可持續(xù)消費(fèi)行為的“最后一英里”

文/邁克·德索西奧 譯/王冰

掃碼聽(tīng)讀

目前，很難說(shuō)可持續(xù)性僅是少數(shù)消費(fèi)者感興趣的事情。民調(diào)機(jī)構(gòu)“環(huán)球掃描”的研究表明，世界各地絕大多數(shù)的消費(fèi)者都認(rèn)為我們需要減少消費(fèi)。

2更重要的是，在該調(diào)查中，57%的消費(fèi)者愿意為可持續(xù)產(chǎn)品多花錢。然而，其中僅有大約四分之一的消費(fèi)者真的朝著可持續(xù)方向改變了自己的生活方式或消費(fèi)行為。那么這是怎么回事呢？

3“當(dāng)我們要求人們改變自身行為，使其更有可持續(xù)性時(shí)，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)十分明顯的‘意向—行為差距’?！辈涣蓄嵏鐐惐葋喆髮W(xué)市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷與行為科學(xué)教授凱瑟琳·懷特說(shuō)道。

4在2021 年度“綠色商務(wù)”會(huì)議上，懷特分享了她對(duì)可持續(xù)消費(fèi)的研究。與會(huì)者還有來(lái)自亞馬遜公司和寶潔公司的行業(yè)領(lǐng)袖，以及非營(yíng)利組織的高管，他們分享了對(duì)可持續(xù)消費(fèi)趨勢(shì)的見(jiàn)解。以下是會(huì)議的三個(gè)要點(diǎn)：

1. 態(tài)度已轉(zhuǎn)變，但行為滯后

5根據(jù)環(huán)球掃描的調(diào)查，整體而言，消費(fèi)者對(duì)可持續(xù)產(chǎn)品的興趣指數(shù)有所上升。例如，2020 年的調(diào)查結(jié)果表明，73%的消費(fèi)者希望大幅減少他們對(duì)環(huán)境的影響，該數(shù)字比上一年增加了近十個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。

6會(huì)議期間，環(huán)球掃描首席執(zhí)行官克里斯·庫(kù)爾特將該現(xiàn)象描述為消費(fèi)者態(tài)度的“顯著轉(zhuǎn)變”，認(rèn)為這對(duì)可持續(xù)產(chǎn)品市場(chǎng)來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)好兆頭。但他馬上強(qiáng)調(diào)了這一進(jìn)展的不足之處。

7庫(kù)爾特說(shuō)：“我們求變的愿望和實(shí)際的行為之間仍然存在著差距，但我們確實(shí)看到世界各地正在發(fā)生重大變化。”

8懷特的行為科學(xué)研究探討了什么樣的手段最能有效說(shuō)服消費(fèi)者，使他們的消費(fèi)選擇符合自身對(duì)地球的關(guān)切。

9懷特說(shuō)：“這對(duì)市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷人員、機(jī)構(gòu)組織和公共政策制定影者來(lái)說(shuō)，是個(gè)十足的挑戰(zhàn)。我們真的需要了解行為改變的關(guān)鍵驅(qū)動(dòng)因素是什么。”

10懷特指出了利益相關(guān)者為改變行為可以關(guān)注的幾個(gè)因素——社會(huì)影響（換句話說(shuō)，同儕壓力）、習(xí)慣養(yǎng)成、個(gè)人價(jià)值觀、情感認(rèn)同和有形成果。

11懷特表示，歸根結(jié)底，任何人都不應(yīng)指望一舉采用所有措施來(lái)讓消費(fèi)者突然醒悟。改變更有可能是逐漸發(fā)生的。

2. 價(jià)格和性能依然是最重要的因素

12寶潔公司北美區(qū)織物護(hù)理研發(fā)部總監(jiān)托德·克萊因正試圖使消費(fèi)者關(guān)注一個(gè)微小改變——用冷水洗衣服，這可以大幅降低其公司產(chǎn)品對(duì)氣候的影響。

