ECOLOGICAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AS A DRIVER OF THE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS FORMATION

Abstract

The article defines the importance of taking into account the ecological behavior of the consumer in the formation of social responsibility of business. The essence of the ecological behavior of consumers is considered through the prism of classic marketing categories (motive (stimulus), need, request, product, exchange, deal and market). It was determined that in the context of the consumer's ecological behavior, the key motive is a person's desire to feel healthy and to surround with appropriate material values. It has been established that the need for safety explains the constant growth of demand for ecological goods and the desire of a number of consumers to behave ecologically correctly. It was revealed that ecological consumption will gain momentum in the near future, provided that the income of the population increases proportionally and the global economy stabilizes. It is clarified that in order to formulate the concept of "ecological product" it is necessary to develop a clear legislative regulation of the process of ecological production with a reflection of all technological principles of production and characteristics of an ecological product. It has been established that the ecological behavior of consumers creates a demand for ecological products, initiating the launch of exchange processes and activating the formation of new socially responsible companies. In turn, the presence of demand and supply indicates the existence of a competitive market, which is developing and requires the latest forms of organization of marketing activities of companies that operate on it. Negative factors that affect the development of this market are the lack of need for healthy food in some regions or the financial impossibility of purchasing it, the lack of investments directed to the organization of ecological production and the support of trading platforms for the sale of products, etc. Proponents of ecological marketing put forward assumptions about the activation of the companies` activities in adjacent market niches in the direction of the introduction of new, "green" technological processes and products on the market in order to meet the demands of the rapidly growing consumer segment.