{"id":44306,"date":"2018-06-29T12:20:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T19:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=44306"},"modified":"2018-06-29T12:20:49","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T19:20:49","slug":"green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/","title":{"rendered":"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nAustralian supermarkets phasing out single-use plastic bags is just one example of how retailers are fiercely engaged in a race to be \u201cgreen\u201d. Other examples are dumping plastic straws, buying back used products and reducing unnecessary packaging.<\/p>\n

Rather than competing on price or time, green credentials offer a way for retailers to differentiate themselves. Encouraging customers to make overtly good moves also has a psychological effect, allowing them to excuse poor behaviour elsewhere \u2013 such as buying a product that may not be ethically sourced.<\/p>\n

Having a strong green record also helps create a buffer for when events like\u00a0plastic bags killing whales<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0sweatshop abuse<\/a>\u00a0hit the headlines.<\/p>\n

Way back in April Woolworths\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0the removal of all single-use bags across the country by the end of June. Although, after some backlash, Woolworths\u00a0has said<\/a>\u00a0it will give bags to customers until the 8th of July.<\/p>\n

Coles will\u00a0also ban single-use bags from July 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Woolworths has since\u00a0announced further strategies<\/a>\u00a0for \u201ca greener future\u201d. These include reducing unnecessary packaging and linking with \u201cfood waste diversion partners\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, sustainability is bigger than just food waste and plastics.<\/p>\n

Ikea Australia recently announced it will \u201cbuy back<\/a>\u201d used furniture to resell. IKEA\u00a0has been doing this in other markets<\/a>, like Hong Kong, for some time.<\/p>\n

Buying \u2018green\u2019 makes us feel good<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The consumer market for green products and services was\u00a0estimated at US$230 billion in 2009<\/a>\u00a0and predicted to grow to $845 billion by 2015.<\/p>\n

While consumers are increasingly engaging in shopping activities that support the environment, such as reusing shopping bags, buying local and supporting local farmers and producers, at the same time many are still tempted by A$4 T-shirts from Kmart.<\/p>\n

This behaviour can perhaps be explained by the effect of \u201cmoral self-licensing<\/a>\u201d. This is where consumers do something good to offset their bad behaviour.<\/p>\n

In the context of shopping, a good deed, a customer putting reusable bags in the boot of the car, will be followed by a not-so-good deed, such as driving to the shops in our gas-guzzling 4WD.<\/p>\n

In this way, the first choice gives us a positive self-concept, which\u00a0negates or \u201clicenses\u201d the subsequent more self-indulgent choice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A slippery (green) slope<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The only concern for companies is that they might be accused of \u201cgreenwashing<\/a>\u201d \u2013 using marketing to\u00a0create the perception<\/a>\u00a0that their policies, purpose or products are environmentally friendly, when that\u2019s not really the case.<\/p>\n

Despite consumer awareness of the practice of greenwashing, the number of companies making green claims has escalated sharply in recent years as organisations strive to meet escalating consumer demand for greener products and services.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0one advertising consultancy<\/a>, there were 2,219 products making green claims in 2009 alone, a\u00a079% increase<\/a>\u00a0over two years earlier.<\/p>\n

Research shows<\/a>\u00a0that when consumers are sceptical about a retailer\u2019s corporate social responsibility practices, this can damage the retailer\u2019s brand, increase sensitivity to negative information and stimulate unfavourable word of mouth.<\/p>\n

Over the past couple of years, we have seen exactly these phenomena play out again and again.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, Walmart\u00a0faced scrutiny<\/a>\u00a0about its corporate social responsibility claims relating to renewable energy, the industrialisation of food systems and its\u00a0cheaply made, disposable products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Starbuck\u2019s green credentials\u00a0were met with scepticism<\/a>\u00a0when it was reported some stores\u00a0left taps running all day to clear pipes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, Nordstrom, JC Penney and Backcountry.com have\u00a0faced fines for making misleading environmental claims<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Banning the single-use plastic bag alone will not save the environment. Sadly, it is not as simple as that.\u00a0Research shows<\/a>\u00a0lightweight plastic shopping bags make up around 1.6% of litter in Australia or less than 2% of landfill.<\/p>\n

However, despite some\u00a0backlash<\/a>, banning the bag is certainly a step in the right direct.<\/p>\n

Remembering to bring reusable shopping bags is a fairly significant change in shopping behaviour, but the practice has been successfully implemented in states such as Tasmania, which\u00a0banned single use bags several years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Louise Grimmer is a Lecturer in Marketing, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics at the University of Tasmania and Gary Mortimer is an Associate Professor in Marketing and International Business at Queensland University of Technology<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian supermarkets phasing out single-use plastic bags is just one example of how retailers are fiercely engaged in a race to be \u201cgreen\u201d. Other examples are dumping plastic straws, buying back used products and reducing unnecessary packaging. Rather than competing on price or time, green credentials offer a way for retailers to differentiate themselves. Encouraging […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":44307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65893],"tags":[209364],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-44306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-being-green"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreen is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australian supermarkets phasing out single-use plastic bags is just one example of how retailers are fiercely engaged in a race to be \u201cgreen\u201d. Other examples are dumping plastic straws, buying back used products and reducing unnecessary packaging. Rather than competing on price or time, green credentials offer a way for retailers to differentiate themselves. Encouraging […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-29T19:20:49+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/bagsonbike.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-29T19:20:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":707,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/bagsonbike.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Being green\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sustainability\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/\",\"name\":\"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/bagsonbike.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-29T19:20:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/bagsonbike.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/06\\\/bagsonbike.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Australian supermarkets phasing out single-use plastic bags is just one example of how retailers are fiercely engaged in a race to be \u201cgreen\u201d. Other examples are dumping plastic straws, buying back used products and reducing unnecessary packaging. Rather than competing on price or time, green credentials offer a way for retailers to differentiate themselves. Encouraging […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2018-06-29T19:20:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/bagsonbike.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials","datePublished":"2018-06-29T19:20:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/"},"wordCount":707,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/bagsonbike.jpg","keywords":["Being green"],"articleSection":["Sustainability"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/","name":"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/bagsonbike.jpg","datePublished":"2018-06-29T19:20:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/bagsonbike.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/bagsonbike.jpg","width":680,"height":425},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44306"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}