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The E philosophy

posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 01:20 PM

Read our latest interview with PAUL ALLEN, author of Your Ethical Business, and get his three keypoints to understand the innovation behing ethical businesses.

Servane Mouazan for OGUNTE- If you were to start a positive campaign to tackle the "Why should I" mentality among consumers, what would be your top three actions?

PAUL ALLEN: From a business perspective, I would focus on education to help people understand the impact of their purchases and feel good about them. You may be passionate about combatting social and environmental problems, but it's easy to over-estimate other people's awareness of the big issues. The best known symbol of ethical business -the Fairtrade kitemark- is recognised by less than half of shoppers. Businesses therefore need to do everything they can to increase awareness and associated feel-good factors about purchasing their products and services. That will require innovative approaches to product design, marketing and sales.
Leading on from this, I would also encourage collective action. Consumers are bombarded with hundreds of different messages every day. It's easy to switch off. If ethically minded businesses team up to show what makes them different, how they are genuinely committed to resolving issues, such as global poverty and climate change, and how consumers' behaviour can make really a difference, they can break through this apathy.

Finally, I would ....

Read further on www.ogunte.com in the Book Lounge!

Your Ethical Business: Publication date: 11 March 2007

Comments
Michael Ward
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 11:24 PM

hey servane.. great to see you here! see you soon i hope, mike

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