UNIKA ATMA JAYA PROFESSOR URGES CONSUMERS TO BEHAVE SUSTAINABLY
Jakarta, 11 August 2023 – inaugurated another Professor in 2023, Prof. Dr. Dwinita Laksmidewi, Professor of Management Science from the Faculty of Economics and Business, on Friday (11/08), at the Yustinus Building Auditorium, Semanggi Campus, Jakarta.
The Professor inauguration procession was opened by the Rector of Unika Atma Jaya, Dr. Agustinus Prasetyantoko, and led by the Chairman of the Board of Professors of Unika Atma Jaya, Prof. Aloisius Agus Nugroho.
In his opening remarks, the Rector of Unika Atma Jaya, Dr. Agustinus Prasetyantoko, expressed his appreciation to Prof. Dr. Dwinita. "The poor weather quality in Jakarta in the last few days is man-made, our own doing. One way to improve this condition is to encourage and demand consumers to behave sustainably. And the scientific oration delivered by Prof. Dr. Dwinita is very relevant to what is happening today," said the rector who is also a renowned economist.
With this, Unika Atma Jaya officially increased the number of members of the Professor Council to 27 permanent professors. It is hoped that it can encourage other permanent lecturers at Unika Atma Jaya to be able to continue their studies to a higher level and strive to become Professors.
"Although the number of professors who teach at Unika Atma Jaya is quite a lot, because they are already professors when they enter Unika Atma Jaya. Unika Atma Jaya's productivity in recent years to produce professors can answer concerns about the number of permanent professors we have," said Prof. Aloisius.
Attended by family and colleagues, Prof. Dr. Dwinita delivered a Scientific Oration entitled, The Role of Marketing Science in Encouraging Sustainable Consumer Behavior to Support SDGs.
Sustainable Consumer Behavior
Consumers have a very large share in environmental sustainability, so marketers must develop products that pay attention to sustainability. "Sustainable consumer behavior is consumer action that has an impact on environmental preservation. This means that consumers who voluntarily choose environmentally friendly products," said Prof. Dr. Dwinita.
Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Dwinita highlighted the gap that occurs between consumer attitudes and behavior towards sustainability. There are 3 groups of consumers, namely Fresh Green Young Consumer, Light Green Young Consumer, and Dark Green Young Consumer. The environment is important to them, but purchasing decisions and behaviors may differ depending on the understanding of its importance to sustainability.
"Of the existing consumer groups, the "light green" young consumer group is the largest respondent. Where they consider environmental impact in their decision-making, it is not always reflected in their purchasing decisions. This is what many researchers call the attitude and behavior gap," said Prof. Dr. Dwinita.
Anthropomorphizing Nature
To increase public awareness of the environment, Prof. Dr. Dwinita invites industry players to anthropomorphize nature. "Anthropomorphic nature affects sustainable behavior. This means that the more consumers think that nature has something in common with humans, the higher the desire for sustainable behavior."
"So, marketing messages that borrow human characters and emotions, such as mountains that are "angry," fish in the sea that "suffer," forests that "ask for help" will encourage consumer behavior to protect nature," added Prof. Dr. Dwinita.
Sustainability as a Brand Personality
Many sustainable actions are seen as effortful, time-consuming, or difficult to do, which can be a barrier to sustainable action. One strategy to encourage sustainable habit formation is to make actions easier to do.
Seeing this, Prof. Dr. Dwinita advises marketers to frame their brand messages to encourage sustainable behavior.
"A well-rated brand personality will make consumers willing to follow the sustainable behavior advocated by the brand," said Prof. Dr. Dwinita.
Marketing and Consumer Synergies Support Sustainability
Marketers and consumers together can contribute to efforts to care for the earth. By understanding consumers according to their generational characteristics, messages can be tailored to lead consumers to sustainable behavior.
"Convenience factors, self-benefits, clarity of impact, similarity between nature and humans, and involving emotional factors through message framing, need to be considered in order to reduce the gap between sustainable attitudes and behaviors," said Prof. Dr. Dwinita.
"All of these things are very supportive of efforts to achieve the SDG's which are currently a concern and concern throughout the world," concluded Prof. Dr. Dwinita.
In addition to the synergy of marketers and consumers, Prof. Dr. Dwinita also encourages people in general to contribute by not doing things that can damage the environment. Such as not using plastic, not littering, saving electricity usage, and choosing environmentally friendly products.
With this movement of consumers who behave sustainably, it is hoped that the earth can be preserved for generations to come. Sustainability has become a commitment of Unika Atma Jaya to equip its graduates with a sustainability perspective, especially at the Faculty of Economics and Business, as a form of professionalism and care in accordance with KUPP values.
This was also appreciated by the representative of LLDIKTI Region III, Prita Ekasari, who attended the inauguration of the Professor of Unika Atma Jaya. "It is the duty of Professors to be able to contribute to society with their expertise, to be able to provide perspectives in facing the challenges faced by humanity."
Meanwhile, appreciation was given by the Rector of Unika Atma Jaya to the ranks of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) led by Dr. Irenius Dwinanto Bimo, Dean of FEB. "What was delivered in this scientific oration is a prominent characteristic of the Faculty of Economics and Business. Where the perspective on sustainability is starting to develop at Unika Atma Jaya," said the Rector of Unika Atma Jaya, Dr. Agustinus Prasetyantoko.
