Gender differences in eco consumption
In this assessment, you will work on a live project in which you will carry out a market research project for an actual client, The Social Impact Team. The Social Impact Team is a strategic arm of the University of Leicester, who play a significant role in d developing, enhancing and delivering the institution’s sustainable and social responsibility agenda. The Social Impact Team has particularly highlighted the need to enhance their engagement with the student body and graduates of UOL, with the view of engendering long lasting socially responsible practices and impact among these stakeholders.
You are expected to design and conduct a qualitative research in response to the client’s brief, which can be found in the document below. In this project, you are expected to utilise 1 or 2 qualitative methods to gain an in-depth understanding of a research area identified by the client. You must then explain your research method and process; justify your methodology as well as present the analysis of your findings in a 3000-words essay. Your research must address ONE of the following research areas as stipulated by the client:
a) Gender Bias in sustainable marketing and practices. Choose one of the following strand:
(i) The Social Impact Team is interested in exploring the extent to which sustainable consumption are gender-biased. For example, to what extent are ‘eco-products’ and promotion of sustainable consumption are perceived to be targeted at women? How do UOL students make sense of the gendering of sustainable offerings and practices in marketing? Why?
(ii) The Social Impact Team is interested to explore the extent to which career in sustainable marketing are feminised. Previous research conducted by the Social Impact team and the 2018/2019 MN7012 cohorts have found that there is a gender bias whereby female graduates are said to be more inclined to enter CSR professions. The Social Impact Team would like to understand the key motivations that drive our potential graduates’ propensity towards CSR professions. How can the Social Impact Team generate interest and passion for CSR professions among graduates, particularly male graduates?
b) Relationship to Nature
The Social Impact Team is keen to understand how the young generation of UOL students relate to nature. To what extent do the current generation of young students becoming connected/disconnected from ‘nature’? What relationship do young students establish with ‘nature’ (e.g. nature as divine, nature as an exploitable resource/commodity etc)? How do their everyday practices (e.g. shopping, consumption, travelling, recreational practices such as walking, running, cycling etc.) reflect their (dis)enchantment with nature? How can the Social Impact Team maintain and/or re-enchant the young generation of UOL to connect with nature?
c) Disposal of Coffee Cups
One of the key issues The Social Impact Team face is the management of disposed coffee cups. At present, apart from the plastic lid and cardboard sleeve, coffee cups used on campus cannot be recycled. Unfortunately, coffee cups are found to be inappropriately disposed of by users as it was mixed in with recyclable waste. At other times the recyclable lid and sleeve were disposed of with non-recyclable waste. This poses a challenge for the Social Impact Team to promote appropriate practices of coffee cup disposal and to reduce the use of coffee cup through the adoption of re-usable coffee cups/flasks. The Social Impact Team would like to explore current practices of coffee cup disposal on campus among UOL students? Do students know that you can’t recycle the actual coffee cup, but can recycle the plastic lid and cardboard sleeve? How can the Social Impact Team encourage more students to buy re-useable coffee cups/flasks?
d) Reducing Carbon Footprint
The Social Impact Team is keen to explore students’ current practices and management (e.g. transportation choices) of carbon footprints whilst studying at UOL. To what extent do UOL students perceive the need to reduce their carbon footprint in response to climate change? What key motivations and barriers (if any) influence their practices to reduce carbon footprint? How can the Social Impact Team encourage students to reduce their carbon footprint?
