Sustainable BATA footwear

Abstract

BATA has a heritage of being a responsible company since its founding, but has not yet institutionalized and measured their social and environmental accomplishments. This study starts measuring the environmental impact of 4 current BATA shoes by means of life cycle calculations. Thereafter, the effects of different communication strategies are researched by means of an experiment. Finally, a concept for the sustainable BATA shoe of tomorrow is developed. In the first section of this study, the life cycles of the following 4 existing BATA shoes are analyzed: (1) a pair of SAXA ESD S2 shoes (security shoe, BATA Industrials, Netherlands), (2) a pair of pure PVC shoes (BATA Indonesia), (3) a pair of pure EVA shoes (BATA Bangladesh) and (4) a pair of leather shoes (BATA Italy). For these 4 shoes, the Eco-costs and CO2-equivalent for each pair are calculated. The Eco-costs and CO2 equivalents for each pair are further divided over so called life cycle phases: material production phase, processing phase, transport phase and end-of-life phase. The Eco-costs and CO2 equivalents of each life cycle phase are, in turn, divided over materials, factories and forms of transport. It appears that the material production phase (especially the materials PU, PVC and EVA) is responsible for the largest part of the Eco-costs and CO2 equivalents (50% up to 80 %) a pair. It is concluded that BATA can lower the Eco-costs and CO2 equivalents of the 4 analyzed shoes by introducing (more) BATA recycling plants and/or by replacing PU, PVC and EVA. Besides, BATA is advised to encourage local production, to introduce (more) recycled packaging material and to lower the energy consumption during production. Finally, 4 general design guidelines for sustainable footwear are formulated: (1)design light weight, (2)extend service life, (3)replace materials and (4)design for disassembly. To further institutionalize environmental accomplishments, BATA is advised to create their own digital tool that links product specifications and LCI values. With this tool, BATA designers can check the Eco-costs or CO2 equivalent of their design within 10 minutes. BATA management can use the tool to measure environmental progress. In the second section of this study is tested which graphical and textual elements of a sustainable BATA shoe advertisement result in an optimal consumer evaluation of the BATA brand and the sustainable BATA products. The following elements are chosen as independent variables: (1)layout: a green layout versus a red layout, (2)benefit: emphasizing a personal benefit versus an environmental benefit and (3)heritage: emphasizing BATA’s local heritage versus BATA’s global heritage. The independent variables are translated into 8 simple advertisements. The experiment is carried out by means of an online questionnaire which is completed by 200 respondents, mainly second year Industrial Design Engineering students from the Delft University of Technology. The respondents were almost evenly divided over the 8 different advertisements. The results show that the green layout in combination with the personal benefit “foot health” has a positive impact on the buying intention. However, the green layout results in a lower perception of brand’s quality image and has no effect on the perception of brand’s and product’s sustainability. Emphasizing the personal benefit ‘foot health’ also leads to a more positive evaluation of the product’s healthiness, durability and fashion image. Finally, emphasizing the personal benefit “foot health” leads to a more positive perception of brand’s social responsibility. Advised is to focus the BATA communication on a benefit for the individual consumer and link that to a benefit for the environment. Consequently, the design of sustainable BATA products is advised to contain one or more (additional) benefits for the individual consumer. It is also recommended to use the colour green in a very basic way in sustainable BATA advertisements, only for recognition and/or comprehension, and preferably in combination with ‘foot health’ as personal benefit. In the last section of this study, earlier formulated guidelines for the design and communication of sustainable footwear are translated into concrete ideas and concepts. Primarily ideas are generated as broad as possible, and vary from statement shoes (e.g shoes that are visibly made from used car tires) to technological shoes (e.g. shoes that consist of air). In order to narrow the design scope, one category of shoes is chosen as focus area: women dress shoes. Two concepts are developed. Concept 1 (Transparent & Traditional) primarily focuses on the use of environmentally preferred materials combined with the consumer benefit “foot health”. The concept makes use of the materials leather, bamboo, natural rubber, cork and wood. The construction and production of the concept are conventional. The matching communication strategy includes 3 phases: (1)Attract the customer by means of a transparent (PLA) shoe box, (2) surprise the customer by a barcode on the packaging and (3) inform the customer by means of a smartphone application. Concept 2 (Create & Recycle) primarily focuses on design for disassembly combined with the consumer benefits “customizing” and “repairing”. The construction of concept 2 is based on the principle that biodegradable and recyclable parts can easily be separated: the upper is made of biodegradable (breathable and deformable) materials while the outsole is made of recyclable (durable) materials. The matching communication strategy makes use of a “BATA recycling wall” in BATA shops. Customers can choose the parts they like and derive them from different drawers in the BATA recycling wall before assembling their own shoe. Besides, customers can dispose the used shoes in separate recycling bins that are also a part of the BATA recycling wall. In doing so, customers are able to (1) customize their shoe and (2) repair their shoe. The Eco-costs of both concepts are less than half as much as the Eco-costs of a conventional women dress shoe. Concept 2 is chosen for further development because this concept allows more design freedom and is more suitable for communicating a sustainable design vision. With concept 2, BATA can show that they are thinking about the shoe of tomorrow, a shoe which parts are no longer owned but rented by customers and returned to BATA after usage. Since concept 2 requires customer involvement, customers will very consciously notice the sustainable characteristics of the BATA footwear and will consequently associate the BATA brand with sustainability.