Eighty-nine percent (89%) of the coveted chunk of American consumers ages 13-25 would switch from one brand to another connected to a ‘good cause’ if the products and prices were comparable (Cone Inc.).
From the coffee counter to the clothing store, increasingly, product choices are being made with social responsibility in mind.
E-commerce sites were early on the scene as a niche retailer for fair trade and fair labor products. As the demand for compassionate products grows, eBay is taking a more integrative approach to cause capitalism. Where before, social responsibility lived only in eBay’s foundations, it’s now matured into a distinct e-commerce site through its partnership with World of Good.
TreeHugger has a great interview with Robert Chatwani, the engineer of the World of Good and eBay collaboration, whose design is to bring a virtual marketplace (eBay) and community (World of Good) for ‘planet-positive’ products to the public.
Possibly related posts:
I created Cause Capitalism to show you how to grow your business by incorporating a social mission. 
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Olivia, this is a great blog site – it’s refreshing to hear a business perspective on fighting poverty – and the Ebay/World of Good initiative is an excellent example. You and your readers may be interested to know about Business Fights Poverty – a professional network of hundreds of people who share this point of view. To find out more, visit http://www.businessfightspoverty.org. Regards, Zahid
Here’s link that works! http://www.businessfightspoverty.org
How does it help a fair trade artisan to have to join Paypal at a premier membership level. Does a company that has 300+ Billion USD really need some poor African artist’s 20 cent insertion fee?
Come on people, don’t fall for this corporate PR play.