了解可持续消费者
素食主义作为一种饮食方式通常被认为是更可持续的, 比含肉饮食更道德和有益. 但这是真的吗?还是战略营销的结果? JCU高级讲师布雷达麦卡锡 gives us insight into why vegetarianism has surged in culinary culture and the benefits this lifestyle has for our natural world.
就职于JCU经济与市场学系, 布雷达正在利用她的营销专业知识研究可持续的消费者行为. 她问了一个问题, ‘who are the sustainable consumers and what factors influence their choice to buy sustainably?’
布雷达的个人选择影响了她的研究和教学. “作为一名普通消费者，我经常从自己的日常决定中获得灵感, 比如安装屋顶太阳能或在当地有机超市购物,布雷达说.
“作为一个可持续消费者，我也从失败中吸取了教训. 我的饮食并不是完全不吃肉, which can prompt some interesting discussions in the workshops I run about the barriers to sustainable consumption and why we don’t always practice what we preach.”
布雷达的研究还考察了营销在可持续消费者选择中的作用. “市场营销 communications is highly persuasive, being both an art and a science,布雷达说. “It reflects the materialistic world; it is difficult for people to stop buying or to consume more responsibly because marketing can draw them right back into certain behaviours. Even the term ‘the sustainable consumer’ has negative connotations — how can we be consumers and live sustainably at the same time?”
Asking customers to consume more critically is a confronting prospect for marketers and for an industry that wants to meet consumer needs, 提高客户满意度，创造利润. 那么，营销是如何通过素食主义成功地促进可持续发展的呢?
食物有影响力的人
无论他们的饮食生活方式如何, 每个消费者的食物选择取决于许多因素, 最主要的是味道, 价格与质量. 对质量的看法取决于产品的内在属性, 比如颜色, 味道, 气味, 外观和新鲜度. 外在因素，如包装, 品牌, 生产信息, 价格和原产国也会影响消费者的选择.
食物的选择还取决于消费者的价值观、教养和社会人口特征. 这就是素食主义存在的领域.
“Some people recognise the social and environmental impact of their food choices and become vegetarians or 素食主义者s,布雷达说. “食品行业也有负面宣传, 比如虐待动物和工厂化农场的恶劣条件.”
For many consumers — and the 品牌s that market to them — health and safety is a key driver of demand. “把, 例如, 对低脂产品的需求, 市面上, 素食主义者, “清洁”食品或有机食品. 当消费者购买不依赖生长激素的有机产品时, 化学杀虫剂或人工肥料, they do so because of a belief that the production process makes the final product a safer and healthier choice.”
然而，视觉吸引力是一个可能成为可持续选择障碍的因素. “食品广告商擅长‘感官营销’，”布雷达说. “他们利用感官刺激来影响消费者, 比如广告中令人垂涎三尺的一盘汉堡和薯条. 在富裕的社会, food consumers have become more selective about what they will buy — leaving the oddly shaped or blemished 水果 and 蔬菜 sitting on the supermarket shelf, 助长食物浪费.”
素食主义的精神
虽然商业营销对美高梅app对食物的选择有很大的影响，但是 北美素食协会 (资产净值, founder of 世界素食日) use a more personal approach to share the ethos of vegetarianism.
促进 世界素食日, the NAVS encourages us to “help create a better world” through “influencing those closest to you”. 他们的 四步计划 to influence your family and friends includes: (a) letting them know that October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, (b)解释为什么素食主义及其好处对你个人很重要, (c)鼓励他们在网上探索食谱, and (d) telling them they can add to the fun by asking others to join them in exploring this new way of eating.
“Word-of-mouth is very powerful because we trust family and friends much more than commercial sources of information,布雷达说. “四步产品挑战, 类似于"吃素一周", 能帮助人们改变日常生活，培养新习惯吗.”
然而，比朋友的话更有效的是素食主义的风气. The NAVS states that participating in vegetarianism will “help people, animals and the earth”.
“这当然是真的，”布雷达说. “Medical research highlights the health problems associated with the excessive consumption of meat, so appealing to people’s egoistic values or self-interests is a good way to persuade people to reduce their meat consumption.”
除了健康, 肉类生产对气候变化有影响, 环境退化和动物福利. “人们往往忘记了肉和动物之间的联系. People don’t really want to think about where meat comes from — the live animals from which the meat is extracted. 食品广告不会展示动物, although there might be pictures of Australian cows or Australian farmers to tap into the ‘buy local’ sentiment and the desire to support the farming community.
“A key strategy for vegetarian 品牌s is to emphasise the human connection with animals in order to grow their customer base. A similarly effective strategy is tapping into the wellness trend and a renewed interest in fitness, 营养, 有机生活方式, 以及身心健康.”
“亲环境行为与利他主义和生物圈价值观有关, 这反映了对动物的关心, 其他的人, the environment and an awareness of the costs or benefits of our choices to our ecosystems.”
JCU高级讲师布雷达麦卡锡
健康，营养和可持续消费
把营销策略和个人信仰放在一边, 素食主义之间的联系, 健康和可持续性是明确的.
布雷达说，减少肉类消费对个人和全球都是可持续的. 可持续的饮食包括很少或不吃红肉, 富含“好的碳水化合物”(蔬菜, 水果, 全谷物, 豆类, 天然豆制品)和“有益脂肪”(ω -3脂肪酸), 低“坏碳水化合物”(简单和精制碳水化合物), 比如糖, 高果糖玉米糖浆和白面粉).
最近的一份报告 EAT-Lancet委员会 强调植物性饮食, suggesting that our health benefits the most from structuring our diet and meals around 营养 density rather than meat quantity. “We need to dramatically reduce our meat and sugar intake and double our consumption of 水果, 蔬菜, 坚果和豆类,布雷达说.
市场营销, 正如布雷达所描述的, 是关于同时满足消费者和公司的需求吗, 确保他们的行业是可行的和有利可图的. 然而, 而素食者的营销, 素食或植物性饮食本质上是为了向更多的人销售更多的产品, 美高梅app饮食的真相是，美高梅app根本不需要吃大量的肉.
布雷达说:“接受可持续饮食并不总是意味着牺牲。. “It could involve choosing higher quality, organic meat and buying from local farmers and markets. It could involve substituting meat with other forms of protein, even if only in some meals.”
Tapping into ‘wellness’ experiences — from fitness and 营养 to sleep and mindfulness — can assist 品牌s. 素食品牌可以在社交媒体营销中利用健康. But the main goal for sustainable consumers should be to embrace being mindful of what and how they are consuming as well as consuming less.
“避免食物浪费, 选择无塑料物品, buying local or organic food — all of these behaviours lie on the spectrum of sustainable consumption. 这些行为是由利他主义信仰还是个人精神驱使的, 他们确实为一个更美好的世界做出了贡献.”
JCU高级讲师布雷达麦卡锡
特色研究
布雷达麦卡锡
高级讲师
布雷达·麦卡锡是JCU经济学和市场营销专业的高级讲师. 布雷达的研究兴趣在于消费者行为的交叉, 可持续性, 营销实践. She is curious about why consumers engage in sustainable and pro-environmental behaviours. Breda’s research is focused on critical issues that are aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
布雷达对社会营销的兴趣为这些话题增加了维度. 她目前正在从事一个关于移动健康应用程序的多学科项目, 探索认知老化和老年人使用健康应用程序的经验. She also has a project focusing on online reviews and investigating how people evaluate electronic word-of-mouth and whether trust influences 品牌 image. 布雷达发表了会议论文, 期刊文章, 以及在爱尔兰和澳大利亚长达20年的职业生涯中的书籍章节.