Understanding Buyers and Markets
Individuals and firms can (and should) act ethically, but the outcome of their acts may not affect society in general. An ethical act may only affect the firm’s immediate stakeholders, such as its employees, customers, and suppliers. To be socially responsible, a firm also must take actions that benefit the community at a higher level.
The goal of marketing is to affect how customers think about and behave toward the organization and its market offerings. However, to affect the whats, whens, and hows of buying behavior, marketers must first understand the whys.
In this unit’s case study, Video Case 4: Toyota: Building Cleaner, Greener Cars, we examine “Toyota’s mission is to become the most respected and admired car company in America.” According to Jana Hartline (Manager of Environmental Communications at Toyota, the company is “working toward a future where a wide range of innovative vehicles, fuel technologies, and partnerships converge to create an economically vibrant, mobile society in harmony with the environment.” Since the year 2000, Toyota has focused its environmental efforts based on the objectives spelled out in its Global Vision, Principles and Earth Charter. (Links to an external site.)
Sources
Kerin, R. A. & Hartley, S. W. (2017). Marketing. (13th ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
North American Environmental Report. (2015, November). Retrieved July 6, 2016, from Toyota: http://www.toyota.com/usa/environmentreport2015/strategy.html
Directions
Initial Post
Students are to review the following information about the Toyota’s environmental commitment.
Background on Toyota
· Read the video case in the textbook on pages 118-120.
· Watch the Toyota case video. (Links to an external site.)
Toyota’s Environmental Plan
· Read the following online websites and articles
o Let’s Go Greener (Links to an external site.)
o Review Toyota’s North American Environmental Report (Links to an external site.)
o Toyota’s Global Vision, Principles, and Earth Charter (Links to an external site.)
Based on the information provided above as well as internet research, put yourself in the position of a marketing consultant brought in to Toyota to formulate a set of well-developed and supported recommendations for moving Toyota’s environmental plan forward. You will be presenting your recommendations to the company’s senior leadership team. Your recommendations should be based on a critical evaluation of the effectiveness of the Global Vision, Principles, and Earth Charter (Links to an external site.) on its prior marketing strategies. The recommendations should be logically presented, well-supported, and thoroughly vetted.
IMPORTANT! Your grade for each weekly thread discussion will be determined by your analytical, integrative, problem-solving and critical thinking skills demonstrated by your posts and by your positive responses to the posts of your classmates.There is no minimum or maximum in terms of the word count; however, the response should explicitly address all required components of this discussion assignment. Your response should integrate external resources, which should be consistent with APA writing style and format (6th edition) and reflect higher level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis and or evaluation).
