Consumer Behavior Research Project

|                                       |Consumer Behavior Research Project 2011                                                                   |
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|6-12-2011                               |Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company.                         |
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Consumer Behavior Research Project 2011
Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company.

INTRODUCTION

More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of taking care of our environment. Almost everybody has heard about environmental problems (likely) caused by human consumption. In order to stop the constant decline in natural resources and the excessive demand of consumers, things need to change. Business has to change their philosophies into a focus on not harming human and ecosystems (Hofstra, 2011). But in our ‘free market economy’ companies need to be able to make a profit or at least break-even from a change, before they will embrace it. That is why this research papers answers the question: Can a company increase their profitability by engaging in environmental responsibility? To answer this question, the following problem statement was formulated:

Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company.

Two sub questions need to be answered first:

  1. Do consumers want eco-friendly products?

  2. Do customers act upon their environmental believes?

  3. Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility?

The first two sub questions are questions that must be answered positively for the hypothesis to hold. Without consumers willing... [continues]

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