From boycott to "buy movement" - Environmental awareness changed the market 1999

From boycott to "buy movement" - Environmental awareness changed the market 1999

At the end of the 1990s, the Japanese consumer movement reached a major turning point. Traditionally, the mainstream movement had been a "boycott" of products in protest against the environmental impact of corporations, but after a period of stagnation following the bursting of the bubble economy, the movement moved in a more concrete direction of "selecting and buying environmentally conscious products. Consumer groups created purchasing standards and began to emphasize recyclability, safety, durability, and low environmental impact, thus expanding the concept of green consumerism. In the background were the Kyoto Protocol, which discussed measures to combat global warming, and growing international environmental awareness. These trends had an impact on the corporate side as well, and especially small and medium-sized companies took up the challenge of environmental management, although some managers regretted that they had ignored the market needs and developed self-indulge
nt products. Eventually, consumer awareness and corporate efforts combined to bring eco-efficient products to the market, and 75 companies participated in an environmental business fair held in Tokyo in 1999, where a wide variety of environmental products were on display, demonstrating the growth phase of the market. The shift from refusal to choice expanded environmental business and became the starting point for the green purchasing movement of the 21st century.