Marketing: environmentally safe vs what consumers say?

Question

Does any company have a responsibility to choose the more socially responsible manner (that's environmentally safe) or should the dictates of the marketplace (the consumer) decide a business's marketing strategy?

Answer 1

Companies do not (yet) have a legal responsibility however they have an ethical responsibility to choose the most environmentally safe operating model.  However, in many cases the most environmentally safe is still being questioned and/or developed.  

Businesses need to consider the environment in balance with their sustainability model (this is also often referred to as the three-legged stool of the sustainability: economic, environment and society/culture).

However, the marketplace becomes a key determinant:  if the market is buying 'the social responsibility' of companies (i.e. choosing one over another), then companies will begin to deliver what the market demands.

Answer 2

Good question and a hot topic at the moment.

A company does not have a responsibility to choose the environmentally safe route.

Ultimately in marketing the consumers will make the decision. If a company's core consumers make the decision to buy based off whether the company is environmentally safe or not will decide the company's approach to changing or not.