I was inspired by a recent Time magazine article to consider the new power of the “citizen consumer ” in my October 5th VPR Commentary. I celebrate this new responsibility revolution in my own buying, but I’d also suggest that marketers take heed. The way a person makes purchase decisions is influenced by much more than price these days.
A few of the things I say:
The key point I took from the survey included in the [Time magazine] article was that consumers are starting to look at provenance: where the products come from and how they get to the marketplace.
The consuming public has really come a long way. It was not that long ago that corporate responsibility was defined primarily in terms of the stockholder, and it was focused mainly on increasing profits. These days, however, consumers have forced the corporate collective hand and now expect the brands they buy to reflect a triple bottom line of responsibility to profit, planet and people.
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I imagine many of you have seen the truth in this lately. If consumers “rise up,” then marketers have to, as well.
