Date: 2025-05-01 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00003813
COMPANIES
UNILEVER
CSR ... Unilever's 5 Levers for Change ... from 2011
UNILEVER
CSR ... Unilever's 5 Levers for Change ... from 2011
https://www.prweek.com/article/1262634/unilever-publishes-five-levers-change
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY (from 2011)
In my view this is more CSR Marketing than about deep conviction to sustainability and the performance of the planet.
At its core, a company like Unilever is 100% committed to getting very good results for its investors ... in other words its all about profit. A veneer of corporate responsibility helps to market consumer products and therefore adds to profit. A company like Unilever is a business, but it cannot be in its present form a social business.
ADDED COMMENTARY ... December 2022
In the time Paul Polman was the CEO of Unilever, the company made meaningful progress to improve CSR. One of the steps taken by Polman was to merge the multitude of 'sustainability' initiatives into the mainstream of company management rather than have them as 'decoration' unrelated to the main work of the company. In many areas of the company this changed behavior in a good direction.
One of the areas that Unilever did not accomplish as much as it hoped and is needed was in the area of responsible sustainable palm oil production much of which is located in Malaysia and Indonesia. This is very much unfinished business.
Paul Polman stepped down fron being CEO of Unilever in 2019
Peter Burgess
by Beth Krietsch ... PRWeek
November 23, 2011
How can we make sustainable living more commonplace? We've created an approach that helps us motivate people to shift to more sustainable behaviours. Introducing Unilever's 5 levers for change.
Unilever has released the behavioral change model that its marketers will use to encourage modifications in consumers' lives.
Unilever has released the behavioral change model that its marketers will use to encourage modifications in consumers' lives.
The company published the five-point model, developed through consumer behavior research, in hopes that others will use it to inspire people to convert their concerns about sustainability into positive action.
Unilever's 'five levers for change' are:
- . Make it understood. Sometimes people don't know about a behavior and why they should do it. This raises awareness and encourages acceptance.
- . Make it easy. People are likely to take action if it's easy, but not if it requires extra effort. This establishes convenience and confidence.
- . Make it desirable. The behavior needs to fit with how people like to think of themselves, and how they like others to think of them. This is about self and society.
- . Make it rewarding. New behaviors need to articulate the tangible benefits that people care about. This demonstrates the proof and payoff.
- . Make it a habit. Once consumers have changed, it is important to create a strategy to help hold the behavior in place over time. This is about reinforcing and reminding.