Advertising and ecology: do they mix?
The least we can say is that advertising is omnipresent in our current society. In the street, on our smartphones, on television, on the radio, in supermarkets, in shops… No platform is spared. What is fascinating is the extent to which advertising influences consumer behaviour.
Many specialists are trying to understand the mechanism of how advertising influences consumers.
Advertising is said to date back to antiquity times when it appeared in the midst of frescoes celebrating gladiators, fighters and leaders. It then evolved and took another turn during the Middle Ages when technological and social developments brought new methods of communication. The arrival of radio and then television changed the history of advertising, as the first radio advertisements contributed greatly to the explosion of advertising.
Today, advertising is THE tool for a company to promote and sell its products or services to as many people as possible. Its primary objective is to encourage households to consume.
In a consumer society that we have always known but which is gradually being called into question for ecological reasons, is advertising able to make an ecological transition?
Redefining advertising
The issue of the ecological transition of advertising has only emerged in recent years since 20 September 2019 when a ministerial request was made for a report on advertising and the ecological transition.
This shows that the issue is beginning to be integrated into the highest decisions and that the higher authorities are therefore beginning to become aware of the importance of this issue.
It is therefore time for advertising to undergo another major change and to evolve.
And this, of course, while taking into account the needs and expectations of consumers, who are also gradually beginning to understand the importance of choosing their products according to their impact on the planet.
Recent reports have shown that 63% of French people surveyed have more confidence in a company if it offers sustainable products and that almost 9 out of 10 French people consider that companies encourage them to over-consume. What is also very interesting in these results is that 78% of them would like to have information on the environmental and social impact of the goods they buy.
Advertising and its environmental impacts
Advertising has many negative impacts on a number of elements: the use of paper, the consumption of energy via the different media which inevitably has disastrous consequences on greenhouse gases.
Considering the growth in the use of smartphones, tablets and television, the environmental impact of this consumption on the environment is unprecedented.
It can be seen throughout the production chain of all these products: manufacturing, production, transport, etc.
Depending on the nature of the product and the techniques used, the impact is certainly different but always present, which is why it seems essential that each company and each consumer become aware of their impact in order to try to reduce it at their level. If everyone makes an effort, the planet will be better off!
Is the ecological transition really underway?
Many players in the advertising market such as Kantar or France Pub have proposed a real project on the ecological transition. This is how the “climate and resilience” law of 22 August 2021 came about. It still fights against climate change but above all aims to accelerate the ecological transition of French society and economy. It is at the heart of current events and concerns many sectors of activity to encourage them to advertise in a more responsible manner.
Let’s take for example the automotive sector, which is one of the key sectors of the economy. There is strong growth in advertising for electric models with 28 advertisers positioned in this segment in 2020 compared to 16 in 2018. Advertising for electric vehicles now accounts for 12% of their gross pressure, which is 8 points better than in 2018. The same is true for hybrid models, which will be much more present in the media in 2020. This trend accelerates in 2021.
In the food sector also, there is a permanent evolution in advertising for organic products, which in 2020 will result in an increase in advertising pressure (+5%) and more brands in this segment. As regards cleaning, the green brands have clearly reinforced their communications in 2020 with +51% of gross pressure, but the other manufacturers have also developed this theme in their advertising with, for some of them, a strong incitement to anti-waste.
All these results are certainly not revolutionary, but they prove that little by little advertisers are beginning to undertake an ecological vertical in their way of thinking about advertising, even if behind this approach there is also an economic interest.
What is important to note is that this ecological theme is increasingly taken into account by the new generations who have understood that this issue is the key to their future.
About this article
This article has been written by a student on the Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Advanced Masters in Digital Strategy Management. As part of a content creation assignment, students are given the task of writing articles based on their digital interests and disseminate the articles online. Articles are marked but we make minimal changes to the content. Thanks for reading! James Barisic, Programme Director, MS DSM.
