Sustainable procurement through commencing ecolabels in fast moving consumer goods industry : Bangladesh perspective

Abstract

This dissertation was prepared to find weather implementing eco-labels in FMCG industry will be an appropriate step in the context of present consumer market in Bangladesh or not and to recommend ways of increasing the practice of eco-label implementation. It provides an analysis and evaluation of the current trend of consumer behaviour, level of awareness among the consumers, their level of income and pricing concerns related to ecolabelling issues of the top three superstores of Bangladesh- Shwapno, Agora and meenaBazar. All calculations can be found in the data analysis and appendices. Results of data analysed show that the response from the consumers are not up to the expectations . In particular, the level of awareness regarding eco-labelling prospects among the consumers was poor. This dissertation draws attention to the facts that  19%, a very significant portion of the total respondents admitted, they know nothing at all about this phenomenon! And another major portion of the total number of respondents.  25.9% of them said they have ‘poor’ knowledge on this issue.  36.2% of them ‘Never’ checks for eco-labels  32.8% selected ‘not so frequently’ when they were asked how often they check for Ecolabels.  44.8% of the respondents do not bother to be influenced while buying products even if it bears eco-label.  Eco-labels do not leave any impact on 44.8% of the end users!  Only 18% of the total respondents said eco-label influences their buying decision.  When they were asked about implementation of eco-labels in retail industry – 56.9% of the respondents answered –they think it will be an appropriate step.  74.14% of the respondents have a monthly income of BDT 50000-80000  22.41% of them are not ready to pay any higher price and 8.62% of them are not even sure whether they are willing or not.  Discounts/offers on products bearing eco-labels, 50% of the total respondents (29 respondents) opted for it.  Advertisement on print media, 34.5%(20 respondents) of the total number said so.  According to 15.5% of the total respondents presumed, arranging road show can be another effective way.  And most importantly, unlike the dissertation hypothesis, there is a negative correlation between the level of income and willingness of the customers to buy eco-labelled products. Considering our surroundings in Bangladesh, major recommendation is:  Increasing awareness raising activities under public and private patronization. This dissertation also declares the fact that the analysis conducted has limitations. Some of the limitations include:  Sample size could not include all the superstores functioning within Bangladesh.  The author is not an expert in statistical data analysis and consequently there might be lack of accuracy in data analysis.