Reducing Plastic Bag Consumption: a Community Approach to Social Marketing

Traditionally, CSR discourse has focused on multinational corporations. However, the present work’s starting point was the following question: can consumer-leaders and responsible SMEs help foster societal change toward sustainable consumption? By drawing on the literature about ethical consumption and community-based social marketing, we suggest community leaders and small organizations can play a major role in this process. Through the use of news articles, broadcasts, websites, and documentaries, we compiled the Modbury case. Modbury, an iconic ‘plastic bag-free’ English town, is used as an exemplar of how a consumer activist alongside small firms can change communities, and encourage environmentally-friendly consumer behavior.