It's been another action-packed day at FORTUNE's Brainstorm Green conference on business and the environment. Lively conversation about the future of coal (it's not going away), sustainable seafood (about which more another day), geoengineering and marketing to the green consumer.
The "green consumer" panel featured SC Johnson's CEO H. Fisk Johnson, Steve Wenc of UL Environment and marketing guru Suzanne Shelton. It was moderated by my friend and colleague Joel Makower, the founder and editor-in-chief of GreenBiz.com. They all agreed that much of corporate America has moved ahead of its customers when it comes to embracing green products.
Wait, it gets worse: Joel and Suzanne argued that consumers fool themselves about their green behavior. They buy a CFL bulb or green cleaning product or perhaps a Prius and then decide they've done their part for the planet. They tell pollsters that they consider sustainability factors in their purchasing decisions and describe themselves as "conscious consumers" but the reality is quite different. They're greenwashing their own behavior, Joel noted.
Fisk told a story that illustrates this sometimes-depressing reality. SCJ has come up with a concentrated form of Windex that it sells in a small plastic pouch. Customers can snip off the top of the pouch, pour it into a refillable bottle and add water to get the equivalent of a 32-ounce bottle of Windex. The company saves money on packaging and energy, less carbon is emitted into the environment, less waste goes to landfill and a few pennies of savings can be passed along to the consumer. Everyone wins.
Everyone, that is, is the developing world where this Windex concentrate is sold. It's not sold in the U.S., Fisk said, because Americans don't care about saving a few pennies and they don't want to deal with the inconvenience of mixing a small package of concentrate with water. They won't make a small change that has a significant impact.
Aside from being lazy, consumers tend to be confused and habitual. They are confused by a plethora of eco-labels and competing claims.
"They consumer still does not understand what is green and what is not," Fisk said.
Shoppers rely on the labels on products for information about sustainability, but they don't trust the companies that make them, Suzanne said. They don't have the time, the energy, the desire or focus to think about the consequences of their purchasing decisions.
The last section of this post
The last section of this post seems like the most important thing to consider, for me. Finding ways to "nudge" consumer behavior is the key. Yes, consumers are becoming better educated and are realizing (in theory) that living a more environmentally responsible lifestyle is important. However, the disconnect that we currently see between knowledge and action will only be remedied through creative incentivising.
At the end of the day, Western consumers have made it clear that they are often (or pessimistically, usually) unwilling to sacrifice convenience for environmental benefit. What we need to do is A) create products or services that where usability is still the king, and B) create other rewards and incentives for the times that "doing the right thing" legitimately will require some extra effort from consumers. Consumers may still be unwilling to give things up for the environment, but for social standing, competitive victory, or praise, they might act quite differently.
Bradley Short
http://www.businessearth.com/category/blog
http://www.twitter.com/businessearth
this is real simple. i have
this is real simple. i have accomplished green selling for the last 20 yrs with no problem.where the hell is the hbr whitpaper on this?
the solution is easy and simple price the green product not a few pennies below the competition but a signficant amount below the competition.every corp is a flat ass failure on this issue.every senior corp executive should be fired for their failure to recognize the customer value proposition. cvp. this is basic shit.
with the tight economy what is selling? the cheapest version of each vertical line.this is not brain surgery.
and what this clearly shows after a ten yr track record every ceo out there is "out to lunch"
This is an important
This is an important discussion for concerned parties to have, Marc. Consumers need access to good, concise, and clear information on how to make sustainable choices. However, it can be difficult to sort through this information for many consumers, especially given the plethora of information streams and sources currently out there. Third parties play an important role in this process, but it can be difficult for them to make an impact if they are less well known than the companies themselves.
At some level, the responsibility falls on the companies to provide honest, reliable, clear information to consumers, perhaps through partnerships with third parties for verification purposes. These relationships have a long track record (from EDF working with Wal Mart and Greenpeace with McDonald's) and can be successful. It is nice that there are industry leaders out there like Interface, Seventh Generation, and SC Johnson to help lead consumers in the right direction. Another important consideration, as you point out, is the role that retail outlets play in this game. When Whole Foods and Wal Mart only provide customers with choices that are either sustainable or more sustainable, they are able to have a significant influence on customers without putting the onus on them.
We are taking small steps in the right direction, but they are steps nonetheless. We just need to start changing the grade of the ground we are walking on so that we can start moving downhill, rather than uphill.
- Tim Kovach,
Product Coordinator, Energy Programs at COSE
www.cose.org/blog
www.twitter.com/COSEenergy