in the adoption of responsible behaviors.
In Chapter 12, Adeline Ochs and Julien Schmitt establish the general framework of the topic by showing the main mobile applications linked to responsible consumption and explaining their mechanisms for influencing consumer behaviors.
Among the different categories of products and services affected by these new digital applications, food products present specificities, as highlighted by Christine Gonzalez, Béatrice Siadou-Martin and Jean-Marc Ferrandi in Chapter 13. The authors look at the issue of the compatibility of digitization and food sustainability. They then establish a range of models that facilitate understanding of how to influence consumer behaviors in favor of responsibility. In addition, the types of digital devices that support the adoption of food sustainability are detailed.
In Chapter 14, Myriam Ertz, Shouheng Sun, Émilie Boily, Gautier Georges Yao Quenum, Kubiat Patrick, Yassine Laghrib, Damien Hallegatte, Julien Bousquet and Imen Latrous go further in examining the benefits of technology 4.0, in terms of extending the lifespan of products and combating planned obsolescence. Through a close analysis of the main features and functions of technologies linked to “Industry 4.0”, including additive manufacturing, the Internet of Things, Big Data and artificial intelligence, the authors show how the characteristics of these technologies can help to create augmented sustainable products. This is a major challenge of our century!
If they indicate difficulties in the dissemination of sustainable development (consumer skepticism, limitations of environmental communications, waste, ineffectiveness of environmental measures, etc.), the contributions gathered in this book have the great interest of not stopping at limitations and suggesting concrete recommendations and solutions to improve the effectiveness of organizations. Our work offers evidence of the great potential of the use of marketing tools and approaches to encourage sustainable development. This book should therefore be considered a reformer and a cause for hope!
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1
Opposing the Market Through Responsible Consumption to Transform It
Abdelmajid AMINE and Mouna BENHALLAM
IRG, University Paris-Est Créteil, France
1.1. Introduction
The increase of ecological and social concerns in recent decades, calling for radical changes to modes of production and consumption, shows the signs of a societal model that is flagging. This model, long propped up by sales techniques that encouraged over-consumption and the unbridled pursuit of possessions and material comforts, is, now more than ever, being called upon to reorient itself around a fairer sustainable balance between people, the environment and the economy.
There has been criticism of marketing since the early 1970s (Kassarjian 1971), highlighting its shortcomings and side effects, namely, the harmful incitement to buy, the creation of superficial needs and the devastating exploitation of natural resources. This then developed with time around major concepts, such as “sustainable development” (Nader et al. 1971), the “social responsibility of companies” (Manrai et al. 1997), consumer opposition (Penãloza and Price 1993) and even theoretical frameworks, such as Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) (Mick et al. 2012). The latter supports results-based marketing research on major social issues (health, poverty, the environment, etc.), the results of which are intended to improve individual and collective well-being. All of these changes reflect the gradual dissemination of contestation behavior and discourse to a wider section of the population.
This phenomenon is evidence of the normalization of these opposition practices (Amine and Gicquel 2011) and translates into an inclination among consumers to make their behaviors more disciplined, so as to bring about societal changes. In that regard, it is clear that socio-environmental concerns are preeminent, as expressed through the protest-based reactions1 of consumers (Dubuisson-Quellier 2009). These dissenting movements have given rise to a specific form of opposition of a socially responsible nature (Benhallam 2016) 2, and spark recovery attempts from companies who perceive them as a threat.
With this in mind, and in view of the digitalization of social interactions and the increased speed of virtual exchanges (Kozinets 2012), we propose to explore practices of resistance, particularly those organized by consumer groups online, especially on social networks, given their significant impact.
As an example, following price increases, a boycott campaign against Danone, launched online, took place in North Africa in 2018 and cost the brand 178 million euros3. The main lessons that we want to highlight are intended to underline the ability of pressure from consumer movements to force companies to reevaluate their marketing practices and to push the public authorities and associations to rethink the regulatory mechanisms of the markets.
More specifically, we will be working on answering the following two-part question: “How does the online resistance of individuals adhering to a responsible consumption approach express