The current generation of consumers in the United States and in the United Kingdom has come to have plenty of expectations concerning the products that they purchase and it has taken quite an effort by the various companies involved to ensure that these consumers are satisfied. Sales for organic and ethical products in the United States and the United Kingdom are rising, more so than sales for conventional products, and consumer demand for these products is increasing despite the global economic downturn. This is according to a survey conducted towards the end of 2009 which showed that approximately one quarter of the adult shoppers in these countries buy certified organic food or beverages and one third continue to pay more for organic foods. It has become the trend in these two countries for consumers to buy products that are perceived to fulfill environmentally friendly, natural, organic, local, or humane requirements and enhance the corporate responsibility profile of the companies that are involved in the supply of such products (Cho & Krasser, 2011). While some of the major retailers in the United States, such as Wal-Mart and Safeway are expanding their offerings of organic products, in the United Kingdom, on the other hand, the retailers seem to be reducing their offerings of similar products (Robins, 2012). Despite this being the case, among the offerings that are leading the way in retail stores are increased sales of organic breads and grain products and "ethical" drinks.
It was estimated that in the United States, the supermarket sales of environmentally friendly or ethical products would rise by as high as 8.7 percent by the end of 2009 to nearly thirty eight billion dollars, and increase from the previous year where sales of goods specifically labeled organic rose 17 percent to just over twenty six billion dollars. The increased sales of the so-called greener products, from energy-efficient light bulbs to organic produce, are more than likely, according to experts, to result in the increase of awareness of issues concerning the sustainability of the environment in the face of the global economic crisis and climate change (Freestone & McGoldrick, 2008). Despite the newfound awareness of the need for environmental sustainability, it has been found that with the economy foremost in consumers' minds, sensitive price concerns in the midst of the current recession is as one might expect having an effect on the market for ethical products. While this is the case, surveys that have been conducted indicate that more have an understanding of the environmental, social, and economic implications of their choices. The result is that quite a number of consumers will end up purchasing more expensive ethical products even in economically challenging times and this is because of the belief that it is worth it (Himes, 2007). The need to ensure that they adopt a lifestyle that is in accordance with sustaining the environment has ensured that consumers are ready to undertake any expense in order to attain ethical products. This new trend among consumers seems to have attained the attention of major retailers, not only in the United States and the United Kingdom but also all over the world, and these are slowly but surely shifting towards making offerings of these ethical products on their shelves.
While many companies in the United States and the United Kingdom have conducted surveys to find out how consumers end up buying ethical products, mostly online, this process has to be supplemented by these companies ensuring that there are open lines of communication available between them and consumers. This tends to be done to ensure that there is an understanding which helps in the determination of what the consumers want and this has the aim of creating a good and effective relationship between the retailers and the consumers of their products (Newman & Bartels, 2011). It has been found that the sales of ethical goods and services have increased despite the economic recession, growing to more than fifty billion pounds in the United Kingdom alone. Since the commencement of the economic recession some years back, the importance of ethical markets from Fairtrade products and green energy to free range and environmentally friendly food has grown from £35.5bn to £47.2bn, and in addition, the annual ethical consumer markets report have shown that sales in the sector have increased significantly since its inception in 1989 (Costache, 2012). It has been proven that the intervention by enlightened businesses, alongside regulatory intervention, is the forces driving the ethical sales growth. During the economic recession, it was found that some of the biggest Fairtrade conversions, whether it was chocolate or sugar, and business is beginning to act in response to the challenge of providing consumers with more sustainable products and services such as fish, palm oil and soya (Doherty & Tranchell, 2007). It can therefore be said that ethical consumers are still a vitally important agent of change, but alongside them, however, are the actions of progressive businesses which have become a significant contributor to sales growth in this sector.
The Fairtrade Foundation, which is based in the United Kingdom, is a non-profit organization that advocates for higher payments for crops produced by the world's poorest farmers. This organization, in 2012 stated that the retail sales of products traded under the Fairtrade banner in that year leapt to an estimated 1.57 billion pounds, and this was an increase of nineteen percent from the previous year. Fairtrade stated that this showed that consumers were not abandoning products for which they had to pay a premium despite the fact that they had tight household budgets in a tough economic climate (Hartlieb & Jones, 2009). It was found that Fairtrade's annual cocoa, sugar and banana sales have continued to receive significant growth in the past few years, and because of this, the organization has stated that its premiums, the extra that producers receive for business development, have also come to increase significantly (Smith, 2010). The certification and product labeling using the Fairtrade mark are the main tools used by the foundation to ensure that farmers receive a fair price, and this has often resulted in goods on shop shelves costing slightly more (McMurtry, 2009).
It has been stated that in order to design effective programs to satisfy the needs of ethical consumers, the retailers involved must have proper information concerning the specific product that they would like to sell. In addition, it has been found that the retailers should also conduct surveys to find out whether ethical consumers find their products satisfactory, and they are obliged to ensure that they get the best products in the market for their shelves (Ismail & Panni, 2008). An example of such course of action is to ensure that their products are made to be safe in every way and to achieve this, the retailer must be aware of the dangers that can be found in during the production and processing of their products. If those who make decisions within the retail stores are not aware of a particular problem in the product, it would be impossible for them to come up with reasonable solutions. The study draws as much as possible on impact assessment studies of existing schemes, but while this is the case, the availability of studies in relation to the various different labels and standards is sometimes limited. There are many methodological difficulties associated with in-depth impact assessment, and analytical assumptions may be required in the definition of study findings to derive overall expected development impacts as it is beyond the scope of this study to undertake independent impact assessments on each of the labeling schemes being analyzed.
No comments:
Post a Comment