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Researcher: Consumers Don't Know What ‘Green' Means

By Heath Combs, Furniture Today Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 12/4/2009 9:06:00 AM

Greensboro, NC — Green and sustainable product still faces an uphill battle when it comes to reaching a widespread audience of consumers, according to new market research. In fact, they're still pretty confused about what exactly "green" means and aren't dying to rush out and be green, said Suzanne Shelton, president and CEO of the Shelton Group, a specialist in researching environmental issues
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Shelton presented some of her recent findings at the American Home Furnishings Alliance's second annual Sustainability Summit. The AHFA commissioned the research to measure the importance of environmental attributes in home furnishings purchases. Shelton said the study sought to understand what mainstream consumers care about and respond to in green purchases. The findings are aimed at aiding green marketing messages.

Shelton said that green is a mainstream concept and there is a broad desire – by 60 percent of the population – for greener product. However, consumers still know very little about what green claims mean and what to believe, she added.

The average consumer knows only enough about green to get through a cocktail party conversation, Shelton said. "They can nod their heads, they can say a few things, they might be able cough up the word green or sustainable, or talk about their carbon footprint," she said. "They can cough up a few things just enough to make you think, ‘Oh they know what they're talking about.' Yeah, not so much."

Shelton said that when mainstream consumers were asked to name a feature of a green home, only 53 percent were able to. That almost half were unable to name a green feature was surprising considering that low-wattage light bulbs, flooring from sustainable woods, and solar panels are mainstream examples of green features, she said.

"We've thrown a lot out at them today, particularly as it relates to certifications. There's a whole alphabet soup of stuff out that that means absolutely nothing to consumers. So know that and know that it's your job to educate them," Shelton.

There are also widespread misperceptions about product claims, she said, citing the terms "natural" and "organic." Consumers would rather see a product that is "natural" rather than "organic," but they don't really know the difference between the two, the survey found. Lower middle class income earners believe organic is a fancy marketing term that allows companies to charge more money

"What we hear over and over in focus groups is two things: One, a giant misperception that ‘natural' is actually the regulated term, and ‘organic' is not regulated. Which is exactly the opposite of how it is," Shelton said.

She said companies hoping to market green claims need to understand their audience, and must realize that it will take significant marketing dollars to inform their consumers. Green features, however, can serve as a tiebreaker in mature industries, she said. For example, she said that in facial moisturizers, if consumers are faced with two equal brands at the same price, sustainability features would likely help influence a purchasing decision.
"Green features from furniture are important. It's not most important thing, but it's important in a tiebreaker," she said. "And it commands a higher price point. So that's great news as a marketer. It's mainstream and people will pay more money for it."

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They used to say, "Packaging is everything." Environmentalists used to say we were headed for a new ice age, too. Then it turned into catastrophic man-made global warming. So in response to this article on how "stupid" consumers are regarding "green" marketing, I'd like to tell you that 'consumers' don't like being duped, scammed, propagandized, and taxed to death for some RICO scheme that Al Gore, Obama, and the UN have dreamed up for the purpose of economically raping the wealth from the United States. Being environmentally responsible is one thing. Being robbed blind by lies and data manipulators is quite another. The U.S. government and the UN have been very busy for years indoctrinating the public on "catastrophic scenarios." Global socialism is not going to save either the planet or the buying power of Americans. On the contrary. Because of Obama and his communists, the only consumers in the U.S. will devolve into only the politically connected class. The middle class will no longer be able to sustain the living standards of the past.
Instead of trying to "educate" consumers on socialist "green," which is really global wealth redistribution, communist "red," the marketing industry in this country needs to get back to American manufacturing, independent survival, and celebrating the American dream of individualism. Consumers want the TRUTH, see below.

"The United States produces far less greenhouse gasses per barrel of oil burned than China, India, Russia, and almost every other major player in the world oil market. Based on 2003 data from GeoHive.com and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the United States consumed 25.4% of the world’s oil, yet produced only 20.6% of the world’s greenhouse gasses (GHG) — well below the world average. Expressed as a number, the United States emitted only 0.81 units of GHG per unit of oil burned."
"In the last 25 years, the U.S.’s share of global oil consumption has declined by 6%, yet our population has grown by more than 20% — and our economy still booms at an average of around 4.5% growth per year."

A further TRUTH is that CO2 (carbon dioxide) is not a pollutant, but a life-sustaining necessary ingredient in our atmosphere. The more of it, the "greener" the planet. Please read: www.junkscience.com. Look up Michael Crichton's article on Environmentalism as Religion.

To summarize: The public is not interested in being scammed to make Al Gore and Obama's communist cronies rich. Support the founders U.S. Constitution as a marketing tool for success and you will have consumers flocking back to the marketplace.

Cheryl Pass - 2009-12-09 09:40:00 EST

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