What is it with pollsters and green consumers? Why do nearly all of the surveys seem so gushingly optimistic, even during pessimistic times? That's a question that's been nagging me the past few weeks.
I typically wait until near Earth Day in April to digest the current wave of surveys about green consumers in the U.S. (see here and here, for example), but the trickle of survey results has turned into a gusher much earlier this year than I can recall. Nearly a dozen surveys have crossed my in-box over the past three months, a period that includes a recession, a presidential transition, and the December holidays.
A sampling:
• Four out of five people say they are still buying green products and services today, even in the midst of a U.S. recession, according to a study commissioned by Green Seal and EnviroMedia Social Marketing and conducted by Opinion Research Corp.
• Despite the dire economy, 34% of American consumers indicate they are more likely to buy environmentally responsible products today, and another 44% indicate their environmental shopping habits have not changed as a result of the economy, while only 8% say they are less likely to buy, according to the 2009 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey.
• Thirty-three percent of consumers say they expect to make some type of green consumer electronics purchase within the next two years, according to a survey by the Consumer Electronics Association. More than half (53%) say they would be willing to pay some type of premium for televisions with green attributes, and 89% said that energy efficiency would be a factor in choosing their next television -- even as less than half of the 960 people surveyed said they're generally able to make sense of the environmental attributes attached to electronics on the market.
• An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that safer, cleaner and more energy-efficient production are the most important manufacturing issues in today's economy, according to a survey by Opinion Research Corp. When considering a manufacturing company, Americans chose product and employee safety, and environmental issues as the most important attributes. Among the top answers chosen include "provide safe, quality products" (86%); "provide a safe workplace" (84%); "use natural resources efficiently" (80%); and "produce minimal waste" (71%).
• Three-quarters (77%) of consumers describe themselves as green -- that is, actively living their lives consciously of their health and environment, according to a survey by Yahoo! More than half of survey respondents (57%) say they have made a green purchase in the past 6 months.
• Americans see a golden age for green investing, according to a survey by Allianz Global Investors. Seventy-eight percent of investors say we are likely to see more policies to promote business investment in new environmental technologies in the first year of the Obama Administration than we did under eight years of the Bush Administration. Further, 74% believe the new Congress will be more supportive of policies to promote business investment in new environmental technologies than the old Congress.
There's more, but I'll spare you. Did I mention that they tended to be a tad optimistic?
Many of these surveys begin to wilt when exposed to sunlight -- that is, when you read beyond the headline and first few paragraphs of the press release or executive summary. And some are more than a little self-serving. For example, the survey on Americans wanting "more energy-efficient production" by manufacturers was commissioned by Rockwell Automation, a manufacturer of equipment to make factories more efficient. The survey on consumer electronics was issued during holiday shopping season by the electronics industry's trade group. The one on green investing came from a major asset management company. The study concluding that "About one in three consumers say they don't know how to tell if green product claims are true" came from Green Seal, a purveyor of eco-labels.
Beyond that, there's the slant of some surveys that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. For example, according to the Green Seal/EnviroMedia study:
Half of the 1,000 people surveyed say they are buying just as many green products now as before the economic downturn, while 19 percent say they are buying more green products. Fourteen percent say they are buying fewer environmentally green products.
The way I read this, if I wasn't buying green products before the economic downturn, and am still not doing so, I'm therefore "buying just as many green products now as before" -- and fit right in with half the population. Maybe it's just bad writing, but such ambiguity undermines the authority of these studies.
I'm not suggesting that these surveys are frauds, or that their creators are anything but well-intended. But you don't need a degree in market research to conclude that during a time when consumption is down and the people are pinching pennies as never before, the unbridled buoyancy of these findings is suspect. Are green-minded shoppers really going forth into the marketplace as idealistic as ever? Are they immune to premium prices? Clearly, some green purchases may fall into the category of small indulgences whose sales often rise during tough times, but probably not to the extent reported by these findings.
As I've asked in the past: Can researchers be charged with greenwashing?
What, in the end, is the purpose of all these studies? Are they marketers' efforts to convince wary consumers that everyone else is keeping green purchases on their shopping lists in the hopes that it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Is that a realistic expectation in a time where layoffs and foreclosures are mounting by the week?
Or are American consumers, and probably those elsewhere, simply telling pollsters what they want them to hear: that they continue vote for a cleaner, greener world when they shop? And if consumers are being misleading, shouldn't sophisticated researchers ferret that out?
What's the truth behind consumers' seeming irrational exuberance for green? I'd love to know.
