Marketing strategies for LOHAS consumers
LOHAS businesses and products
While LOHAS represents an eco-green healthy and sustainable life, we shouldn’t forget that LOHAS consumers are a segment of the well-educated population, they know that businesses seek profit and aren’t above “greenwashing” their everyday business to make it appear environmentally friendly when it’s of no real concern to them. Thus, a “Green” marketing strategy requires a holistic approach. A company must demonstrate not only a green aspect of a particular product but as well a commitment on multiple levels, such as in production processes or environmental engagement (see Marketing-Schools.org).
In order for a company to build successful green marketing strategies or in some cases it’s called socially responsible marketing, it has to understand the LOHAS market and its consumers’ patterns usage which include sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmentalism, social issues, eco-green and much more.
Moreover, the following principles are important to consider while creating market-ing strategies for LOHAS consumers: (1to1media.com, 2013)
- Initial positioning of the company within a market.
- Image perceived by the customers.
- The legitimacy of environmental positioning for the company.
- The acceptability of green products and services by customers.
- Customer expectations.
- The customer’s perception of the benefits that a green product or service of-fers.
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Define LOHAS product
The most important element is an eco-green product to market for. The decision should be focused on launching an organic product, energy-saving product, or a long-durable product. It should be a marketable product or service which satisfies the needs of LOHAS consumers, there must be recognizable benefits on all social an eco-green levels (UNEP). ‘Green marketing products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. It incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, [sustainable packaging], as well as modifying advertising’ (Wikipedia).
Determine the distribution channels
Since LOHAS consumers are diversified and distributed into many segments, thus an important factor to consider is to plan and establish many distribution channels in order to reach LOHAS consumers, by retailers or direct sales (or maybe face-to-face contacts).
Consider the price
Eco-products do normally cause higher production costs, for that reason the retail or shop price is above traditional products, thus important arguments are important to the customer in order to understand the value he’s betting against the price he’s paying. Arguments can be oriented toward environmental benefits such (see UNEP).
Build the trust
Trust and transparency is as well important aspects that a company should consider, as ‘in 2016 only one in three LOHAS US consumers cited “all natural” as a key purchase driver, reporting instead that the “brand that I trust” was a more influential factor’ (ETHOS, 2017). As well, establishing connections and getting the product accredited by well known and trusted public institutions is a highly important aspect, ‘as the CEO of OTA points out, the organic industry relies on some critical public institutions as well as on consumers’ (organic-market.info, 2017).
Sources:
theguardian.com: Organic food sales soar as shoppers put quality before price (2017-02), https://www.theguardian.com/, (accessed on 2017-06-22 15:25 CET)
Organic-market.info: EU: new data for organic aquaculture (2017-06-21), http://organic-market.info, (accessed on 2017-06-22 13:23 CET)
EUMOFA: EU Organic Aquaculture (2017-05), http://www.eumofa.eu, (accessed on 2017-06-22 15:52 CET)
Marketing-Schools.org: Explore the Strategy of Green Marketing (No date), http://www.marketing-schools.org, (accessed on 2017-06-18 14:42 CET)
1to1media.com: 6 Key Considerations for Socially Responsible Marketing (2013-11), http://www.1to1media.com, accessed on 2017-06-18 18:45 CET)
UNEP: Training of Trainers (No date), http://ecolabelling.unep.fr, accessed on 2017-06-18 22:13 CET)
ETHOS: How to Market to LOHAS (2017-01-30), http://blog.ethos-marketing.com/blog/how-to-market-to-lohas, (accessed on 2017-06-09 12:22 CET)
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