Source: Cone Inc
Published: Friday, April 18, 2008

Americans misunderstand key phrases commonly used in environmental marketing and advertising, giving products a greater environmental halo than they deserve and creating a growing risk of backlash. At the same time, with days until a U.S. Federal Trade Commission public hearing on the subject, a majority of Americans support government regulation of such messages.

These are among the findings of the 2008 Green Gap Survey,
conducted by Cone LLC and The Boston College Center for Corporate
Citizenship.

    A Green Gap

According to the survey, almost four in 10 (39%) Americans are
preferentially buying products they believe to be "environmentally
friendly." At the same time, almost half (48%) of the population
erroneously believes a product marketed as "green" or "environmentally
friendly" has a positive (i.e., beneficial) impact on the environment.
Only 22 percent understand these terms more accurately describe
products with less negative environmental impact than previous
versions or competing products.

The survey clearly shows that Americans do not realize this green gap exists:

    --  47 percent trust companies to tell them the truth in
        environmental messaging

    --  45 percent believe companies are accurately communicating
        information about their impact on the environment

    --  61 percent of Americans say they understand the environmental
        terms companies use in their advertising

    "The gap creates significant risk of embarrassment for companies
and disillusionment for consumers," says Mike Lawrence, executive vice
president of corporate responsibility, Cone LLC. "Activists are
closely monitoring green claims and can quickly share information
online about the actual environmental impact of a product. The result
can be accusations that a company is engaging in 'greenwashing' and is misleading the public."

    Americans Want Oversight

Despite not recognizing the existing green gap, more than half of
  Americans (59%) support a move by the government to ensure the
accuracy of environmental messaging by regulating it. On April 30, the
FTC will hold a workshop in Washington D.C. as part of the agency's
regulatory review of the "Guides for the Use of Environmental
Marketing Claims," commonly known as the Green Guides.

In addition to government, Americans believe other entities can play an important oversight role to ensure accuracy in environmental messaging:

    --  Certification by third-party organizations - 80%

    --  Review and reporting by watchdog groups, news media, bloggers,etc. - 78%

    --  Regulation by government - 76%

    --  Self-policing by industry or business groups - 75%

    "The fact that Americans are so primed to trust companies may
suggest the lack of control they feel around complex environmental
issues, so it is not surprising that they also seek a third-party
gatekeeper to help ensure the messages they see and hear are
accurate," says Bradley Googins executive director of The Boston
College Center for Corporate Citizenship. "The motto really could be
'trust, but verify.' Maintaining the trust of consumers needs to be a
top priority for companies."

    Five Guidelines for Effective Environmental Marketing

    People are listening to, interested in and positively affected by
environmental messaging. Fully 38 percent say they feel informed by
such messaging and another 11 percent feel empowered or inspired to
act. Only 14 percent of the population says environmental messaging
makes them either feel cynical or overwhelmed.

    Cone LLC and The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
believe the research suggests several strategies companies should use
to effectively and credibly communicate about how their products or
services impact the environment:

Be precise. Make specific claims that provide quantitative impacts.

    --  70 percent of Americans say quantifying the actual
        environmental impact of a product or service is influential in
        their purchasing decisions. In addition, the more precise an
        environmental claim, the more convincing Americans believe it
        to be. For example, 36 percent found the message
        "environmentally friendly" credible when used to describe a
        paper product, but 60 percent found the message "made with  80% post-consumer         recycled paper" credible.

Be relevant. Demonstrate a clear connection between the product or service and the environment.

    --  74 percent of Americans say providing a clear connection
        between the product/service and the environmental issue (i.e.,
        a hybrid car and lower emissions) influences their purchasing
        decisions.

Be a resource. Provide additional information for consumers in a place where they want it.

    --  Americans say they are most likely to seek information online
        via a company's Web site (54%), a third-party Web site (51%),
        a search engine (48%) or via product packaging (45%).

    Be consistent. Don't let marketing images send a signal that
contradicts the carefully chosen words and facts you use. For example, showing an automobile parked in a virgin forest may be seen as insensitive, while a product growing out of a tree may be seen as
exaggeration.

Be realistic. There are always more environmental improvements that can be made to a product or service, and they are but one piece
of a much larger environmental journey for society. Communications
that include some sense of context, as well as a "work in progress"
tone, will be more credible and less subject to criticism.