Enhancing Consumer and Producer Wellbeing through Alternative Economies
“Enhancing Consumer and Producer Well-being through Alternative Economies and Sustainable Marketing” Forrest Watson Ahmet Ekici October 9, 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Marketing and Sustainability • Shared commitments between consumers and producers can improve economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Research Gap • Definition of shared commitments • How shared commitments develop between geographically distant consumers and producers • Consideration of well-being outcomes for both consumers and producers
21. Pazarlama Kongresi Shared Commitment Definition • We define shared commitment as: a choice of a course of action in common with others. October 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Direction of Shared Commitment • Organizational commitment (Mowday, Steers, and Porter 1979; Garbarino and Johnson 1999) • Relationship commitment (Morgan and Hunt 1994) • Shared commitment is toward a particular goal or course of action, rather than primarily to the organization or to an exchange partner.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi Organizational Commitment October 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Dimensions of Shared Commitment • Behavioral, attitudinal, and temporal components of commitment (Gundlach, Achrol, and Mentzer 1995). • We theorize that shared commitment is characterized by 1) collective action (behavioral) 2) congruent values and goals (attitudinal) 3) concern for the future welfare of other actors (temporal).
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) • Networks of producers, consumers, and other actors that embody alternatives to the more standardized industrial mode of food supply (Murdoch, Marsden, and Banks 2000; Jarosz 2008) • Because AFNs are enabling more connectivity between consumers and producers (Alexander and Nicholls 2006), it is a rich research site for studying the shared commitments between actors.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 İpek Hanım Çiftliği • The predominant AFN in Turkey. • It is not considered “local” to many customers as most of the boxes are shipped several hundred kilometers to Istanbul and Ankara. • Most customers have never visited the farm or met the owner face-to-face.
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21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 İpek Hanım Çiftliği • Supplies a wide variety of products (over 400) to customers who are accepted based on referrals. • A weekly email is sent out to over 40, 000 people with an attached spread sheet with prices and descriptions of the products from which the customers can select. • Over 2, 000 large boxes are sent out weekly to customers in large cities using a commercial cargo company.
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21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 İpek Hanım Çiftliği • About 100 women are employed from a couple small villages. • The owner outspokenly does not believe in obtaining an organic certification but customers have a high trust in the natural and traditional ways in which the food is grown and processed.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Data Collection • Over 35 hours of recorded interviews yielding 500+ pages of transcribed text. • Observations on two visits to the farm. • Analysis of 200+ pages of weekly emails from owner. • This qualitative research led to the development of an inductive model.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 How Shared Commitment Develops • Through open and axial coding, themes emerged as to how shared commitments developed between the different actors.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi Shared Commitments Themes October 2016 How shared commitments develop: Subthemes Explanation of dyadic nature Connection to owner’s story Shared commitments are built as the customers relate with the owner’s story Owner selects price based on quality and sharing benefits with employees, rather than profit; likewise, consumers care less about price and more about the health and social value of the products Personalizing reciprocal communications resocializes the producer-consumer link Diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing that includes customers Shared commitments grow as the owner gives customers ways to be involved and thanks those who are Focus on quality over price Shared Commitments between Owner and Customers (Link 1) Personalized communication “Inclusive” framing Customer involvement and acknowledgment
21. Pazarlama Kongresi Shared Commitments Themes Shared Commitments between Owner and Employees (Link 2) October 2016 How shared commitments develop: Subthemes Explanation of dyadic nature Founding with everyone’s contributions “There was my land, and their knowledge… we met up and began to work” (Pınar, 15 April 2013 email) Independence and respect at work Given by the owner and earned by the employees Working alongside each other Unity in their work and value of each other as people People first Mutual commitment to continue employment despite changing family circumstances
October 2016 21. Pazarlama Kongresi Shared Commitments Themes How shared commitments develop: Subthemes Explanation of dyadic nature Facilitated interactions The owner introduces employees and customers Human touch in products/packaging Employees doing non-mechanized work; customers care that the food comes from people Shared Commitments between Customers and Distance-spanning technologies Employees (Link 3) Physical visits Customers care about life on the farm, employees are willing to let their work and lives be displayed Mutual concern as customers visit the farm and employees travel to events in the cities
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21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Impact on Well-Being • Through the shared commitments among the owner, employees, and customers, we observed strong wellbeing improvements in the local subjects’ empowerment at work, financial opportunities, and affirmation in society, as well as development in the local community.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Well-being of Employees • For most it is their first time working and first paycheck. • They like being able to support their families, not have to ask their husbands for money, expanding their social network, and feeling more self-confidence. • The contact the employees have with visiting customers gives them a sense of pride in their work.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Well-being of Customers • Improved well-being for the customers of the farm through nostalgia of the quality of the tastes of food, perceived health value, doing something for children’s health. • Customers are also consuming the owner’s story and weekly emails of life on the farm.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi October 2016 Future Research • Currently collecting survey data from the employees and customers of the farm to test our inductive model. • Test the applicability of our emerging framework in other alternative economic contexts • Explore more deeply the ill-being outcomes (e. g. Ekici, Sirgy, and Lee 2013) that may come from shared commitments.
21. Pazarlama Kongresi Thank you Forrest Watson Ph. D Candidate Forrest@Bilkent. edu. tr October 2016
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