Conscious Consumerism and Marketing

May 5 - 6, 2021, Online

Two decades into the 21st century, and it is safe to say that we live an era where information is all around us – in a way that it never was before. Information is accessible to everyone, in equal measure, made ubiquitous by the internet. This massive inflow of information has complemented by the unprecedented availability of digital devices which has given rise to unprecedented awareness, anytime, anywhere. As the graph of consumers’ purchasing intensity keeps rising, so does their awareness about the social, cultural and environmental impacting their purchases. As a result, consumers have started altering their purchasing behavior based on the social and environmental impact that the businesses have.

Two decades into the century, and we are at the peak of Conscious Consumerism. The rise in Conscious Consumption represents a paradigm shift that makes it imperative for brands to take active cognizance of. The world today is faced with enormous social, political and environmental challenges, and brands have begun taking a stand through their story-telling, content development, brand purpose driven campaigns representing their corporate social responsibility involvement.

According to Schudson (2007) conscious consumption occurs when people are presented with the opportunity to buy products that support issues they care about. The guru of marketing Philip Kotler says “This period of deprivation and anxiety will usher new consumer attitudes and behaviours that will change the nature of today’s Capitalism. It is time to rethink and rewire Capitalism and transform it into a more equitable form – based on democracy and social justice.” This hybridization of the pure capitalistic form of consumption and socialistic form is a natural evolution that would eventually happen. This will be era of Conscious Consumerism- melding of the positives of both the consumption structures.