Animal Cards, supermarket stunts, and the World Wide Fund for Nature: Exploring the educational value of a business–environmental non-governmental organization partnership for sustainable consumption

Kopnina, Helen (2016) Animal Cards, supermarket stunts, and the World Wide Fund for Nature: Exploring the educational value of a business–environmental non-governmental organization partnership for sustainable consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 16 (3). pp. 926-947. ISSN 1469-5405

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540514556170

Abstract

This article explores cooperation between a commercial supermarket chain and an environmental non-governmental organization linking it to consumer perception of the “The Super Animals” collectable cards promotion initiative. The case study focuses on one particular joint project involving Animal Cards that was initiated by the supermarket Albert Heijn and the World Wide Fund for Nature in The Netherlands. Based on this case, environmental non-governmental organizations’ strategic choices in the context of contesting discourses of sustainability and consumption, as well as implications for environmental education, are addressed. This article combines three strands of the literature – on sustainable consumption, on strategic cooperation between commercial companies and environmental non-governmental organizations and on environmental education. It is argued that the Animal Cards initiative presents an ambiguous case by both attempting to enhance environmental awareness and promoting consumption, opening up questions about the value of such cooperative ventures to the objectives of environmental education. It is concluded that cross-sector partnerships have the potential to lead to improvements in corporate social responsibility and environmental awareness among consumers but simultaneously pose the danger of undermining the critical stance toward consumption.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Environmental awareness, environmental education, environmental non-governmental organization, sustainable consumption, cross-sector partnership
Subjects: F800 Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences
L900 Others in Social studies
N100 Business studies
X900 Others in Education
Department: Faculties > Business and Law > Newcastle Business School
Depositing User: Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited: 24 Sep 2021 15:24
Last Modified: 24 Sep 2021 15:30
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/47346

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