Marketing question

[costargh]

This question has me stumped. Thoughts please.

"Consider the differnt demand states. Would you say that the demand for a non-polluting motor vehicle is similar to the demand for safe cigarettes?"

[Collin Li]

It depends on whether there are private benefits to "non-polluting" or "safe".

There are certainly public benefits which are not recognised by the individual (leading to an externality) in both cases, but an individual might prefer one "socially responsible good" over another if there are also private benefits associated with making the good more publicly beneficial (or less publicly costly, same thing)