“The most impressive thing about them as scholars,” says David Easley, an economist at Cornell University, “is that in recent years they have questioned the assumptions of the models they helped to create, and they have been at the vanguard of the efforts to go beyond them.”

The above … Read on >

The Atlantic recently published an interview with me that included some good questions on trends and innovation in sustainability. Here’s an excerpt:

What’s something that most people just don’t understand about your area of expertise?

How thinking big about the connections of cultural trends, consumer behavior research, and other-things-that-don’t-seem-to-relate-at-all can give … Read on >

To continue with my thoughts, as inspired by Sustainable Brands 2010:

There’s something about the sustainability topic that helps align a businessperson’s personal/human and work values.   This … Read on >

Why do businesses do what they do?  It’s the same question I posed in early March about consumers. As I did in that post, I will focus here on the concept of “social proof” and how human beings may be persuaded to change behavior in a more sustainable direction, … Read on >

Angela Walseng and Wendy Scherer of The Social Studies Group and I were recently interviewed on Purse Strings Radio about our Green Mom Eco-cosm Study. We got into some lively discussion about:

• A woman’s awareness of her own journey toward sustainable or “green” living, and how she allows … Read on >
  

Perhaps I’ve not been clear enough lately.  Just as marketing to women really should not have been some hugely new concept when it started getting noticed a decade ago, so too should marketing to the sustainable consumer NOT be considered a whole new, hard to learn, concept.  In both cases, … Read on >

Since about 2001, this marketing to women path I’ve been on has been an interesting ride.  Where I expected to get more and more focused on the ‘business” end, I have instead gone broader and broader with the “whys” of gendered consumer behavior.  If I think about my background and … Read on >

*This article first published in the July issue of my quarterly newsletter.

While it may be more commonly used in self-help or religious books, I’ve been seeing the word “journey” a lot in my sustainable business practice research. It strikes me that the word may, as well, be … Read on >

I like the sound of the Simplifier, a psychographic recently defined by John A. Quelch and covered by Iconoculture. This person is:

“…a middle-aged affluent looking to downsize during the downturn because she wants to, not because she has to (Harvard Business Publishing 10.15.08).”

While the Simplifier may … Read on >

I’m just back from a hopeful and exciting conference on homebuilding and how to create vibrant community, and am gathering my thoughts to share in a future post. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure you all saw this MediaPost commentary by Hugh Hough of … Read on >