Consumers Skepticism of Green Claims Can Deter Purchases
Green/Sustainability
March 27, 2012 – Eight in 10 Americans don’t believe companies are addressing all of their environmental impacts, and only 44% trust companies’ green claims, possibly affecting sales. In fact, as many as 77% would be willing to boycott if misled, according to the 2012 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker, a survey of a demographically representative sample of 1,000+ U.S. adults.
Key findings:
- The survey finds consumers expect companies to address the full environmental impact of a product’s lifecycle, from the impacts associated with manufacturing the product (90%), to using it (88%), to disposing of it (89%).
- Seven out of 10 (69%) American consumers routinely or sometimes consider the environment when making a purchasing decision; they are most influenced most by messaging related to the environmental impact of disposing of a product (42%).
- Nearly three out of four (73%) consumers want companies to provide more environmental information on the product packaging to help inform their shopping decisions.
- The majority of consumers (71%) wish companies would do a better job helping them understand the environmental terms they use to talk about their products and services.
- More than half of consumers continue to erroneously believe that common environmental marketing terms such as “green” or “environmentally friendly” mean a product has a positive (36%) or neutral (18%) impact on the environment. Fewer consumers were able to correctly identify these terms as meaning the product has a lighter impact than other similar products (25%) or less than it used to (3%).
- The messages consumers say they want most are those that are precise. When purchasing a product with an environmental benefit, consumers cited a symbol or certification (81%) and a message with specific data or outcomes (80%) as most influential in their decision to buy. Consumers also noted the ability to scan a QR code or bar code to obtain more detailed info (47%), and packaging featuring environmental imagery, such as a mountain or a green leaf (44%).
- Forty-two percent of Americans say they have been discouraged from buying a product because they believed it cost more than the traditional product, and a third believed the environmentally preferred product would not be of equal quality. Other barriers include:
Source: 2012 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker
Americans say they are motivated to purchase environmental products, because it will save them time or money in the long-run (90%), it’s healthier for themselves, their families, or their communities (88%), and to preserve the environment for future generations (85%).
Source: 2012 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker
“As we’ve seen maturity in the green space, the majority of American consumers are saying this is still an expectation, and now the opportunity for companies is to continue to educate them and stay engaged,” says Jonathan Yohannan, Cone Communications' executive vice president of corporate responsibility. “Now is the time to tell stories and connect the dots about the full impact of a product and the consumer’s role in the process.”
About: An online survey conducted February 23-27, 2012 by ORC International among a demographically representative sample of 1,019 adults, comprising 517 men and 502 women 18 years of age and older. The margin of error associated with a sample of this size is ± 3% at a 95% level of confidence. Some figures may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Source: Cone Communications, The 2012 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker Report, accessed March 28, 2012.