#CsrStrategies

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Corporate Social Responsibility: A Strategic Tool for Business Innovation and Sustainability

In the evolving business landscape, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has transformed from a compliance requirement to a strategic driver for innovation, market exploration, and sustainable growth. Today’s companies view CSR as a vital component of their business operations and sustainable strategies. The focus is no longer limited to legal obligations but extends to building goodwill, gaining customer trust, enhancing brand recognition, and achieving operational efficiency.

Read more at https://www.cyberswift.com/blog/corporate-social-responsibility-a-strategic-tool-for-business-innovation-and-sustainability/

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Consumerism: To buy or not to buy! 

by Denisse Baqué What is that emotion after buying on Black Friday, after sales and promotions? Satisfaction or Guilt? After buying different items one after the other, do you feel like you are buying things that you do really need?

Consumer spending has become part of our society values, as unfortunate as it sounds, statistics show there are more shopping malls than schools in the United States of America, a person holds more than 4 different credit cards and there are more Televisions plus other electronic devices than real people at homes.

Consumption is inevitable, however, in our today society it is very relevant to differentiate between the concepts of Consumption and Consumerism.  According to the dictionary, Consumption is defined as the action of using up a resource, on the other hand the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers is the definition of Consumerism. In simplify words Consumption is a natural act and Consumerism is the set of tools that make consumers to buy more.

Consumption is part of life therefore it generates waste, although within a healthy society this waste can be easily handled in order not to harm the environment, Consumerism on  the contrary keep consumers chained to a bad habit and goes beyond consumption, generating an incredible amount of waste difficult to handle while strongly harming the environment and our society.

A secret Marketing Strategy?

Indeed sales have an important impact on consumer behavior and this is the part where big corporations enter the game, technically speaking 2 out of 4 Ps of Marketing play a crucial role: Price and Promotion especially on sales.

It is not a secret, the information is out there, from reducing the price, the eternal 2x1 until the massive email marketing and the colossal digital campaigns with social media included, companies around the world know the importance of a strong Marketing strategy especially when it comes to increase sales for the holiday season, for this reason, companies try many ways to catch potential clients with new offers to make them buy more of their products.

Chaos Theory applied to our planet.

How can we hope for a sustainable future when our current society is putting more value on material things and possessions?  It is not consumption which is destroying our planet,  it is the harmful and careless life model implanted in our heads, consumers are daily exposed to the brainwashing, to the culture of buying more and throwing more.

That being said, probably next time it will be easier to be a mindful consumer, simply because mindless consumption gives as result a Compulsive Consumption, generating:

-       More waste.

-       More debts.

-       Less Freedom, financially and psychological speaking.

-       An increase in materialistic ideals.

And the Environmental Impacts are several too, including:

-       Misuse of Resources, our planet is working hard to generate and provide all the natural resources needed to live a plenty life, why do we need to abuse and explode it?

-       Let go of the myth that consumption is about population, which is a lie, the most populous regions in our planet use less resources than all the developed or wealthiest nations.

-       A huge number of corporations coming from different industries are responsible for Environmental Impact leading to more deforestation, land degradation and more water contamination.

What to do?

1.     Dig deeper, there is more to live than owning material things.

2.     Ask yourself, do I really need to buy this? Do I need more than this?.

3.    Say no to fake and massive promotion, especially advertising via Television, internet, phone or any other way.

4.     Say no to products harmful for the environment, especially if these are on sale for some reason.

5.     Escape the mean cycle, buying compulsively can be the beginning of you becoming a shopaholic.

By quoting John Daido Loori in his book The Zen of Creativity “in a society like ours that assures us that more is better, it is not easy to trust that we have enough, that we are enough” therefore the need to think on the consequences and put on mind the chain reaction and the kind of results our purchases might have: are they being harmful to someone and the environment? Consumption is indeed part of life and it is necessary, what is not really necessary is consumerism. Our wants and needs are different from one another and on a different level of priority, learn to differentiate that there are needs to be covered and wants that may need to be satisfied  however, is that really necessary?  

REFERENCES:

National Geographic. 2004. As Consumerism spreads, earth suffers, study says. Retrieved from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0111_040112_consumerism.html

Becoming Minimalist. 2016. 9 Intentional Ways to Challenge Consumerism in Your Life. Retrieved from:

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/less-consumerism/

Global Issues. 2005. Effects of Consumerism. Retrieved from:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/238/effects-of-consumerism

Conservation Economy. 2010. The problem isn’t consumption, it’s Consumerism. Retrieved from: http://www.conservation-economy.org/the-problem-isnt-consumption-its-consumerism/

Zen Habits. Breaking free from Consumerist Chains. Retrieved from: https://zenhabits.net/free/

La Tribune. 2009. Bernard Stiegler: Le Consumérisme a atteint ses limites.  Retrieved from: http://www.latribune.fr/actualites/economie/france/20090723trib000402565/bernard-stiegler-le-consumerisme-a-atteint-ses-limites.html

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