Sustainability is Sticky

The recent New York Times article, “Is a Food Revolution in Season” is remarkable in that it identifies the serious attention being paid to what some consider a peripheral issue - sustainable agriculture.

I find it incredible the endurance of sustainability and corporate responsibility as a topical and relevant issue of the day. The worst economic crisis in 80 years hasn’t dented the intense interest in public discourse around climate change, health and wellness, and ethical corporate behaviour.

The ongoing relevance of sustainability is borne out in GlobeScan’s ongoing tracking of societal views and expectations across the world - our latest global poll across 30 countries shows a growing interest among consumers to reward and punish companies based on their social and environmental performance. This “stuff” continues to matter to people even as they grapple with serious economic hardship and dislocation. President Obama’s attempt to bundle a host of issues - health care reform, action on climate change, education improvements, and regulatory changes to the way business operates - is in line with the public’s mind set.

Tracking Sustainable Consumption

Today National Geographic and GlobeScan released the results of the second annual Greendex survey. The Greendex is a unique and comprehensive annual survey designed to measure consumer behaviour in areas relating to housing, transportation, food, and consumer goods. The Greendex ranks average consumers in 17 countries according to the environmental impact of their consumer choices, as well as choices that are largely controlled by circumstance, such as climate, the availability of green products, and the availability of public transportation.

Overall, the results are positive. Notwithstanding the turbulent economic conditions of the past year, Greendex scores are up from 2008, meaning consumers are engaging in more sustainable behaviour, in 13 of the 14 countries surveyed in both 2008 and 2009. The increase is attributed to sustained environmental concern stemming from high concerns reported in early 2008, combined with the tightening of wallets in the face of recession. In other words behaviour that is good for the environment, such as using less water in the home and not leaving the air conditioning on overnight, just so happen to be behaviours that are good for the pocketbook. Consumers are realizing this and have started to jump on board.

Yet the question remains: will behaviours that are currently being driven by short-term needs evolve into sustainable “green” lifestyle choices when the economic crisis subsides?

Management 2.0

“Moon Shots for Management” is the title of an interesting article in the February 2009 Harvard Business Review which explores the future of management. The moon shots in question are the best ideas from a group of leading academics, CEOs, consultants and thought leaders on what management should strive for in the next 100 years.

The first three of the 25 goals for the future of management are deeply value-laden - “ensure that the work of management serves a higher purpose,” “fully embed the ideas of community and citizenship in management systems,” and “reconstruct management’s philosophical foundations”. Collectively, the full 25 goals read like a manifesto for CSR.

If this is the future of management, taught and practiced by world class professionals, the value of CSR as framework for managing companies will grow in relevance. In fact, at a recent GlobeScan Salon, descriptions of ‘CSR 2.0’ closely mirror ‘Management 2.0’.

Strong Emotions to Corporate Abuse

“In Bad Taste: Evidence for the Oral Origins of Moral Disgust,” an article by psychologist Hannah Chapman at the University of Toronto, proves that immoral acts appear to promote a visceral reaction in people akin to how our bodies react to poison or contaminated food.

We have always known that corporate abuses can evoke strong emotion - just look to the seething anger directed at AIG executives and John Stewart’s ripping of Jim Cramer on The Daily Show - but this goes one step further. It seems that people really can’t help but respond bodily to moral transgressions (we have witnessed this in many a focus group!). GlobeScan has been tracking awareness and reputation impacts on a range of corporate crises - petroleum company environmental problems in the US, corruption scandals in Germany, pesticide contamination in India, financial crashes in the UK, etc. - regardless of the type of scandal, people do indeed respond with a great deal of negativity towards companies when they become aware of perceived misbehaviour.

So, in addition to a range of other reasons why there is a demand for responsible corporate behaviour we can add evolution!