Seeking a Better Place : Sustainability in the CPG Industry

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

“？我？而言，成？一名？？的公民和一？成功的事？之？？有？？......他？？今天的沃？？是完全一？的。”Lee Scott， 沃？？的CEO在2005年？崔琳娜？？？？之后(Esty and Winston 2006) Lee Scott的？明？志着可持？？展的一？新的？代。作？一？被全球生？商和零？商所？注的全世界最大？模的？？商？？了他？的可持？？展的意？。近十年？，？保？？不？增？，？？展到全世界。公司已？？生,？品已被？造,？？期刊已？展？,政府已？承？――所有？一切都在追求可持？？展(Peattie and Crane 2005)。？然？展的？比一些人渴望的慢了一些，但是？多大？模的？？商已？？？保做出了可持？？展的努力。？了更好的理解？？？？我？同？提供高管和消？者？？的有包？的消？品？？的角度。？硏究依？于三？？在主？:(1)？念和？据表明,公司？？多理由？行可持？？展(2)在有包？的消？品行？中,可持？？展活？的？量在持？增？(3),因此,必？探索可持？？展在消？者意？中起的作用。根据？些主？，143名大？生和101名企？高管？加了？？？？？一系列的有？可持？？展的？量包括愿意支付，行？意？，？度和偏好。？果？示高？管理者相信可持？？展的三？最主要的原因是（1）盈利能力的机？;(2)以？？？？境的？？;(3)？？客和股？？？。大？生的三大原因:(1)？？境的？任;(2)？子？后代？？,和(3):一？有效的管理？源。？然企？高管和大？生？支持可持？？展的理由不同，但是企？高管和消？者的？告？示了？剩下大部分的可持？？展？？的相似性。？外，？我？要求消？者去？？6？？？？？的重要性？（？？保健、？？、？育、犯罪、政府支出、和？境），保？？境？排在第四位 (Carlson 2005)。？6？？？都被？？是重要的，三？最重要的是(1)改善？育;(2)本地？的？？？展,以及(3)？生保健。？了可持？？展的持？性，我？也？？期？果。反映社？、企？利益表？的新定？和？行期的延？同？被揭示出？(Ehrenfeld 2005; Hitchcock and Willard 2006)。基于文？我？？？了三？基本范？的？果:(1)改？？成的？意度,(2)分化的机？,以及(3)金融？？。在每一？分？中, 我？？？？可持？？展活？中？致11？不同？果的？？特定的？果。我？的？？？果表明,最有可能的？果最高的前五？依序？公司的可持？？展追求的是:(1)？色的消？者？？更令人？意;(2)公司形象？更好,(3)公司的？任？得到加强,(4)？降低能源成本;(5)？品？？更多的？新。？外，？更好的理解消？者的？境“身？”和在市？？？中愿意？示出？？“身？”的有趣的交集，我？？展了以前Experian Research（2008） 的硏究。因此,受？者分？四？不同？型的？色消？者(行？？色,想法？色，？

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

For us, there is virtually no distinction between being a responsible citizen and a successful business… they are one and the same for Wal-Mart today.” ~ Lee Scott, Wal-Mart CEO after the 2005 Katrina disaster; cited in Green to Gold (Esty and Winston 2006). Lee Scott’s statement signaled a new era in sustainability as manufacturers and retailers around the globe watched the world’s largest mass merchandiser confirm its intentions with respect to sustainability. For decades, the environmental movement has grown, slowly bleeding over into the corporate world. Companies have been born, products have been created, academic journals have been launched, and government initiatives have been undertaken ？ all in the pursuit of sustainability (Peattie and Crane 2005). While progress has been admittedly slower than some may desire, the emergence and entrance of environmentally concerned mass merchandisers has done much to help with sustainable efforts. To better understand this movement, we incorporate the perspectives of both executives and consumers involved in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. This research relies on three underlying themes: (1) Conceptual and anecdotal evidence suggests that companies undertake sustainability initiatives for a plethora of reasons, (2) The number of sustainability initiatives continues to increase in the consumer packaged goods industries, and (3) That it is, therefore, necessary to explore the role that sustainability plays in the minds of consumers. In light of these themes, surveys were administered to and completed by 143 college students and 101 business executives to assess a number of variables in regards to sustainability including willingness-to-pay, behavioral intentions, attitudes, willingness-to-pay, and preferences. Survey results indicate that the top three reasons why executives believe sustainability to be important include (1) the opportunity for profitability, (2) the fulfillment of an obligation to the environment, and (3) a responsibility to customers and shareholders. College students identified the top three reasons as (1) a responsibility to the environment, (2) an indebtedness to future generations, and (3) an effective management of resources. While the rationale for supporting sustainability efforts differed between college students and executives, the executives and consumers reported similar responses for the majority of the remaining sustainability issues. Furthermore, when we asked consumers to assess the importance of six key issues (healthcare, economy, education, crime, government spending, and environment) previously identified as important to consumers by Gallup Poll, protecting the environment only ranked fourth out of the six (Carlson 2005). While all six of these issues were identified as important, the top three that emerged as most important were (1) improvements in education, (2) the economy, and (3) health care. As the pursuit and incorporation of sustainability continues to evolve, so too will the expected outcomes. New definitions of performance that reflect the social/business benefits as well as the lengthened implementation period are relevant and warranted (Ehrenfeld 2005; Hitchcock and Willard 2006). We identified three primary categories of outcomes based on a literature review of both anecdotal and conceptual expectations of sustainability: (1) improvements in constituent satisfaction, (2) differentiation opportunities, and (3) financial rewards. Within each of these categories, several specific outcomes were identified resulting in eleven different outcomes arising from sustainability initiatives. Our survey results indicate that the top five most likely outcomes for companies that pursue sustainability are: (1) green consumers will be more satisfied, (2) company image will be better, (3) corporate responsibility will be enhanced, (4) energy costs will be reduced, and (5) products will be more innovative.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I. Introduction
• II. Research Methodology and Findings
• III. Conclusions and Implications