No one wants to be guilted into doing the right thing. It doesn’t feel good for either side of the exchange. It is not sexy to be reminded of a responsibility you should do, yet I see this guilt driven marketing a lot in the sustainability space. Yes, we should all be recycling better but no one is going to feel inspired to buy your plastic free product if you keep hammering your audience about all the plastic in the ocean. It well known and its doing nothing but giving a negative reminder about our bad consumer habits, not inspiring change.
Electric motorcycles start-ups are sparking that guilt-free, aspirational, sexy smooth emotion toward change. Buy an electric motorcycle and not only are you buying freedom, independence, sexual allure, adrenaline but you are also buying a piece of the future. Your sense of self then belongs with the tribe that is early adopter, high tech, environmentalism at its finest.
Its a challenge, its easy to make your marketing about the negative news in climate change. But what would really move the needle forward is appealing to positive emotions. Show your high tech supply chain or those earthy details in your organic farm. Images that inspire people to want, not avoid.
