Every decision you make has the power to change the world around you. It is therefore important to imbibe conscious consumption. Making purchases with positive social, economic, and environmental impact is called conscious consumerism. Thanks to ethical shopping, a clean lifestyle has become a popular trend recently.
People, being conscious consumers, are aware of the products they buy. They prefer to know how these products are manufactured and how they affect the environment and the impact of those products on one’s health.
The global community of fair trade enterprises spreads across 76 countries that exist to serve marginalised communities. To be a WFTO member, an enterprise or an organisation must demonstrate that they hold people and the planet at the top. In that way, they prioritise them over their gains, like in everything they do.
Types of shoppers
There is a strategy behind every consumer’s buying decision. Consumers or buyers have a variety of purchasing styles that can be elucidated by consumer psychology. Behavioural psychologists reveal the cognitive processes that run a detailed analysis to explain people’s purchase decisions. That covers aspects like why people buy when they buy, and what factors lead their purchase.
Decisive buyers, trend-focused shoppers, process-oriented consumers, thorough researchers, loyal brand fans, and so on are some of the main types of consumers.
Patient planners and decisive buyers
Some shoppers know exactly what they require from a brand. They usually buy luxury or expensive products where the price is their secondary consideration. These shoppers might not prefer to know how the product works, but they are interested to know the value it adds to their lifestyle or how it makes their lives better. This sort of shoppers enjoy the convenience, and they may switch brands based on the product features.
Frequent browsers and impulsive spenders
Most shoppers offline and online buy things that they didn’t plan to buy. This spending is called impulsive. It is most common in low-cost goods or products on sale. People often get triggered by the idea of acquiring something expensive for a ridiculously low price. However, it involves a thoroughly planned and executed pricing strategy which we shall address in one of our upcoming articles.
Brand fans after perks and rewards
Loyal customers or brand fans are buyers who purchase from a particular brand regardless of convenience or price. These shoppers care about the bigger picture. Their focus is to stay in trend. It allows them to fit into a ‘cool and trendy’ group. A new gadget launch or latest fashion trend from their favorite brand always interests them to purchase. They are not interested in experimenting with other competitive brands. Heart, head, and hand loyalty are three different types of customer brand loyalty.
Threats to conscious consumerism and ethical shopping
Due to online purchases like Amazon that offer instant gratification, ethical shopping feels impossible. Over the ages of digital advancement, spot or same-day deliveries and industrial production have increased tremendously. Due to this, people have become less conscious buyers. They now do not want to understand or know about the product’s whereabouts.
Ethical shopping can be difficult sometimes. It is considered a luxury that everyone cannot afford. Goods manufactured by industrial production in bulk quantities are affordable whereas designer goods with one or two pieces per design that are eco-friendly and handmade are not affordable. People thus don’t want to spend too much on something that can be purchased at a lower price.
Highlights from a recent ethical consumer markets report state, 60% of consumers have said that due to the pandemic, people are willing to purchase goods from local and independent retailers. The percentage of ethical consumer spending has tremendously increased over the last few years.
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Bluehouse World
Bluehouse is a marketplace for conscious goods. They are an eco-friendly platform for everyone pursuing well-being. The main goal of Bluehouse is to create an extensive network of ethical producers to help buyers in their search for conscious goods and enhance the market for a better world.
Bluehouse labels are a set of sustainability standards where each brand justifies how sustainability criteria are met for their products. Every producer is therefore expected to describe how their manufacturing process takes place in the product description. Thus all the users can check and confirm the information by positive ratings and critical feedback online.
Fair and safe working conditions
Fair and safe working conditions ensure good space, temperature, lighting, ventilation, humidity, and welfare facilities, including access to drinking water. Hence, according to Bluehouse, all employees must have this environment with fair conditions.
A circular business model
A circular business model vows to dedicate 1% of Bluehouse profits to committed NGOs worldwide. The triple impact of the model is based entirely on the premise that through the commercialization of products. Bluehouse participates in various projects that regenerate the environment and contribute to society.
With outstanding factors like being cruelty-free, plastic-free, reducing emissions, vegan, organic, and natural ingredients, BPA free, and so on, the Bluehouse community guarantees a sustainable shopping experience. Their triple positive impact platform focuses on ecological, social, and economic factors.
Make a step towards becoming an ethical consumer. Encourage positive buying. Buy products that favour fair trade, cruelty-free or organic. It directly supports progressive organisations that strive for sustainability.
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Image credits: Bluehouseworld, Unsplash and ESI Africa
