REMOVING THE BARRIER TO KNOWLEDGE

In the shift towards greater sustainability and responsibility, all is not smooth sailing. The desire to be a conscious consumer is undoubtedly gaining power at the mainstream level. But for many people, there are some hurdles that keep getting in the way. At CI, we identify four key barriers to conscious consumption:

• Time ('I don’t have enough of it')
• Price ('Sustainability’s too expensive')
• Pressure ('The responsibility’s too much')
• Knowledge ('I don’t know what to buy, or why')  

It’s this last barrier that we want to discuss today.

It sounds incongruous: how can there be a lack of knowledge in an age of information? But we’re at a really funny place right now. There’s masses of information about sustainability and the state of the environment disseminating around various media streams, but for the shopper, it’s not necessarily translating to knowledge: clear understanding that they carry with them and that can guide them in their choices. Running parallel with the desire to be a conscious consumer is a steady stream of confusion.

What people need are specifics. When looking to make a purchase, they need a certain apprehension of what benefits they can expect to receive from a product or service that’s tagged ‘sustainable.’ How will it better their lives? Why is it kinder to the environment, better for the community, or contributing to more equitable working situations? Sounds easy, but too often these essential ideas don’t make it into visible messaging or marketing. Sure, a company’s Corporate Sustainability Report (CSR) might contain this kind of news, but your average consumer isn’t going to read it before buying a pair of sneakers, even it’s made available online! The “information” needs to be communicated in true, digestible, and entertaining fashion in order to turn into “knowledge” and drive an action.

This means, less of the vague “philosophical” statements (“At X, we care about our children’s’ futures”) that are contributing to the beginnings of “green fatigue.” It means, more of the honest answers to questions that people might have about brand affiliation (what other companies does this one do business with?); products’ impact on the local community, news on where a brand is sold, or back story on how it’s packaged and transported. Smart packaging copy is a great way to pass on knowledge. At CI we consider packaging to be the new print ad.

Consider this insight: One of the first ways people execute their beliefs around social responsibility before buying is that they talk about it. This is why it’s so essential for companies to distill their data, facts, and figures about sustainability into specific, simple, honest, credible storylines that are related directly to the consumer’s life. Why not give them an easy baton to pass on to the next person, rather than expecting them to shoulder a pile of books? People are telling us they want to pass knowledge on to friends and family. Any company that makes it easier for people to do this has a huge advantage. It’s a way to build loyalty and consistency. Furthermore, since the four barriers are interrelated—one barrier to knowledge is the lack of time to go looking for it—help the consumer get a fast download, and you will be rewarded.

At the moment, this kind of authentic knowledge-sharing is being done best by small companies or organizations who aren’t scared to express their personality. We’re loving the very funny British website, cheatneutral.com, which has given people a new understanding about carbon offsetting through telling truths in an irreverent, creative and pointed way.

In the next twelve months, we predict a host of new companies will enter the marketplace with the understanding that have true knowledge-sharing as one of their core competencies. The realization is dawning amongst innovators and pioneers that any time you can help people fulfill their desires to be a conscious consumer, that’s a really powerful place to be. That means, dismantling some of the barriers so that they don’t have to climb over them.

 FROM INFORMATION TO ACTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE

Time and Knowledge are closely-knit barriers to conscious consumption. Time is scarce while information is abundant, and our knowledge is generally filled with gaps because as consumers we simply can't know and remember everything we hear. There is so much information in circulation about this brand and that new product, it is frankly hard to keep it all straight. Knowledge is largely dependent on how much time we have to understand the issue at hand and with so much activity in our day-to-day lives, it is hard to find that time. It's safe to say we're living in an interesting era of catch 22s, double-edged swords and general confusion around who and what to believe.

Consumers are conflicted in their perception of North American success. They embrace the freedom of choice, the technology and the information available as a right, but at the same time they are uneasy with the pressure that comes with materialism, overload of information and the speed at which things are happening because of technological advances.

Retailers and marketers are standing in the front lines of the unpaved path to sustainability. Building awareness around new products that consider the pillars of sustainability throughout their intended life cycle, and the brands behind such developments is the new objective. By being open to new communication channels, and finding the right mix of top down and bottom up strategies, marketers can provide consumers with actionable knowledge as opposed to simply feeding them more information. Consumers want to trust and rely on brand transparency emerging in packaging, labels, websites, forums, and discussion groups. This emerging sophistication on both sides, in stereo with good old conversations with friends and family can allow consumers to draw their own conclusions from the multiplicity of sources. The profession of marketing and communications is waking up to this call by creating new ways to reach people. David Suzuki has reached his friend capacity on Facebook. What does this tell us? By embracing innovation, and through active participation in the conversations going on with mainstream consumers, the stage is set for meaningful connections to be made while tapping into an expanding audience.

Here at Ci we are aware of the irony inherent in writing a story about information overload and knowledge as a barrier to conscious consumption. However, we want to bring to light this dilemma consumers are facing with respect to this balance of the right to know and feeling overwhelmed by too much of the wrong information. As consumers what we need is knowledge, not more information.  

CI LAUNCHES DEARCHINA.ORG
Recognizing the fact that a sustainable world needs a sustainable China, Ci launched dearchina.org last month.

Described by treehugger as ‘a virtual sounding board for a green future in China’, DearChina invites people to write a letter to China and share their thoughts, feeling and concerns for a sustainable planet. It’s all about engagement, not criticism. We know we didn’t get it right in the West and we are now busy trying to fix some of the mess that we made.

If we could share a little insight into some of the things we have sacrificed (time with our family, personal health…) in our pursuit of more maybe – just maybe – we might inspire some people in China to reconsider some of the choices they make.

Go to the site. Read some of the letters - some are funny, some are serious. Some are pro-sustainability, some are very much about supporting ‘social capitalism’. All of them make a point. Then write a letter of your own. After being manually translated by our team of volunteers, the English and Chinese version will show up next to each other on the site. If it takes a little longer than expected, be patient. We have opted to have people translate the text, as we believe an online translator may not quite capture the full meaning of your letters and translate into a language we know is very poetic. We endeavour to have all letters posted in 24 hours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CI, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CI...
Ci just turned four. Looking back it’s clear where it all started. In April 2003, Kierstin De West penned a white paper called 'Integrity: The new brand currency that can't be bought or spun™'. The pdf is linked here. Much of what she predicted has now come to pass.

Regular followers of our blog will know that she consistently shares insight from Ci's SHIFT report, as well as ideas of how the overall cultural shift will come to life over the coming years. Stay tuned…