Developing the Value Proposition of Retail Chain Stores for a Responsible Consumption-Oriented Target Audience

Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to think about the ecological footprint our generation will leave. Consumers are thinking about responsible consumption and getting used to a new way of life, and companies, with their financial resources and loyal audience, are trying to convey an important message to people about calls for action. Despite the fact that sustainable development and responsible consumption are quite new concepts for the Russian market, changes are still taking place in the consumer picture of the world. Seeing the public response to this topic, more and more environmental initiatives are being implemented by players in the food retail market. To achieve the desired result, companies' actions must be reflected in the goals of potential consumers. A group of responsible consumers pays great attention to the care of nature. Such consumers contribute to the minimization of waste produced by society, trying to meet only their needs in order to reduce the use of the planet's resources. This group is characterized by its environmental habits, a certain way of life. Accordingly, it is important for food retailers to be clear about the preferences of this group in order to convey the correct value proposition to it. In this work, an in-depth analysis of the Russian audience focused on responsible consumption was carried out, factors important for it were identified, as well as the reasons for choosing the Vkusvill health food chain, the next concept of sustainable development. The data obtained made it possible to make recommendations for 4 identified clusters of consumers to form a value proposition for them. In the course of the final qualifying work all the set tasks were achieved, answers to the empirical questions of the research were received, namely "What factors do responsible consumers in food retail pay attention to?", "Which factors explain their behavior to a greater extent?", "What in the retailer's offer is valuable for the group of responsible consumers? It is worth noting the practical importance of the work done. In the course of the research, the author analysed a new concept for Russian society, namely sustainable development and, in particular, responsible consumption. In the Russian retail market, factors important for responsible consumers are poorly researched, which is why many actions are implemented in the company based on foreign practice. This work will allow major players in the market to understand the desires of responsible consumers, their motives, as well as the factors on the basis of which they choose a product network. Vkusvill" company, by the example of which responsible consumption was studied, is a leader on the market of healthy food retail. Its network is constantly expanding and has recently expanded beyond Russia. The recommendations identified to form a value proposition can be used by the network to better build its work with responsible consumers. The conclusions made after the analysis of the research can be used in other industries and will allow to make the actions of companies focused on responsible consumers not only in theory, but also in practice. This work has several research limitations. Firstly, it is worth noting the average age of the respondent - he or she was 20 years old. The value proposition of the network directly depends on the consumer and, in particular, on his age. The younger generation is quicker to adapt to new environmental trends and accept them, more open to innovative solutions. As a further perspective, we can consider the older generation's audience and identify their understanding of the concept of responsible consumption, and then adapt the value proposition recommendations to a wider audience. Secondly, due to the limited number of respondents and the low level of research on the topic in the literature, it is likely that not all the factors important for a responsible consumer in a food retailer have been considered. Thirdly, the results do not indicate the degree of influence of each factor on the choice of responsible consumers. Considering practical value of work, further the more dot analysis of the allocated factors and definition of influence of each of them on a choice of the consumer adhering to responsible consumption is possible.