Trendwatching.com recently reported that brands are constantly telling consumers that they care (about customers, the environment, corporate social responsibility etc) but most consumers don't believe them. It also stated that "just 5% of consumers in the UK and US believe that big businesses are very transparent and honest." Trendwatching.com believe that consumers are so saturated with messages that they just "tune out" or simply accept an organisation's brand statements as a given (so the message effectively become meaningless).
This entrenched consumer scepticism is probably a good thing. It suggests that consumers have wised up a bit to "greenwashing," CSR reporting and generally paying lip service to important issues. It means that for the few organisations which genuinely care about wider issues and a broader base of stakeholders that they can differentiate themselves. This is because having a culture which actually lives and breathes broader, caring values is not something that can be created over night or addressed by a short-term PR or marketing campaign. Genuinely caring organisations are built over many years and as such cannot be easily copied, this aspect is where the competitive advantage of ethical business practices really lies.
No comments:
Post a Comment