13克萊因表示，寶潔公司子品牌“汰漬”三分之二的碳足跡是消費(fèi)者購(gòu)買使用留下的。其中占比最大的是用于加熱洗衣機(jī)中的水的能量。

14所以克萊因的計(jì)劃很簡(jiǎn)單，他說(shuō)：“制造出消費(fèi)者用冷水洗衣時(shí)效果很好的產(chǎn)品?！?/p>

15這強(qiáng)調(diào)了關(guān)于可持續(xù)產(chǎn)品的一個(gè)基本事實(shí)：消費(fèi)者最關(guān)心的仍然是產(chǎn)品性能和價(jià)格。因此，在展示對(duì)氣候的誠(chéng)意前，可持續(xù)產(chǎn)品必須先做好這兩方面。

16亞馬遜公司可持續(xù)購(gòu)物全球負(fù)責(zé)人亞當(dāng)·韋巴赫深知這一點(diǎn)。他主導(dǎo)開(kāi)發(fā)了亞馬遜平臺(tái)上的“氣候承諾友好型”標(biāo)簽，通過(guò)外部認(rèn)證引導(dǎo)消費(fèi)者購(gòu)買最有可持續(xù)性的產(chǎn)品。

17結(jié)合迄今為止的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，韋巴赫認(rèn)識(shí)到，即使在亞馬遜平臺(tái)上具有生態(tài)意識(shí)的全食超市，消費(fèi)者也會(huì)先考慮價(jià)格和性能，再考慮可持續(xù)性。

18但是“氣候承諾友好型”標(biāo)簽可以讓消費(fèi)者快速而輕松地做出決定。

韋巴赫說(shuō)：“消費(fèi)者樂(lè)意有人幫他們減輕認(rèn)知負(fù)擔(dān)。”

3.（ 信息量）少即是多

19亞馬遜公司一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單標(biāo)簽的成功，證明了促使消費(fèi)者做出更可持續(xù)選擇的另一重要策略：有時(shí)，更少的信息會(huì)有更好的效果。

20懷特認(rèn)為，普通消費(fèi)者沒(méi)有時(shí)間、也沒(méi)有興趣去了解關(guān)于成分、生產(chǎn)或包裝的全部細(xì)節(jié)。他們僅僅想知道自己的消費(fèi)選擇不會(huì)傷害地球。

21懷特說(shuō)：“歸根結(jié)底，如果做出可持續(xù)選擇真的快速、簡(jiǎn)單、有趣且愉快，那我就會(huì)去做?！?/p>

22這就是標(biāo)簽?zāi)軌蚱鹱饔玫牡胤??！熬G色印章”組織首席執(zhí)行官道格·加特林表示，他的公司一直致力于簡(jiǎn)化其可持續(xù)認(rèn)證的推廣方式。

他說(shuō)：“向消費(fèi)者傳達(dá)各種各樣的屬性確實(shí)很困難?！?/p>

23因此，“綠色印章”組織并沒(méi)有在一個(gè)標(biāo)簽上羅列20種或更多的聲明，而是開(kāi)發(fā)了一種“羅盤”，不僅標(biāo)記出四大類別——水、廢物、健康和氣候，還可以作為對(duì)產(chǎn)品的簡(jiǎn)單評(píng)估。

24寶潔公司改進(jìn)自己的產(chǎn)品包裝和標(biāo)簽時(shí)，克萊因也牢記這一點(diǎn)。

他說(shuō)：“如果我們能把可持續(xù)消費(fèi)變得簡(jiǎn)單，變成令消費(fèi)者感覺(jué)很棒的體驗(yàn)，那么他們就會(huì)采用這種行為并堅(jiān)持下去。” □

These days, it’s hard to argue that sustainability is a niche1niche 小眾（針對(duì)特定消費(fèi)群體的市場(chǎng)需求）。consumer interest. A vast majority of consumers worldwide believe we need to consume less, according to research by Globe-Scan.