Idealism vs. realism
I agree with the argument that consumers are answering these surveys idealistically. Most people would like to think that they are environmentally conscious but sometimes it just comes down to simple facts; eco-friendly products are often more expensive which can deter a lot of consumers in not-so-great economic times like these. It's kind of like when people request or wish there were healthier items on a menu but still go for the cheeseburger or pizza when it comes time to order.
http://www.worththeenergy.wordpress.com
Fresh Eyes
"What's the truth behind consumers' seeming irrational exuberance for green?" I think the anonymous comment above points toward a possible answer to your question. Your question assumes exuberance for green products is irrational due to a price premium for green products. The assumption of price premiums for green products can be true in many instances, but absolutely not always. Buying direct from farmers at Farmer's Markets/through CSA's and other means of direct purchasing can be cheaper than imported, heavy carbon foot printed and multiple middle-manned marked up supermarket produce.
Also, I think your question fails to consider other holistic consumption decision factors. The influx of "green" thinking may turn people to reevaluate consumption habits, conserve/consume less and thus lead to cost savings. Those cost savings can be useful to absorb cost premiums - more focused purchasing. Also, similarly to buying direct and buying less there is more and more options to buy green in bulk. Green products are popping up more and more in bulk on Supermarket shelves and in warehouse locations and thus bulk purchasing can eliminate premiums.
Couple more quick notes - you do not have to be idealistic to buy green. As noted in cases above consumers may just be acting as logical consumers.
Other questions are very interesting... let us know when you get an answer :)
Green consumer purchasing - maybe its a price thing...
Just a thought - perhaps consumers' apparent willingness to purchase greener goods despite the economic downturn is less an idealistic vision unsupported by real choices in the store than a reaction to the greater availability of enivronmentally preferable products at a minimal (or nonexistent) price premium.
Your assumption throughout this discussion seems to be that greener products automaticaly cost more - I would suggest that this is less and less often the case. It's easier all the time to buy green without needing a level of dedication that gets you over the price premium issue. And with cost and health benefits from environmentaly sound products factored in, many peopel can see that green is a bargain rather than a luxury.
Forget the “Green Consumer” – Satisfy Your Core Consumer First
A number of recent surveys point to consumers claiming continued support for green products, but despite great intentions (and stated preferences), most consumers today struggle with economic realities when choosing at the shelf. In fact, when the rubber meets the road, stated behavior doesn’t necessarily turn into purchases – more than 75% of those surveyed by The Hartman Group late last year, couldn’t actually name a sustainable product when asked the question – do you really think those people are intentionally buying green products?
There is no question that selling green products is a challenge – so what’s a green brand owner to do? While many retailers and brand managers struggle with defining and reaching the illusive “green consumer,” some of my recent client work suggests that the answer may be much closer to home: Energizing your core consumer with green product benefits may be much more effective in driving sales than trying to reach the illusive green consumer.
Take the produce section as an example. With the term “organic” a part of the American shopper’s vocabulary for years, convincing your customers that sustainable produce is a good idea shouldn’t be difficult, right? The reality is terms like “natural” and “healthy” are everywhere, driving confusion and making differentiation a challenge. Throw in long shopping lists, tight schedules, and crying children, and marketing messages go from useful to useless very quickly in the eyes of a busy mom.
It turns out that when you really get to know her, she cares about quality and freshness above all else. She may not want to spend on organic, or may not know what “sustainable” means in the produce section (do you?), but there are cues she gets, regardless of how busy she is. In working with a major North American grocery chain, we polled thousands of shoppers and found that locally sourced produce resonated more than any other sustainable term, including organic. We talked to the shoppers some more and found out what local sourcing meant to them: To a number of consumer segments, locally sourced meant quality and freshness above all else, simply because of implied proximity.
It turns out that by doubling down on local sourcing, and communicating it in an honest way, our client drove high-single-digit sales growth, bringing fresher, healthier produce to their shopper, reducing their carbon footprint, and supporting the local farmer – all sustainable in the end, regardless of whether freshness or sustainability ultimately drove the purchase.
The ultimate learning was this: Selling sustainable products hinged on delivering the product benefit most important to your core consumers while being sustainable, instead of simply championing sustainability, possibly at the cost of forgetting the product benefit they value most.
Martin Morzynski
Principal, Marakon
LEED Certified Building Parking Lot Poll
Every once is a while when I'm bored driving, I take a survey of 10 vehicles passing by me in the opposite lane. I put them into two classifications; energy efficient & gas guzzler.
I put the trucks, vans and large cars into the gas guzzler class, and small to medium sized cars in the energy efficient class.
My informal survey always results in more than half the vehicles I count are gas guzzlers.
So, I would say the average American is not green - no matter what their telling the pollsters.
I often fantasize about visiting a LEED certified building and then do the same survey of cars in their parking lot. Do people who work in LEED certified building drive more or less gass guzzlers than the regular population? Would I find a HUMMER in the parking lot, for instance? Or would there be far more Toyota Prius?
I haven't taken up the courage to do my LEED certified building parking lot poll - maybe I'm paranoid about being picked up on their security cameras.
We probably think we're smarter, richer and greener than the next person - but maybe that's a start!