One for one: the art of giving at ‘TOMS’
Assignment 1
Consumer behavior
Muhammad Hasan 14607
Discussion questions
1 Discuss TOMS’s ethical foundation and its approach to social marketing and corporate social
responsibility.
Would TOMS have succeeded without its One for One business model?
Answer.1: According to this case and my knowledge about this topic, Corporate social responsibility at
TOMS also focuses on the environmental impact of its products and operations. The shoes are made of
sustainable vegan materials and their manufacturing design includes natural hemp, organic cotton, or
recycled polyester. Their shoes boxes are made from 80 percent recy- cled material and are printed with
soy ink.” Therefore, we can easily notice that TOMS care about the environment and try to differentiate
from its competitors. In my opinion, TOMS has one the most respectable CSR among all the other
multinationals. Concerning the One for One business model, TOMS has perfectly succeeded because even
some companies are inspired by this model such as “The Mealshare”.
2 Given the increasing trend toward ethical consumerism or conscientious consumption, discuss how
consumers evaluate TOMS’s ethical supply chain and charitable causes as part of their decision making.
Answer.2 : Customers evaluate TOM’s ethical supply chain and charitable causes as “a big marketing
success”. Indeed, TOMS understands that customers are more likely to buy from a company that uses
sustainable and responsible business practices. In addition, customers also like the fact that TOMS do a
lot of charitable actions toward the good causes. According to TOMS’s customers: “we feel passionate by
a company that gives shoes or glasses on a poor child”. Thanks to these charitable actions, TOMS has
succeeded to create a direction connection with their customers. Due to their lack of knowledge about the
shoe industry, Myoskie and his team initially faced supply chain management problems. They were
unaware how fast demand for TOMS shoes would escalate. Two weeks after selling his products to
retailers, a fashion reporter wrote 4 an article about TOMS business and mission in the Los Angeles
Times. The TOMS website sold 2,200 pairs of shoes that same day—but they had only 140 pairs
available. The situation required him to hire interns to personally call customers and ask them to wait
eight weeks for delivery
3 Considering the viewpoints of the critics regarding TOMS’s charity model, discuss its pros and cons.
What type of sustainable charitable causes can TOMS pursue in the future that will attract more
customers to its social marketing efforts?
Answer.3 : Considering the viewpoints of the critics, there are many of pros and cons we can find, first
we will talk about the advantages that can be observed;
1) the number of products and things TOMS can offer to its charity model is very large, There are some
saying that they will donate half of their profits to charity, but TOMS charity model was different, it
started in 2006 with the idea of matching every pair of shoes sold with a pair of new shoes for a child in
need, After that in 2011 provided basic eye care training to local health volunteers. It is ended with safe
drinking water in six countries and provide training for skilled birth attendants and provides birth kits that
help women deliver a baby safely.
2) TOMS ONE For ONE model can increase the levels of customer loyalty, When customers start
shopping with a business that uses their funds to help other people in need. This idea inspired more
companies to adopt this idea.
His these critics are best to attract customer.
