1. New times, new consumers

2. Environmentalism
Environmentalism has gained momentum over recent years. There has been a growing awareness of:
The depletion of energy sources.
The effects of pollution.
The deterioration of soil fertility.
Reductions in bio-diversity.
Climate changes.
The role of consumption in the above problems.

3. Product disposition and recycling (1 of 2)
The throw away society in which we all live creates enormous problems in unwanted waste and its disposal.
Reducing waste is a major public policy issue.
Training consumers to recycle has become a priority in many countries.

4. Product disposition and recycling (2 of 2)
Waste management differs from country to country. Factors influencing this include:
The importance of the issue politically and the legislation passed by Governments.
The social value different countries place on recycling and environmental issues.
The variances in waste generation levels between different countries.
The incentives and punishments given to consumers to recycle and reduce waste.

5. Examples of how companies are tackling consumers’ environmental concerns
Reducing packaging material.
Better insulated and more efficiently heated stores.
Recycling shopping bags.
Producing and selling goods manufactured from recycled products.
Supporting local environmental causes.

6. The political consumer
Political consumers use their consumption patterns as a weapon against companies they dislike and in support of those companies that reflect values similar to their own.
Political consumers select products according to companies’ ethical behaviour.

7. Consumer boycotts
These can occur when:
A consumer has a negative experience with a particular product.
A consumer dislikes a business decision made by a company.

8. Standardised versus localised strategies
This will depend on whether an etic or emic perspective is adopted.
Etic perspective - focuses on commonalities across cultures. The same universal message will be appreciated by people in different countries and cultures.
Emic perspective - focuses on variations within cultures. The messages are adapted to suit local values and practices.

9. Standardised strategies
When all the international markets have become so homogenised that the same approach is viable.
They provide economies of scale as one main strategy is relevant across all markets.

10. Localised strategies
Focus on the variations within the different countries.
When each culture is different with its own value systems, conventions, etc.
Appreciates that each country has a national character of its own.

11. Global marketing - when and why does it work?
Global marketing has met with mixed success.
Global marketing is more likely to work if:
The messages appeal to basic values.
The target market consists of consumers who are more internationally oriented and share the same world view.

12. Postmodernism
Postmodernism involves processes of social change in an era, where the ‘grand truths’ of modernism such as scientific growth are no longer taken for granted.
Postmodernism includes social processes such as:
• Fragmentation. • Pastiche.
• De-differentiation. • Anti-foundationalism.
• Hyperreality. • Chronology.

13. Fragmentation
The splitting up of what used to be simpler and more mass orientated items, e.g. products split into product ranges and lines.

14. De-differentiation
The blurring of distinctions between hierarchies. For example between low and high culture or between advertisements and television and films.

15. Hyperreality
The spreading of simulations and the loss of the sense of the ‘real’ and the ‘authentic’ in reengineered environments.
Products can be hyperreal if they simulate something else, e.g. margarine that tastes like butter.

16. Chronology
The consumers’ search for the authentic and a preoccupation with the past.

17. Pastiche
The playful and ironic mixing of existing categories and styles.

18. Examples of pastiche
Table 17.1 

19. Anti-foundationalism
An outright ‘anti campaign’ campaign. An example would be anti product messages such as ‘death brand cigarettes’.