA, and customers rally behind them because of it,” he says. Ben & Jerry’s, which was “founded on and dedicated to a sustainable corporate concept,” has more than 3.4 million Facebook fans that presumably not only “like” their ice cream, but what the company stands for.
Read the Fine Print
Unfortunately, truth in marketing is not guaranteed. Assadourian says because
green marketing is under-regulated, companies can get away with “greenwashing”—when a brand promotes environmentally friendly practices or products to deflect attention away from their environmentally unfriendly activities. (Or simply, they want to capitalize on consumers seeking out environmentally responsible products.)
According to the “Seven Sins of Greenwashing” report by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, a global environmental marketing firm, more than 95 percent of consumer products claiming to be green committed at least one of the “sins” of greenwashing. Some of these so-called sins include the “sin of irrelevance,” such as labeling a product as “CFC-free” (CFCs are banned by law); and the “sin of vagueness,” which is a marketing claim so devoid of specifics that it is rendered meaningless, such as labeling something “all natural.”
Assadourian cites the natural gas industry as one of the worst greenwashing offenders. It touts to consumers that the production of natural gas is “clean,” failing to acknowledge the greenhouse gas pollution that leaks into the atmosphere in the process. TerraChoice describes this as a “sin of hidden trade-off.”
Assadourian notes that in some cases, firms can back into doing good because high energy prices force them to innovate and ultimately do business differently.
“Companies that are thinking long term will choose the sustainable path,” he says. “This will be less profitable in the beginning, but they should sell the sustainable lifestyle and sell truly sustainable products. Companies that are effective in using the fewest resources will be most insulated from these changes.”
Companies’ products and offerings need to not only provide value, but also embody the ideals of the newly mindful consumer: sustainability and simplicity. More is not better after all. It’s just more.