5/3/2013
Seven in 10 Americans (71%) factor in environmental concerns when making purchase decisions at least some of the time, but only 27% always or regularly do so, according to Cone Communications. The majority of consumers (63%) are confident that they understand the environmental terms companies use in their ads, though less than half (46%) trust companies to tell the truth. Seven in 10 (71%) would like companies to do a better job of explaining the terminology they use to describe environmentally friendly features, such as “compostable” and “all-natural.”
More than two-thirds of consumers (69%) feel that it’s okay if companies aren’t perfect in their business practices as they relate to the environment as long as they’re honest about them, but this is down from 75% who felt this way in 2012.
More than four in 10 Americans (45%) say they actively seek out environmental information about the products they’re considering buying, and about the same proportion (48%) feel overwhelmed by the number of environmental messages they see and hear.
When looking for more information about a product’s environmental impact, consumers are most likely to read the product’s packaging or label (45%) or search for information online (26%).
Consumers’ top reasons for purchasing environmentally friendly products are to make healthier choices for themselves or their families and to preserve the environment. Saving money by conserving reSources is also a significant factor, but it has declined in importance since last year.
Almost eight in 10 consumers (78%) say that if they discover a product’s environmental claim to be misleading, they will stop buying it. Only three in 10 consumers (30%) claim to always use and dispose of environmentally friendly products properly. A third (33%) say they don’t always dispose of these products properly because they don’t have the reSources necessary to do so, such as recycling bins. Another 19% don’t always dispose of products properly because they don’t know how, while 18% say they don’t have enough time to do so or that it simply isn’t a priority for them.
Nevertheless, most consumers say they’ve used environmentally friendly products and disposed of them correctly at least once in the past six months.
Source: “2013 Green Gap Trend Tracker,” Cone Communications, Tim Munroe, VP Business Development, 855 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116; 617-939-8325; tmunroe@conecomm.com; www.conecomm.com. Price: Contact for information.
© 2013 Business Valuation Resources, LLC (BVR). May not be reproduced without written consent of publisher