Green scores with socially aware public
The Times, March 2008
The numbers say it all. 80% plan to buy food with less packaging in the next year. 71% will buy more locally produced goods. 66% will seek out food that guarantees a better deal for farmers and producers and 64% will be looking for healthier food.
Some predicted that concern for ethical issues would turn out to be a flash in the pan, a momentary blip on the consumption agenda. Not so. This time last year we found large numbers saying that they would actively choose to shop at a particular supermarket chain on the basis of its action on issues such as these. Similarly large numbers register similar opinions on the same issues this year. And they state that these issues will drive their purchase behaviour in the year to come.
As time progresses it becomes increasingly clear which issues are important – for supermarkets and for other sectors too. They are the issues which are core to the particular impact of the business and which are the cause for real social or environmental concern. The particular focus of the public spotlight will shift from issue to issue, pushing different factors centre stage at any given point in time, but core underlying areas of importance remain constant.
What companies need to do is also now clear. They need to actively address the major issues their sector faces and effectively communicate their efforts to do so. Consumers will be receptive. We see this with the supermarkets. Consumers still want to use the major chains – there’s no broad scale shift to small scale alternatives – but they want the chains to make it ethically easier for them to do so.
Marks and Spencer provides the case book example. Its comprehensive programme of social and environmental action, Plan A, tackles all the major issues, head on, in a publicly demonstrable way. And consumers’ scoring of its overall behaviour sits at 65%, on a par with niche, ethically-focused player the Co-Op.
The time for tinkering on the edges is long gone. This is about real change on real issues. For supermarkets and for everyone else. Now, next year and beyond.
