CIBE Annual Conference

1
CIBE Annual Conference

• Corporate Responsibility and Consumer Rights
• October 26 and 27, 2007
  Beijing

2
Women as a Leading Indicator of Consumer Trends

• Dr. Ann Goodman
• Executive Director
• www.wnsf.org

3
Role of Women's Network for a Sustainable Future
(WNSF)

• Helping Women Put Their Values to Work

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WNSF FAQs

• 5 years old
• Nonprofit organizationMobilizes businesswomen
  for social responsibility and sustainability
• Forum for education, convening, action
• Offers meetings, training, electronic tools
• Builds an international 'community' of
  businesswomen to work for social responsibility
  (China Dialogue)
• Prepares the next generation of women business
  leaders
• Strengthens business's ability to attract and
  retain women (employees, consumers, stockholders,
  stakeholders)
• Recent programs

5
Exploring the link

• Womens current buying habits
• Likely future consumer trends

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7 Key points

• womens buying patterns
• women's attitudes to business social
  responsibility
• the "green" consumer
• youth's attitudes
• business responses (changes in product, labeling,
  sourcing and supply chain)
• case lessons in responsible consumer strategy
  from HM
• implications for China, emerging markets and
  emerging consumer demand (with China Association
  of Women entrepreneurs/CAWE)

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Question

• What do women want?

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Answer 

• Everything, and lots of it!
• (over 80 percent of purchases are made by women)

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The Flawed Cliché

• Women want clothes, makeup---and diamonds!

10
What Women Really Buy?
11
MARKET INVESTMENTS

• women represent nearly 50 percent of stock market
  investors, up 10 percentage points in the past 20
  years
• women participate in investment decisions in 60
  percent of households
• women will account for 94 percent of the increase
  in US private wealth by 2010

12
REAL ESTATE

• women make 75 percent of the decisions about new
  home purchases

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CARS

• In the US, women influence car purchases in up to
  70 percent of cases

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ELECTRONICS

• women outspend men on items like wireless phones
  and computers
• 60 percent of online users are women

15
SPORTS

• women buy nearly two thirds of apparel purchases
  from NFL (National Football League) and NBA
  (National Basketball Association).

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Women Have Money to Spend

• 62 percent of workers are women
• In the past 10 years, women-owned firms grew at
  nearly twice the rate of all US firms. (they now
  generate 1.9 trillion in sales and employ 13
  million people)

17
Women Want Responsible BusinessStudies confirm
women

• care that workers everywhere are paid a living
  wage
• think its extremely important for companies to
  contribute to charity
• believe business needs to do a better job on
  social responsibility
• think its important that their companies make a
  difference in society
• want companies to provide more opportunities for
  them to make a difference
•  (sources U. of CA at Berkeley and WNSF)

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Women Want to

• make a positive impact on society
• pursue personal interests
• earn a high income
• --in that order!
• (For men, the order is of priorities is just the
  reverse! ) 
• (source Aspen Institute )

19
Women Care More

• Over 70 percent of women agree that the US is in
  as much danger from environmental hazards, such
  as air pollution and global warming, as it is
  from terrorists.  Just 56 percent of men agree.
• Only 28 percent of women agree that "too much
  fuss is made about global warming," but 42
  percent of men agree.
• Finally, just 30 of women think the quality of
  the environment is getting better or staying abut
  the same.  But 42 percent of men think this.
• (source Yale University)

20
The Light Green Woman

• Green consumers are growing in numbers (hundreds
  of millions)
• 62 percent of light green consumers are women
• Light greens tend to buy their way to
  environmental responsibility
• Theyre confused (e.g.,may drive a gas-guzzling
  SUV to organic food store)
• But theyre malleable, educable and want to do
  the right thing
•  (source Ogilvie Mather)

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Question

• What do youth want?

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Answer

•  What women want!

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Children listen to their mothers (sometimes)

• Joyce La Valle, Sr. VP, Interface Inc.

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Whats Good for Women is Good for the Firm
Deloitte Touche

• Women pioneer business changes,
• especially social changes,
• later embraced by all employees

25
Next- Generation Employees Want

• flexible work conditions (e.g., working from
  home, which can also reduce GHG emissions from
  commuting to work)
• life/work balance
• a company with a cause

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Young Consumers Want

• products made by socially responsible companies
• eco--friendly products made by eco-friendly
  companies
• university campuses to make responsible purchases
  (e.g., 2005 halt in Coca-Cola sales at US
  universities based on alleged labor and
  environmental infractions)
• corporate awareness of global warming (e.g., UK
  student shoppers guide, 2007 Live Earth
  concerts)
• ethical business behavior toward the
  environment ( 80 percent of teenagers)

27
Mom, will polar bears have ice next year?

• Even 4-year-olds worry about the environment!
• Wall Street Journal

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Business Response

• changes in product, labeling, sourcing, supply
  chain

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Recent Examples

• Interface business purpose attracts young
  workers
• Kraft healthier products, health labels
• GAP donating a percentage of revenue to causes
  (RED)
• Coca-Cola new, healthier products, messages,
  labels
• HM supplier monitoring, organic cotton sourcing
  and labeling

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Fashion First

• Lessons in Consumer Strategy
• from
• HMs Organic Cotton Launch

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Lessons from HMs Test

• One processing, manufacture and marketing of new
  products must be in place.
• Two fashions must blend with the every day
  clothing most people wear. 
• Three theres big a difference between fad and
  consumer demand that sustains the market.
• Finally timeworn strategic business lesson
  consumer demand drives market success.

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Lessons from HMs Organic Line

• the right marketing (education vs advertising)
• the right supply chain (6-weeks from sketch to
  store)
• the right time

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Implications for China?

• recent alarm worldwide over product problems
• buyer oversight, supplier vigilance
• one domestic response Wu Yi
• CAWE presentation!

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Thank You!

• WNSF
• www.wnsf.org