Reading:In an effort to encourage ecologically sustainable forestry practices, an international organizationstarted issuing certifications to wood companies that meet high ecological standards by conservingresources and recycling materials. Companies that

Reading:
In an effort to encourage ecologically sustainable forestry practices, an international organization
started issuing certifications to wood companies that meet high ecological standards by conserving
resources and recycling materials. Companies that receive this certification can attract customers
by advertising their products as “ecocertified.” Around the world, many wood companies have
adopted new, ecologically friendly practices in order to receive ecocertification. However, it is
unlikely that wood companies in the United States will do the same, for several reasons.
First, American consumers are exposed to so much advertising that they would not value or
even pay attention to the ecocertification label. Because so many mediocre products are labeled
“new” or “improved,” American consumers do not place much trust in advertising claims in general.
Second, ecocertified wood will be more expensive than uncertified wood because in order to
earn ecocertification, a wood company must pay to have its business examined by a certification
agency. This additional cost gets passed on to consumers. American consumers tend to be
strongly motivated by price, and therefore they are likely to choose cheaper uncertified wood
products. Accordingly, American wood companies will prefer to keep their prices low rather than
obtain ecocertification.
Third, although some people claim that it always makes good business sense for American
companies to keep up with the developments in the rest of the world, this argument is not
convincing. Pursuing certification would make sense for American wood companies only if they
marketed most of their products abroad. But that is not the case—American wood businesses sell
most of their products in the United States, catering to a very large customer base that is satisfied
with the merchandise.

Listening:
Professor Well, despite what many people say,
there’s good reason to think that
many American wood companies will
eventually seek ecocertification for their
wood products. First off, consumers in
the United States don’t treat all advertising the same. They distinguish between
advertising claims that companies make about their own products and claims
made by independent certification agencies. Americans have a lot of confidence in
independent consumer agencies. Thus, ecologically minded Americans are likely
to react very favorably to wood products ecologically certified by an independent
organization with an international reputation for trustworthiness.
Second point—of course it’s true that American consumers care a lot about price—
who doesn’t? But studies of how consumers make decisions show that price alone
determines consumers’ decisions only when the price of one competing product
is much higher or lower than another. When the price difference between two
products is small—say, less than five percent, as is the case with certified wood—
Americans often do choose on factors other than price. And Americans are becoming
increasingly convinced of the value of preserving and protecting the environment.
And third, U.S. wood companies should definitely pay attention to what’s going
on in the wood business internationally, not because of foreign consumers, but
because of foreign competition. As I just told you, there’s a good chance that many
American consumers will be interested in ecocertified products. And guess what,
if American companies are slow capturing those customers, you can be sure that
foreign companies will soon start crowding into the American market, offering
ecocertified wood that domestic companies don’t

Give yourself 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response is judged on the quality of
the writing and on how well it presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading
passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words. You may view the reading
passage while you respond.

Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on
specific points made in the reading passage.