How Well Does Green Really Sell?
Posted on | November 11, 2008 | joshua lyall
Finding a way to market a product or service as environmentally friendly seems to be a requirement of late. It appears no category of products is off limits – a green appeal for an electric toothbrush is likely already under development. There is growing evidence, however, that the actual impact of green appeals and green corporate behavior is less than originally thought.
Several recent studies have shown consumers reporting a greater willingness to purchase green products than their behaviors indicate, the exception being when a direct cost savings will be experienced by using a green product. For example, in a 2008 NAHB study of homeowners, over half said they would be willing to pay $5,000 – $11,000 more upfront for green features on a house if those features would reduce their annual utilities. However, interest was limited in green home features that had no efficiency advantage.
Similarly, consumers regularly report that a company’s environmental record is important to their purchase decision. However, the Shelton Group’s 2008 Eco Pulse study found that only 7% of consumers could actually name a recent purchase where the manufacturer’s environmental record played a part in their purchase decision. Being thought of as considering the environment in purchases may be important to consumers, but not important enough to drive a purchase decision on its own.
So do the green products that are actually selling owe their success to the environmental concern of the consumer or just the desire to save money over the life of the product? How should this shape our marketing strategy decisions? If 70% of American consumers feel that calling a product “green” is usually just a marketing tactic (Ipsos Reid, 2007), would the better strategy be a focus on a product’s efficiency message while leaving the environmental message to a sub point?
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