Cadbury Case Study

Given the emerging market location of cocoa production it is not surprising that chocolate manufacturers were among the first to jump on the ethical marketing band wagon. Indeed the London based manufacturer Green and Black's chocolate, whose marketing was built around

sustainable organic cocoa farming practice, was the first product in the UK to be awarded the Fairtrade mark for ethical trading in 1994 (Cadbury 2010).

Cadbury is among the multinationals adopting social and green marketing as part of its longer term global strategy. This is illustrated by the acquisition of Green and Black's in May 2005, as well as the aforementioned Fairtrade accreditation sought for Cadbury's Dairy Milk in 2009.The success of companies that effectively adapt ethical issues into their marketing, as well as the pitfalls for companies that do not, is entrenched in a myriad of consumer psychology and buyer behaviour processes. In a short case we cannot possibly detail all of these, but instead highlight some of the more obvious ones to illustrate the complexity of the processes involved. In some respects the consumer appeal of socially and environmentally responsible brands is logical; if CSR by definition helps to ensure companies conduct business in an ethical way, then this will create a sustainable world and should therefore be of benefit to all. Indeed green consumers have learnt to use certain symbols and signs such as the Fairtrade logo (see figure 1) as a heuristic or mental short cut, to assist their grocery selection process. In times of unprecedented choice on our supermarket shelves it is becoming harder for companies to get their products to stand out from the competition. Familiar and desirable brands and logos are much more likely to break through the consumer's attention gate, which helps explain why more and more manufacturers are seeking the Fairtrade accreditation.