Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally ...

Authenticity refers to the extent to which a company‘s activities are true and consistent with its
values. While no company is perfect, authenticity demands that there be no gross contradictions
between:
1) What the company is and the practices within its control, 2) The products or services provided,
and 3) The image of sustainability or responsibility that is promoted.
Company Size and Influence on Consumer Perceptions of Sustainability
Large companies in particular face hurdles in terms of consumer perceptions of sustainability
practices. Consumers are doubtful that big businesses – by virtue of their size, the broader economic
landscape in which they exist, their primary objective to maximize profit and the business practices
necessary to do so – are able to be environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable.
Interestingly, while they may voice these general opinions equating big business with an intrinsic
difficulty in becoming sustainable, at the same time consumers feel that large companies also have
the opportunity to raise awareness and have a large positive impact in areas implicated by their
business due to the scope of their operations and reach.
In contrast to large firms, consumers believe small, local companies to be the epitome of sustainable
business. Consumers are more likely to view small companies as those that serve and enrich their
community. Small businesses are perceived as more flexible in setting monetary benchmarks and
more likely to consider the well-being of their customers and employees in seeking to achieve profits.
Consumers also think of small, local business as behaving more sustainably because they are forced
to be accountable, operating under the microscope of their local community and patrons.
Additional Sustainability Findings
More findings on Sustainability and related issues and their impacts on product purchases and retail
settings may be found in subsequent chapters (Chapters 3 and 4, respectively).
Impact of the Economic Recession on Health and Wellness Consumers
Full Impact Has Yet to be Seen
During the primary, qualitative research phase of this project (January and February of 2009), most
consumers were of course concerned about the economy. While we did not find that consumers had
changed their daily activities and purchases in particularly profound ways, we did find a few patterns,
including
Putting off larger purchases
Some, but not all, reported scaling back discretionary purchases
Cutting coupons or looking for deals
Dining out less often and/or at less expensive restaurants
Finding ways to stay entertained at home and going out less often, and/or socializing at
home or the homes of others
In many ways, we believe that the economy had not been long enough into recession at the time of
our primary research to produce extensive change in consumer behavior patterns. However, at the
same time, we generally find that consumers‘ behavior patterns are fairly resilient, and often stand up
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