Bottled water ... marketing and advertising
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Tap water taste varies depending on the location, on how water is treated or processed and on chlorine concentrations. In France, 22% of consumers think their tap water is too hard and another 22% fear health or sanitary hazards or contamination by toxic substances: this rate is rather low, but it has doubled between 1989 and 2000 (IFEN, 2000).
Concern for sanitary water situation is much higher in the United States, where nearly half of bottled water consumers do so out of health and safety reasons. A 1997 survey revealed that 32% of US consumers use a home water treatment device other than bottled water, compared to 27% in 1995. The use of entry level devices such as pourthrough pitchers with filters has grown more than any other type of water treatment device on the market.
In addition, households earning between $15'000 and 25'000 were two times more likely to purchase water treatment equipment than two years ago. However, bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water. In 1986, an EPA survey of 25 bottlers showed that none of them had ever had a complete analysis of their water.
Bacteriological surveillance was inadequate in most cases. 8% of the water tested showed evidence of some bacteria. Plastic bottles arrived at bottlers without caps in cardboard boxes and weren't washed or rinse prior to filling, thus not respecting necessary sanitary precautions.
According to NRDC, bottled water is generally safe to drink. However, some contamination incidents whether bacterial, industrial-chemical, algae, excessive-chlorine, or other contamination problems have sometimes been quietly dealt with by bottlers, generally with little or no public fanfare.
In 1990, Perrier had to withdraw 280 million bottles from 750'000 sale points in the world because of benzene concentrations above US standards (8 to 17 micrograms, instead of 5 g).
Although most of the bottled water on the market seems to be of good quality, some of these products are not as absolutely pure and pristine as many of their consumers may expect.
In the US, there are some problems with tap water: in 1996, almost 10% of community tap water systems (serving 14% of the US population) violated federal EPA tap water treatment or contaminant standards (Olson, 1999). see graph here
This doesn't necessarily mean that bottled water is any safer. Consumers also drink bottled water because they care for their health.
In Europe, there is a long tradition, dating back to Roman times, of spas and of drinking mineral waters for medical purposes. In the XIXth century, this activity developed with the fashion for upper classes to go to spas in order to improve their health. Spas owners weren't long in understanding that they could increase the wellness of their customers and their own benefits directly supplying them their water in bottles. Until the 1950s, mineral water was sold in drugstores as a health product.
It has now become an everyday product. Natural mineral water, now sold in supermarket, doesn't carry along anymore this medical image.
People now buy bottled water to feel well, responding to advertising campaigns based on well-being, energy, slimming, fitness etc. Bottled water is a healthy alternative to other beverages (sodas, alcohol, beverages containing artificial sweeteners or colouring). It is calorie-free and attractive for people willing to lose weight: one of the sparks that ignited the bottled water fire was the fitness craze that skyrocketed in the early 1980 (Sullivan, 1996).
Indeed, bottled water consumption is closely linked to the way consumers face their nutrition, i.e. the current trends for healthier eating. In United States, the bottled water industry openly admits that it has substantially benefited from labelling requirements for beverages such as diet soda, which have caused concern among many consumers about the ingredients in these drinks.
The IBWA's primary spokeswoman recently noted that the more people realise what's in some of these drinks, the more they turn to water for what it doesn't have... (Olson, 1999). Bottled water is a more female and adult market than sodas.
However, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), bottled waters haven't got greater nutritive value than tap water. There is almost a craze to drink natural or spring waters, either aerated or still. Many consumers believe that these waters, coming from springs, lakes, rivers or wells, have near-magical qualities and great nutritive value. Bottled water may contain small amounts of minerals such as calcium, magnesium and fluoride, but so does tap water from many municipal water supplies. A study comparing popular brands of bottled water showed that they were in no way superior to New-York tap water.
They have only the advantage of being safe in areas where tap water may be contaminated. However, for low-income people bottled water are very expensive, and boiling local water renders it safe at a much lower cost (Latham, 1997).
Changes in ways of life Increasing urbanisation can also explain this trend for bottled water consumption. In France in 1971, mineral water consumption reached an average 52 litres per inhabitant compared to 85 litres per inhabitant in Paris and its suburban areas. In less urban regions, consumption was only 21 litres per inhabitant. Increasing urbanisation, causing tap water quality to decline, can also explain this situation.
In numerous European cities, many old pipes for tap water distribution are made of lead: consumers may prefer bottled water rather than damaging their health by drinking water thought to be contaminated with lead.
Natural mineral water, in particular, cannot be treated, nor added any element. Therefore, it is perceived as natural by city dwellers in search of genuine products. This trend goes along the fashion for green food products (Auby, 1994).
Increasing standards of living and greater use of cars enabled people to buy water in supermarkets and to bring home higher number of bottled water, without difficulty. The use of plastic (PVC, then PET) makes bottles lighter and easier to carry than when they were made of glass.
The expansion of shopping centres, outside city-centres, provide consumers with a greater choice in bottled water brands. The explosion of bottled water consumption also reflects deep changes in working habits in industrialised countries, with the decline of the agriculture and industry sectors. In these countries, most people have office works and the bottle of water is now a common element on a desk, next to the computer and the telephone.
Drinking expensive bottled water (compared to tap water) is a sign of a rise in the social scale. In addition, bottled water is the result of a huge marketing success.
Marketing and advertising are of primary importance to make the difference between brands selling such a similar product, a product that is colourless, (nearly) tasteless and odourless.
Advertising costs are covered through the price of bottled water, comprising 10% to 15% of the price of one bottle of water. Bottled water marketing seeks to emphasise the supposed purity of bottled water, in many cases contrasting pure and protected bottled water with inconsistent or unpredictable tap water quality.
In the words of a leading industry consultant, Water bottlers are selling a market perception that water is 'pure and good for you'.... In France, sales of Evian water have grown by 5% in 1999, thanks to a successful advertising campaign.
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Bottled water ... marketing and advertising