Green consumers aren’t really all that green
Consumers who buy green products don’t particularly care about the environment.
That was one of the surprising conclusions of a recent survey of 30,000 consumers conducted by the Shelton Group–findings with major implications for companies in the green biz business.
In fact, just 8% of respondents said the environment was their top concern compared to 59% who cited the economy as the most important issue.
Some other counter-intuitive findings:
–The main reason consumers said they want to reduce energy consumption was to save money, not the planet. Specifically, 73% responded that they want “to reduce my bills/control costs”, while just 26% opted for lessening “my impact on the environment.”
–Consumers may buy green products, but they don’t know a lot about the subject. When asked, “From what you have read or heard about CO2, please place a check beside any of the following statements you think are true”, a whopping 49% got the answer wrong.
–Contrary to popular wisdom, children don’t play a particularly significant role in encouraging their parents to engage in green practices.
–Younger consumers aren’t greener than older folks. On average, the 25-34 year-old age group demonstrated lower green activity levels than older respondents.
For green small businesses, the conclusions could mean making some fairly significant marketing changes. Most important, are the implications for price and cost reduction. This isn’t the first study to show that consumers are most enthusiastic about green products that also save them money. But, for companies selling products with higher price points, the findings could mean engaging in a radical rethinking of the business plan, cost structure and so on. Or, those businesses unwilling or unable to make such changes may need to accept a smaller target market, at least until the economy picks up and consumer confidence revives. Whenever that’s going to be.
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
[...] Source [...]
Ms. Field,
Are these results really surprising? It seems to me that this is entirely natural and expected result, when people make economic decisions, such as buying something, they use economic criteria. The key to making the world of the consumer greener is to make green products the better value to the consumer. Make buses and subways easier and cheaper to use than cars, and people will use them more than cars. I recently had a salesman at my house trying to get me to buy solar panels for my roof, his entire pitch was dollars and cents, he had nothing to say about GHGs or saving the earth. This is how the market place works, for better or worse.
Of course, you’re right. But, when it comes to buying environmentally friendly products, I have figured–and, I believe, so have many companies–that the desire to engage in green practices is the prime motivating factor for consumers. In a better economy, that would be true for a larger number of people than is true now. Previously, various studies showed that a significant minority of consumers would be willing to pay a slight premium for a green product.
But, for a really mass market, no matter what the state of the economy, products have to be at least the same price or cheaper than alternatives.
About cars and subways–the key is gas prices. I think the thing that will make them more attractive and that, in fact, will make voters insist on better mass transit, will be when gas prices go up, which will happen.