Carbon Footprints in the Sand:
Marketing in the Age of
Sustainability
Christopher Groening: Kent State University; cgroenin@kent.edu
J. Jeffrey Inman: University of Pittsburgh; jinman@katz.pitt.edu
William T. Ross, Jr.: University of Connecticut; bill.ross@business.uconn.edu
Introduction
Carbon footprint of product =
Amount of carbon dioxide emitted during
–
–
–
–
Manufacture (e.g., toys, deodorant)
Transportation (e.g., Fiji water, Ethiopian coffee)
Usage (e.g., car, lawnmower, air conditioner)
Disposal (e.g., fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, computers)
Sustainability =
Improvement of human life with minimizing
the impact on society and the environment
What if Products had a Carbon
Footprint Label?
The amount of carbon
emitted into the atmosphere
due to the process of
creating, distributing, using,
and disposing of the product.
Product size is a standard
quantity/amount set by
industry for that particular
product type.
Carbon Footprint
Product Size: 1 Bottle (20oz)
Emissions:
- Manufacture:
- Transportation:
- Product Usage:
- Disposal:
Offsets:
- Recycling
- Carbon Sinks
Net Emissions :
+115g
+30g
+50g
+25g
+10g
(-50g)
(-20g)
(-30g)
+65g
Footprint rating: 2.5/4 FAIR
Ratings are created by using
the industry average for the
particular product. Industry
average is mean centered to
2/4. Each foot icon
represents a positive or
negative standard deviation
from the industry average.
Ratings are displayed in halffootprint increments and are
rounded up. For example, a 2.5
rating would receive a
definition of “Fair.” However,
the .5 would be represented by
a half-foot icon.
Amount of carbon is
measured by grams or
kilograms. Product usage
is for the entire lifetime
of the product.
Offsets are the total
amount of carbon being
eliminated from the
atmosphere due to
industry accepted
initiatives.
Recycling is if the
product is recycled at the
end of usage rather than
disposed of in a landfill.
Carbon sinks are ways to
offset carbon emissions
(e.g., preserving
Amazonian rain forest).
Footprint ratings:
• 0/4 – Excellent
• 1/4 – Good
• 2/4 – Average
• 3/4 – Fair
• 4/4 – Poor
Industry
Attributes
Label
Attributes
Product
Type
Reputation
Carbon
Proposition
A: Industry
Footprint Label
Consumer
Financial
concentration will
have an inverted U-shaped
Preferences
Outcomes
effect on the level of carbon emissions; firms in moderately concentrated
industries will have less carbon emissions than firms in either low or high
concentration industries.
Firm
Sample
Firm
Attributes
Consumer
Attributes
Peer and Societal
Influences
Why?
As competition increases, firms may expend more resources on carbon
emission reduction activities to differentiate themselves.
But:
• Less concentrated industry = Many firms = Fewer slack resources = Harder
to work on carbon reduction
• Highly concentrated industry = Few firms = Less need to differentiate
Emissions
Offsets
Recycling
Carbon Sinks
Net Emissions
Product A3
100
Product B3
100
20
10
70
10
20
70
Sample Proposition B: When comparing two similar products with the same
Offsets, consumers will put more weight on Recycling than on Carbon Sinks.
Therefore more consumers will choose A3 over B3.
Why?
• Familiarity with Recycling
• More difficult to ascertain the veracity of Carbon Sinks
For the complete paper please go to Customer
Needs and Solutions
Groening, Christopher, J. Jeffrey Inman, and
William T. Ross, Jr. (2014), "Carbon Footprints
in the Sand: Marketing in the Age of
Sustainability," Customer Needs and Solutions,
1 (1), 40-51.