2More to the point, 57 percent of consumers in that survey were willing to pay more for sustainable products.But only about a quarter of them actually made any sustainable changes to their lifestyle or consumption. So what gives?

3“There’s this really marked intentionaction gap when we’re asking people to change their behaviors to be more sustainable,” said Katherine White, professor of marketing and behavioral science at the University of British Columbia.

4White shared her research on sustainable consumption during GreenBiz 21. She was among industry leaders from Amazon and Procter & Gamble,as well as nonprofit executives, who shared insights on the trends in sustainable consumption. Here are three takeaways2takeaway（討論或會(huì)議的）要點(diǎn)。from the session:

1. Attitude has shifted, but behavior lags

5Across the board, indicators for consumer interest in sustainable products are up, according to the GlobeScan survey. The 2020 results, for example,showed that 73 percent of consumers wanted to reduce the impact they have on the environment by a large amount,up almost 10 percentage points from the year prior.

6During the session, Chris Coulter,CEO of GlobeScan, described it as a“remarkable shift” in consumer attitude that bodes well for the sustainable products market. But he was quick to underline the shortcomings of that progress.

7“There is still a gap between our desire to change and what we’re actually doing, but we do see significant movements happening across the world,” he said.

8White’s research in behavioral science looks into what levers3lever 施加影響力的手段。could be most effective in convincing consumers to align their choices with their concern for the planet.

9“This is a real challenge for marketers, for organizations, for public policymakers,” she said. “We really need to understand, what are the key drivers of behavior change in particular?”

10White identified a few factors that stakeholders can focus on to shift behavior—social influence (in other words, peer pressure), habit formation,individual values, emotional buy-in and tangible outcomes.

11But ultimately, no one should think about hitting consumers with all of those efforts at once, White said. The shifts are more likely to be gradual.

2. Price and performance are still king

12Todd Cline, as director for Procter& Gamble’s North America fabric care research and development, is trying to focus consumers on one tiny change that could drastically slash the climate impact of his company’s product: Wash their clothes in cold water.

13Cline said what consumers do with Tide, one of the company’s sub-brands,once they take it off the shelf accounts for two-thirds of the product’s carbon footprint. The biggest chunk of that is the energy used to heat the water in the washing machine.

14So his plan is simple: “Make products that work great when consumers use them on cold,” he said.

15This highlights a fundamental truth for sustainable products: Consumers’top concerns are still performance and price. So sustainable products must tick thosetwoboxesbefore showing off theirclimate bonafides4bona fides 誠(chéng)意。.

16Adam Werbach, global lead for sustainable shopping at Amazon, knows this well. He led the development of a “Climate Pledge Friendly” label on the site that uses external certifications to direct customers to the most sustainable products.

17The experience so far has shown Werbach that customers, even at Amazon’s eco-conscious Whole Foods, primarily seek out price and performance before considering sustainability.

18But the “Climate Pledge Friendly”label can be a quick, easy way for them to make that decision.

“Customers like the cognitive load being taken off them,” he said.

3. Less (information) can be more

19The success of a simple label for Amazon speaks to another important tactic for nudging customers to more sustainable options: Sometimes less information is better.

20The average consumer, according to White, doesn’t have the time or interest to know all the details on ingredients,manufacturing or packaging. They just want to know it’s not going to harm the planet.

21“At the end of the day, if it’s really quick and easy and enjoyable and pleasant, I’m going to do it,” White said.

22That’s where labels can help. Doug Gatlin, CEO of Green Seal, said his company has worked to simplify the way it communicates its own sustainability certifications.

“It can really be difficult to communicate the various attributes to the consumer,” he said.

23So rather than listing 20 or more claims on one label, Green Seal developed a “compass” that identifies four main categories—water, waste, health and climate—and acts as a shorthand5shorthand 簡(jiǎn)約表達(dá)法。to evaluate products.

24Cline keeps this in mind, too, as Procter & Gamble refines its own packaging and labeling.

“If we can make it simple and make it so it’s a great experience for people,they’ll adopt the behavior and stick with it,” he said. ■