Social responsibility and ignorant consumers

PMA's research on social responsibility and consumerism are intriguing. Do the findings point to the failure of the produce marketing concept that has been in place until now? Is the customer king, or should produce marketers try to deliver what enlightened wisdom dictates is best for consumers? Do consumers overstate the importance of social responsibility in surveys compared to their actual behavior?
Here is a report from Tom Burfield, Western Correspondent for The Packer:
Consumers believe the degree of social responsibility a produce company exhibits is a highly important factor when they're making their purchase decisions, according to new research from the Produce Marketing Association.In a survey of 1,000 consumers this summer, 55% percent placed the highest degree of importance on the social responsibility – or sustainability – of their produce suppliers.Survey participants placed organics (13%), distance from farm to store (11%) and fair living wages (11%) at the top of the list of social responsibility issues.

Recycled and recyclable packaging received high ratings from 8% and 7%, respectively. PMA said that, when combined at 15%, packaging issues are the most highly rated sustainability issue for consumers.
A workshop will focus on social responsibility at PMA's Fresh Summit International Convention and Exposition in Houston Oct. 12-15.
Findings of the research:
Consumers believe the degree of social responsibility a produce company exhibits is a highly important factor when they're making their purchase decisions, according to new research from the Produce Marketing Association.In a survey of 1,000 consumers this summer, 55% percent placed the highest degree of importance on the social responsibility – or sustainability – of their produce suppliers.Survey participants placed organics (13%), distance from farm to store (11%) and fair living wages (11%) at the top of the list of social responsibility issues.

Recycled and recyclable packaging received high ratings from 8% and 7%, respectively. PMA said that, when combined at 15%, packaging issues are the most highly rated sustainability issue for consumers.

"The survey's insight on social responsibility offers more evidence that it is time to get back to the basics by restoring our personal relationships with consumers and focusing on providing great-tasting fruits and vegetables," Bryan Silbermann, PMA president, said in a news release."We should not only strive to build a better supply chain, but also build a better value chain for our customers," he said. A workshop will focus on social responsibility at PMA's Fresh Summit International Convention and Exposition in Houston Oct. 12-15.

TK: Here is a link about research from the UK - the first and strongest bastion of social responsibility in marketing - that shows consumers care more about price and convenience.

From The Scotsman.com:
ETHICAL shopping is the most important trend on the high street, with everyone from retailers to manufacturers making increasingly bold claims about their environmental or social credentials.
But British consumers still put the cost and convenience of food ahead of their concerns about the planet, according to a survey.
Research by BBC Countryfile magazine reveals that the top priority for a third of food shoppers is price. What is more, half of us believe that locally produced food is more expensive than other produce, and 41 per cent say that this perceived expense is likely to prevent them from buying locally produced goods.

Here is a very revealing paper on the study of the consumer movement in the U.S and the implications of the social responsiblity movement. Robert D. Winsor, Loyola Marymount University, writes about "SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, CONSUMERISM, AND THE MARKETING CONCEPT" One of the key tenants is that "social responsiblity" can become just another way to manipulate consumers.

From the paper:
Yet, it is noteworthy that the ultimate result of an expanded social responsibility of business is the concomitant diminishment of free consumer choice. Moreover, this obstruction of consumer discretion is the inevitable consequence of presumptions of consumer irrationality.

Later....

It should be noted that the societal marketing concept is founded upon one dominant and critical proposition. This is the assumption that "consumers' wants do not always coincide with their long-run interests or society's long-run interests," and that, given this, marketers should place the "emphasis on 'long-run consumer and societal well being" (Kotler, 1977b). As a result, the societal marketing concept represents an endorsement and justification for the social responsibility of business in contemporary society, and a refutation of Milton Friedman's infamous assertion that "the social responsibility of business is to make a profit" (Friedman, 1962).

Later....

Because organizations are rapidly becoming aware of the power of "green consumers," for example, there is a significant temptation to advance this agenda through the marketing program as a powerful device for cultivating customer loyalty and anesthetizing consumer prudence and vigilance.

TK: If the produce selling proposition at retail switches dramatically from providing the best tasting produce at the most competitive price to the most "socially responsible" produce, consumers may feel more manipulated and unsatisfied than ever. Suppliers may feel manipulated too. I remember one question posed to a panel of retailers at the AsiaFruit Congress about Fair Trade bananas; why don''t retailers have "fair trade" for produce grown in England or the U.S.? Where does social responsibility come in when buyers are beating down the price? I will be interested to hear more at the PMA....