According to their website, Carrotmob is ‘a network of consumers who buy products in order to reward businesses who are being socially responsible’. They use consumer buying power as leverage to convince businesses to act more responsibly and to improve the way their business operates in relation to environmental impacts.
A good example is their first ever action, which happened in San Francisco (shown in the video below). Founder Brent Schulkin visited bottle stores in his neighbourhood and asked them to pledge a certain amount of their daily takings to ‘greening’ their business.
One store came in at 10%, then another at 15% and so on, until the amount reached a high of 22%. In order to reward the highest bidding shop, Schulkin sent out word for consumers to mob the store within a certain timeslot to buy whatever they would normally buy.
Hundreds of people turned up to the store and spent enough money to ensure that an entire overhaul to a more efficient lighting system could take place. The Result? A satisfied store-owner, satisfied consumers and one small step towards environmental improvement.
Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.
This action occurred over a year ago and since then, over 20 actions have taken place worldwide targeting different types of businesses and varying environmental issues.
The huge success of this experiment showed how a little action can have an amazing outcome, and was reward for Schulkin who had been frustrated in the past by the mixed results of more traditional activism methods - boycotts, rallies, protests and petitions.
The premise is simple. Businesses will do things for money and consumers need to spend money to acquire everyday necessities. Dangle the carrot of ‘more money’ in front of a business, then ask consumers to gather and spend some cash and it turns out the result is a phenomenon.
This article was contributed to Celsias by Kate R.
Be Informed, Take Action on Climate Change - www.Celsias.com.
