Sounds a bit lofty but could be the answer to something that I have been trying to resolve for a while now. Its an idea that is used to explain the notion that humans are innately moral in some way. In simple terms the phrase ‘do unto others as you would want done unto you,’ which is the original golden rule gets the idea across. If I do something good for you then there is more chance that you will do me the same or some other favour in return. In a meeting of religious faiths which brought together representatives from all of the key religions this was the one principle that everyone was able to agree on as the common ground.
Brain research has also shown that our process for judging our own behaviour involves a step which blurs the line between the person having the thought and the person who might have to deal with the consequences of their actions - in other words before acting we put ourselves in the position of other people to judge how we would feel if the situation was switched e.g. taking something without asking or making a decision that affects others without consulting them. All of this says that there is some kind of original physiological and cultural predisposition to show empathy and respond to empathy from other people.
Anyhow the problem I was toying around with was the belief that a lot of people have about sustainability as a marketing tool. There is no question that active consumer interest in products and brands who tick more of the ‘ethical’ boxes is on the rise. But despite this there is a large percentage who are not actively choosing brands on these grounds; they are aware and sympathetic about the issues but they are not doing anything about it. Instead of seeing this as an opportunity to make ‘green’ easy for the current spectators many people would argue that this proves that there is no great demand and we therefore do not need to pursue it.
This is where the idea of ‘reciprocal altruism’ comes in. For if you know that something is in someone’s or everyone’s interests then would you only do it if you knew that they were actively calling out for it? Going beyond people’s expectations is often what is required to trigger a positive response from someone that they were not expecting to give. I have been a big proponent of consumer centric planning which is basically the idea that marketing should seek to give people things that they actually want. But if you restrict yourself to this then you might miss out on being more than they hoped. Now I would put forward a new idea based on a strategy of reciprocal altruism... lets call it ‘marketing kindness.’ An idea to explain acting for peoples interests as if they were your own rather than giving people whatever they will swallow fastest or easiest. Not because it feels nice to do it but because people are predisposed to respond positively to this kind of action. It builds a sense of trust and community and is likely to be reciprocated in some way - all things that companies are looking for.
For example Dove would not have been able to prove that the goal of building women’s self esteem was an expectation that women placed on brands in the category by simply asking people outright. In research I expect it might have come out as a nice to have rather than a big idea. But over the years it has worked for them incredibly well and has translated into sales success.
Likewise Cadburys are about to go fair trade on every single product that they make. I am almost certain that in consumer research people would not say that fair trade was a pivotal factor in their purchase of chocolate. Lets see how it goes but I predict that there will be a positive ‘reciprocated response’ that goes beyond what they would have been able to determine in advance.
Looking at it like this sustainability is not about ‘doing your bit’ its a strategy of taking a leap of faith to inspire people to believe in what you are doing rather than relying on simply taking the order of the day as gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment