My group’s consulting project this semester asked: how could a large retail corporation, with sustainability on its mind, engage the company’s target customers through social media? Now these target customers are not just any shoppers, but the mothers of America. The same people who spend an estimated $2 trillion a year.

With technological changes and the new wave of social media over the last 5 years, moms are now sharing advice and tips online. In this ever-dangerous world with toxic cleaning supplies, pesticides on produce, and rising health conditions in children, moms want more advice and community than ever. The difference now is that mommy blogs are becoming the new Tupperware parties for such advice to flow.

Mommy blogs come in all shapes, sizes, colors, personalities, including many that specifically cater to sustainability minded parents. The exciting thing about these blogs is the amount of interaction that can occur between different bloggers. My favorite mommy blog site is momversation. There, different bloggers are invited to respond to questions presented by members of their group. I enjoy watching their videos because the women are smart, funny, and attentive to many CSR issues.

If large retailers want to discuss sustainability with their customers, mommy blogs are the place to do it. If a group of women agree that a line of products are more eco friendly and safe for the children, it’s guaranteed that many more women are reading the blogs and will reconsider their purchasing habits. It will be interesting to watch how these large companies will use the blogosphere to engage their customers without falling into patterns of marketing and advertising.

It will be exciting to see how these companies will succeed in doing so, without falling into a pattern of advertising and marketing.

—Ashley

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