Abstract
The objective of this paper is to explore the practitioners’ questions for the marketing of ethical products. The increased interest of civil society and academia in sustainability and ethical consumption has led to ample academic research on the decision-making processes behind purchase decisions. Ethical consumption has been growing in most developed countries and has become a main item in the agenda of government and local authorities for its promise of a brighter future, not just for those in the consuming end of the supply-chain, but also for those on the production end. Further to our research, there has been no attempt to link the research needs of the business society with the research agendas of academics. This paper presents the results from semi-structured interviews with top and mid-level marketing managers working for Fairtrade. After the analysis of the interviews in ATLAS.ti, a research agenda is proposed aiming to create the basis for future academic research based on the needs of practitioners, therefore ensuring that there is increased relevance for them.
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Appendix
Appendix
1.1 Interview details
S/N | Code | Title | Seniority |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | A | CEO - Marketing Director | Top |
2 | B | Head of Campaigns | Mid |
3 | C | Brand and Communications Manager | Mid |
4 | D | CEO | Top |
5 | E | CEO | Top |
6 | F | CEO - Director of Public Engagement | Top |
7 | G | Director of Public Engagement | Top |
8 | H | CEO | Top |
The participants work in the following organisations and were interviewed between July and December 2017:
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Fairtrade Deutschland
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Max Havelaar Netherlands
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Fairtrade Foundation
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Fairtrade Belgium
The interviews took place in Fairtrade Deutschland office in Cologne, Fairtrade International in Bonn and Max Havelaar Netherlands in Utrecht.
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Kossmann, E., Gómez-Suárez, M. Decision-making processes for purchases of ethical products: gaps between academic research and needs of marketing practitioners. Int Rev Public Nonprofit Mark 15, 353–370 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-018-0204-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-018-0204-8