It’s something that comes up again and again. Will consumers buy a product or use a service just because it supports a cause?
I don’t buy it, and fizzled experiments from Causeon to Edun to CauseWorld to GoodSearch show that while consumers do indeed want a world with causes, a cause world is a different matter. Brand and margin lead (e. g. Groupon, The Gap, Foursquare, Google) and mission follows.
I believe the best way for a business to help a cause is to first be a great business. It’s like before takeoff when the flight attendant tells you if the oxygen masks drops from the top of the cabin you should put it on yourself first before trying to help anyone else with theirs.
But Project 7 is betting that something as mundane as chewing gum will succeed because it’s all about helping others first. As reported in Good, this gum is ordinary. They even recently changed the ingredients so it will taste like every other stick of gum, which may increase sales but it got Project 7 booted from organic-only Whole Foods. So taste, cost and placement near the rest of the candy is all the same. But this gum benefits a variety of good causes that feed the hungry, heal the sick and save the earth. The can’t miss cause packaging says it all.
Which is why Project 7 is expecting this gum to stick.
Everyone points to Newman’s Own as proof that cause products such as Project 7 can be a big success. But that’s like believing your organization can have its own national telethon because Jerry Lewis had one, or that you can partner with some of the best businesses in the world because Product Red does. It’s just not that simple.
You have to compare apples to apples. Even Product Red may be a one-hit wonder. When U2′s Bono and his wife put their stardom behind fashion-for-good line Edun it flopped, highlighting that even rockstars are challenged to put mission before margin and brand.
The notable exception is Tom’s Shoes. You certainly can’t argue against Tom’s success (Nor do I want to. It’s great.). But Tom’s is the exception, not the rule. It’s like coming across a blue lobster (chances: 1 in 2 to 5 million) in a sea of red, which is where most cause businesses end up.
I’ll be watching Project 7 to see if they can make their gum stick. But I’ve chewed on this one before and I don’t think this gum is going to last.
Joe,
I think the answer to the primary question in your blog – Will consumers buy a product or use a service just because it supports a cause? is NO……I don't chew gum or drink coffee (another of P7's products) so I am not going to run out and buy their stuff just because they support a cause, though I am intrigued with the company and follow what they are doing. I do, however, where glasses and a company like Warby Parker is certainly a group I would be inclined to buy from due almost solely to their philanthropic business model.
I think the key word in your question is JUST. I don't think a business supporting a cause is going to bring people to market BUT for those already in their market and with all other things being equal, then yes – I think the support of a cause could play a role in the buying decision for those consumers.
Todd
I think the question is more properly phrased, "Will consumers choose a cause-related product that they consider a commodity?" Once a product is a commodity, the price is essentially the same as is the expectation of quality. If I think of chewing gum as the same in price and quality no matter what label is on the outside (I happen to–one spearmint gum is the same as any other spearmint gum), then I am likely to choose a gum that also supports a cause.
This reasoning does not apply for products with true differentiations in the consumer's mind. If I can choose any of a number of phones and I think they each has separate virtues, then I am not likely to choose a phone solely because of its cause affiliation. That connection then becomes an additional reason to buy, not THE reason.
Matt Scelza
Director, Incite Los Angeles
Hey Matt, thanks for stopping by. I kind of agree with you. But as Americans I think we are so brand conscious about everything we buy, I think there are even brands in gum that buyers prefer! I guess in the end a commodity product such as gum could succeed, but I'm not sure so much that it would make a huge difference.