Patagonia推舊衣新穿計劃 希望客戶少買衣服

How can companies get consumers to help combat climate change?

各家公司如何推動消費者幫助應對氣候變化？

For Rick Ridgeway, vice president of environmental initiatives at outdoor apparel retailer Patagonia, the answer sometimes means going against the principle mission of his company: to sell clothes.

戶外服飾零售商Patagonia環境行動副總裁裏克·瑞奇威的答案是，有時候要背離“賣衣服”這項首要任務。

Last summer, the company announced that it would start buying back and reselling customers' used Patagonia gear as part of its Worn Wear program. The campaign "encourages customers to think twice about whether they need to buy anything in the first place," Ridgeway explained Monday during Fortune's Brainstorm Green conference.

去年夏天，Patagonia公司宣佈，作爲“舊衣新穿（Worn Wear）”計劃的一部分，它將回購和再出售消費者用過的Patagonia裝備。瑞奇威在《財富》（Fortune）綠色頭腦風暴大會（Brainstorm Green）上解釋稱，這個活動“鼓勵消費者重新考慮他們是否真的有必要購買新裝備。”

The program saves customers money and is good for the environment, Ridgeway said, but it still protects Patagonia's bottom line since the company hopes that when customers really do need new clothes, they'll still invest in the company's long-lasting and repairable gear. He adds that, through Worn Wear, the company is appealing to new American consumer behavior and consumption habits that developed during the 2008 recession when people began recognizing that investing in quality products was a better value proposition.

瑞奇威稱，這個計劃不僅可以幫助消費者省錢，而且對環境有益，但依然能保證公司的收入，因爲它希望，當客戶確實需要購買新衣服時，他們依舊會花錢購買公司持久耐用、可以修理的裝備。他補充道，通過“舊衣新穿”活動的舉辦，公司正在引導美國消費者新的消費行爲和消費習慣。這種習慣形成於2008年經濟衰退期間，當時人們開始意識到，投資高質量的產品是一種更好的價值主張。

Another panelist, Jonathan Bass, director of communications at SolarCity (SCTY), agreed that catering to consumers' financial concerns is key to getting them to make decisions that are good for the environment.

參與討論的另外一位成員、太陽城（SolarCity）媒體總監喬納森o巴斯同意這種做法。他認爲，促使消費者做出有利於環境的決定，關鍵因素在於對財務考慮。

He told the Brainstorm Green audience that a recent survey of 1,400 American households found that 62% of respondents were interested in solar power for their own homes. But of the 110 million households in the United States, just 500,000 are solar-equipped. "Consumers don't like to change, you have to give them a compelling reason to do so," he said And the rising cost of retail electricity might be SolarCity's best selling point.

他對綠色頭腦風暴大會的觀衆們表示，最近對1,400個美國家庭的調查發現，62%的受訪者對在自家使用太陽能興趣濃厚。但在美國1.1億個家庭中，僅有500,000個家庭安裝了太陽能。他說：“消費者不喜歡改變，所以你必須給他們有說服力的理由。”零售電力日益高漲的價格或許是太陽城最好的賣點。

Solar power can help consumers save on their utility bills in 15 states -- many of which have big incentives for renewable energy, Bass explained. "SolarCity comes close to doubling every year, we're moving in the right direction not because we're an app that's going to go viral," he says, but because the company is giving consumer a discount on their utility rates.

巴斯解釋稱，太陽能可以幫助15個州的消費者節省水電費——許多州爲可再生能源提供了豐厚的激勵措施。他說：“太陽城以每年翻一番的速度增長，我們正朝着正確的方向前進，但這並不是因爲我們可以像某個熱門應用一樣獲得病毒式傳播”，而是因爲在公共事業費率方面，我們讓消費者真正享受到了好處。