Impact of ethical certifications and product involvement on consumers decision to purchase ethical products at price premiums in an emerging market context

In emerging markets, instances of increasing consumers focus on ethical aspects of the product are observed. To this end, we aim to examine the influence of two ethical certifications and two product involvement types on consumers willingness to purchase ethical products at price premiums in the Indian market. No animal cruelty certification and no child labor certification are chosen as the ethical certifications, and a shirt and a bar of soap are chosen as high and low involvement product categories. Data is collected from 206 respondents for the experiment, in which consumers willingness to purchase a product is evaluated for different product scenarios. The results of the study indicate that individuals show highest willingness to purchase products (a shirt or a soap) when both certifications (no animal cruelty, no child labor) are present. However, in comparing individual certifications, individuals prefer no animal cruelty certification for a shirt and no child labor certification for a bar of soap. The study provides insights to practitioners regarding consumers present perception of ethical aspects in the product and directions to increase sales of ethical products in the Indian market.

Ethical product havens in the global diamond trade: Using the Wayback Machine to evaluate ethical market outcomes

Who benefits from ethical product markets? While most ethical products (e.g. fair trade and eco-certified products) are intended to benefit marginalized communities and vulnerable ecosystems, the reality is that the geographic preferences exhibited by so-called ethical markets may, in fact, reinforce global inequities rather than remedy them. It can be difficult to evaluate the outcomes of ethical product markets, however, because we are often limited to data from a small number of industries with widely used standards and certifications. This research pilots a new methodology, using an online archive—the Wayback Machine, to evaluate shifts in countries' ethical market share, focusing on the evolution of the ethical diamond market over the past 20 years. The ethical diamond market is an interesting case because it began specifically as a competition among countries of origin, with Canadian officials and diamond producers trading on Canada's reputation to position Canada as an ethical product haven in opposition to conflict diamonds from Africa. Yet, Canada's early ethical monopoly has been contested on multiple fronts, and this article focuses on the following questions: To what extent has the contestation over Canada's ethical monopoly actually changed the ethical diamond market? Specifically, how much market share have different ethical alternatives gained and lost over time? And, what does this tell us about the governance and development outcomes of the market? The results show that while the market has diversified over time, it is still largely not benefiting the most marginalized diamond producing countries and communities.

Ethical fashion consumption: Market research and fashion sustainability in Canada and beyond

Today’s consumers are very connected and knowledgeable and have very high expectations of businesses in terms of corporate social and environmental responsibilities. Yet, researchers have demonstrated the existence of a behaviour gap between consumers’ intention and their action. While they expect brands to be more responsible and are willing to pay more from the ones that ‘do good’, that willingness to purchase more ethical products fails to translate to a concrete purchase in reality. This behaviour gap is a real challenge to ethical fashion brands, a challenge that must be addressed in order to support the growth of the market and ensure that sustainability truly becomes the fashion industry framework. This chapter supports to a certain extent the arguments of the Professors Kate Fletcher (University of Arts London) and Lynda Grose (California College of Arts) in favour of creating longer-lasting garments through the design for sustainability approach. Their work has, among other things, put the user back to the centre of discussions and his relationship with clothing and how this relationship should affect systemic change in the industry. The purpose of this chapter is to bring the consumer behavioural paradox to light and to share through a case study one way ethical fashion brands could bridge consumers’ expectations and thus empower them in their choice to live more sustainably.

Refine the Students’ Skills Through Design Education to Create Ethical Products

This article focuses on applying the ethics of the product features during the students’ design education. Good/Bad design term is a conventional approach to discuss the ethical/unethical design values of the products. It is noted that different aspects of the product design such as visual information design, interface design, and appearance design have a vital role in judging the levels of ethics in the product. So the students of product design everywhere need to practice the term ethical/unethical design during their study because designers influence society more than they could imagine. This influence can be done by creating an attractive organized appearance and perfect functions that support the ethical brand’s image to the customers. The interviews and discussions were held as a research method with the students of product design in some institutions in addition to some design experts and customers to find out their opinions about the design values that achieve the ethical dimensions in the product design. They can end up with products that carry ethical values in their design. The final article’s results are in the descending order of the different design values according to their importance in emphasizing the ethical aspects of the products, in addition to a checklist including some important questions that can help the designers to be more aware of ethics’ considerations in the product design because ethics is a process of learning, not a process of obedience, and to highlighting the term of ethical designer which in turn reflects on the ethics of customers and societies.

Towards Innovative Governance of Nature Areas

How can the governance of nature areas foster the sustainability of ecosystems? This is discussed with regard to larger threats on ecosystems despite larger global nature areas that reach 19 million km2 of land along with larger costs per area unit. Moreover, monetization of nature with payments for ecosystem services is sometimes demanded for justification of the nature areas; however, this does not resolve the threats but faces scientific and ethical scrutiny. An alternative is the governance that incubates sustainable innovations in the nature areas for broad dissemination which generates interests in the sustainability of ecosystems. Opportunities are due to demands for ethical products, ecotourism and images of nature which generate USD 1100 billion in global markets. Sustainable innovations of using reed for insulation walls, furniture panels and upholstery in the EU can generate a few hundred million dollars in addition to present roof thatching, fodder and fuels if good functional qualities of the reed products are developed. Their functionalities can be supported by the inclusive economics, CO2 storage, treatment of water pollution, richer biodiversity, and other ethical qualities. The governance of nature areas can prevent the present deadlock but needs the development of technical and entrepreneurial capabilities.

Revisiting Green Marketing Implementation in Halal Cosmetic Brands

The growing green consumer who selecting products that socially and environmentally ethical products, encourages cosmetics producers in Indonesia to produce more environmentally friendly product in terms of materials, ingredients, packaging, and even the strategy to promote it. As this market segment continues to grow and develop, cosmetics manufacturers are required to be more competitive by applying green marketing values. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how halal cosmetic brands applying green marketing based on the concept of green marketing strategy and Islamic Marketing Ethics (IME). This case study uses a qualitative research approach that selecting four top halal cosmetic brands that marketed in Indonesia. Data was analyzed by data triangulation and method triangulation approach and presented in inductive summary. The results of the study concluded that among the top four halal cosmetics brands studied, two brands had implemented the concept of green marketing strategy and implementation comprehensively (shaded green and extreme green), while the other two brands applied lean green and defensive marketing strategy and implementation. The implication of this research is to provide suggestion to managerial marketing about how to create a more captivating halal products for all customers. The novelty of research proposes how is the level of Indonesian halal cosmetic brands green strategy that applying Islamic Marketing Ethics (IME).

Consumers – global citizens from the CSR 2.0 perspective

The article focuses on CSR 2.0 concept (Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility) in context with concept of a circular economy and responsible consumer. The main goal of CSR 2.0 is an improvement of the quality of life for all people in the world. This concept perceives consumers as global citizens. The basic principles of CSR 2.0 are Creativity (C), Scalability (S), Responsiveness (R), Glocality (2) and Circularity (0). The companies which implement CSR 2.0 can bring innovative solutions to most pressing social, environmental and ethical problems and challenges in the world. Responsible and conscious consumers can engage in the process of implementing CSR 2.0 by their willingness to collaborate and participate in the marketplace and corporate world. The aim of this paper is to look at the consumer from the “Glocality and Circularity perspective” according to the basic principles of CSR 2.0 in the condition of the Slovak Republic. To fulfil this aim, we conducted a survey of 1061 Slovak inhabitants. The results show the profile of our respondents according to their local actions (environmental actions, buying ethical products etc.) and their profile/activities regarding their participation on circularity (e.g. recycling, re-using, sharing etc.).