Is the MSC Persuasive?

YES!

The Marine Stewardship Council successfully uses Aristotle's appeals to persuade its target audience of environmentally conscious seafood consumers to buy MSC-certified sustainable seafood products.

Supporting Evidence

In 2018, GlobeScan conducted a study of global MSC seafood consumers. This study surveyed over 25,000 consumers across 22 countries. One hundred percent of the countries surveyed listed pollution and overfishing as the most significant concern to the oceans. The study’s major findings concluded that 72%, compared to 68% in 2016, of seafood consumers demand verification of sustainably sourced seafood products (O'Reilly, 2018). Consequently, 72% of those surveyed agree that sustainably sourced seafood consumption is necessary to save the oceans. Another key finding of this study is that 46% of seafood consumers prefer to learn about the sustainability of seafood products from information listed on seafood packaging rather than from television, radio, or advertisements. The survey results prove that the MSC logo takes the initiative to provide consumers information in the desired manner.

In response to the 2018 study, GlobeScan conducted a similar survey in 2020, surveying over 20,000 consumers across 23 countries. This study found that 58% of seafood consumers already started buying sustainable seafood in the past year, and 83% of seafood consumers plan to take action to protect our oceans and the environment ("Concern for the oceans," 2021). To take further action, 23% of seafood consumers have switched to buying sustainable seafood products to help protect the oceans, 17% now purchase different seafood species, and 15% changed where they buy seafood. Out of all surveyed consumers, 65% agree that buying sustainably sourced seafood is vital to preserving marine life and functioning ecosystems in the oceans.

Target Audience

Even though the MSC's target audience is environmentally conscious seafood consumers, these studies show that younger audiences are persuaded more easily by the MSC's use of rhetorical devices, such as Aristotle's appeals. The 2020 study found that in the last year, 74% of 18 to 24-year-old consumers take action to protect the ocean's marine life and ecosystem, compared to 49% of consumers over 55 years old ("Press Releases," 2020).