Consumers seeing red over green hype may save bucks
Source: The Reporter
Published: Friday, June 06, 2008
Published: Friday, June 06, 2008
There are few bandwagons for which the marketing industry takes a pass and the environmental movement is no exception.
One of the end results, however, is a segment of consumers who feel beaten black-and-blue in their attempts to keep up with the green machine which is telling them to buy less plastic, eat locally grown produce and replace all of the energy-zapping light bulbs in their homes.
A Columbus market research analyst said he expects the same backlash afforded the grandest of Madison Avenue campaigns.
"Consumers push back against any big trend," Boulevard Strategies' Chris Boring said last week.
And the pushing has begun.
"People don't like to be told what to do," Adam Werbach wrote recently in Advertising Age. Werbach is the founder and chief executive officer of Act Now, a green consulting firm for non-profits and corporations.
"Even more so, consumers are dissatisfied when a promised eco-friendly product or service is in actuality no better for the environment. Moreover, there is still a large sentiment that going green is a sacrifice and takes a lot of work and money to accomplish," he continued. "... We are witnessing green fatigue on a grand scale. ... It is also threatening the credibility - and sustainability - of the marketing industry itself. People with no technical expertise in the complex harmonies that sustainability demands, no capacity to help a company reinvent its products or processes, and no sense of urgency are promising quick fixes and cheap tricks."
Boring added consumers don't like to be guilted into changing their ways.
"Some of the advertising gets kind of preachy," he said.
In recent history, General Motors' Saturn division aired a television commercial in which a Saturn dealership was situated in woodland setting with forest animals frolicking nearby while a company spokesman talked about how friendly the company is toward the environment. Architects seem to be infusing the color green into their renderings of much touted and praised green projects.
"The campaign is coming across as very gimmicky," Boring said, indicating it was this aspect of the advertising blitz which faced the most consumer criticism.
Werbach cited a recent Cone/Boston College survey that showed more than half of American consumers are "overwhelmed" by the flood of environment-related messaging. The study found less than half trust companies to tell them the truth about sustainable practices and products, and fewer consumers believe companies are accurately communicating their environmental impact.
"The marketing industry has leapt on green," Werbach concluded.
That said, Boring noted he suspects there are at least three factors that may counter a buying public's cynicism - altruism, thrift and energy self-reliance. He explained people want to feel like they are contributing to improving their world, whether it's utilizing alternative, renewable resources in an effort to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil or saving money on power bills.
"And it's not just left-wingers," Boring said. "What brought mainstream people into the fold is the message that not only are you saving the planet, but it'll save you money."
Colette Chandler, president of The Marketing Insider, specializes in understanding consumer health and environmental trends. She discounted the proposition that consumers are tired of hearing the green message in a recently published report on a hotel and travel industry Web site.
"According to my Ohio Health and Wellness Research Report and national research and data, (consumers) are more motivated than ever to commit to a green and healthy lifestyle," she wrote, identifying Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability consumers. "The LOHAS consumer group is on the rise and makes a powerful statement with its purchasing habits. They are loyal to businesses (that) are honest and strive at being environmentally friendly. In fact, consumers are not bored with the green message, but they are tired of greenwashing" - the act of applying an eco-friendly gloss over an otherwise non-green business or product.
"As consumers, we should always question advertisement or packaging claims because they are regulated by big business and their lobbyists ... ," said Suzanne Shelton, chief executive officer of the Shelton Group, a research market strategy and advertising agency which studied the effects of the green campaign.
The study, as reported in the Defiance Crescent News, found that enthusiasm for energy-efficient or green home products has fallen.
"People are becoming much more inquisitive about the bill of green goods being sold to them - not only in terms of 'is it as green as what they say it is?,' but also 'does it matter enough to me to pay extra,'" Shelton said.
One of the end results, however, is a segment of consumers who feel beaten black-and-blue in their attempts to keep up with the green machine which is telling them to buy less plastic, eat locally grown produce and replace all of the energy-zapping light bulbs in their homes.
A Columbus market research analyst said he expects the same backlash afforded the grandest of Madison Avenue campaigns.
"Consumers push back against any big trend," Boulevard Strategies' Chris Boring said last week.
And the pushing has begun.
"People don't like to be told what to do," Adam Werbach wrote recently in Advertising Age. Werbach is the founder and chief executive officer of Act Now, a green consulting firm for non-profits and corporations.
"Even more so, consumers are dissatisfied when a promised eco-friendly product or service is in actuality no better for the environment. Moreover, there is still a large sentiment that going green is a sacrifice and takes a lot of work and money to accomplish," he continued. "... We are witnessing green fatigue on a grand scale. ... It is also threatening the credibility - and sustainability - of the marketing industry itself. People with no technical expertise in the complex harmonies that sustainability demands, no capacity to help a company reinvent its products or processes, and no sense of urgency are promising quick fixes and cheap tricks."
Boring added consumers don't like to be guilted into changing their ways.
"Some of the advertising gets kind of preachy," he said.
In recent history, General Motors' Saturn division aired a television commercial in which a Saturn dealership was situated in woodland setting with forest animals frolicking nearby while a company spokesman talked about how friendly the company is toward the environment. Architects seem to be infusing the color green into their renderings of much touted and praised green projects.
"The campaign is coming across as very gimmicky," Boring said, indicating it was this aspect of the advertising blitz which faced the most consumer criticism.
Werbach cited a recent Cone/Boston College survey that showed more than half of American consumers are "overwhelmed" by the flood of environment-related messaging. The study found less than half trust companies to tell them the truth about sustainable practices and products, and fewer consumers believe companies are accurately communicating their environmental impact.
"The marketing industry has leapt on green," Werbach concluded.
That said, Boring noted he suspects there are at least three factors that may counter a buying public's cynicism - altruism, thrift and energy self-reliance. He explained people want to feel like they are contributing to improving their world, whether it's utilizing alternative, renewable resources in an effort to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil or saving money on power bills.
"And it's not just left-wingers," Boring said. "What brought mainstream people into the fold is the message that not only are you saving the planet, but it'll save you money."
Colette Chandler, president of The Marketing Insider, specializes in understanding consumer health and environmental trends. She discounted the proposition that consumers are tired of hearing the green message in a recently published report on a hotel and travel industry Web site.
"According to my Ohio Health and Wellness Research Report and national research and data, (consumers) are more motivated than ever to commit to a green and healthy lifestyle," she wrote, identifying Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability consumers. "The LOHAS consumer group is on the rise and makes a powerful statement with its purchasing habits. They are loyal to businesses (that) are honest and strive at being environmentally friendly. In fact, consumers are not bored with the green message, but they are tired of greenwashing" - the act of applying an eco-friendly gloss over an otherwise non-green business or product.
"As consumers, we should always question advertisement or packaging claims because they are regulated by big business and their lobbyists ... ," said Suzanne Shelton, chief executive officer of the Shelton Group, a research market strategy and advertising agency which studied the effects of the green campaign.
The study, as reported in the Defiance Crescent News, found that enthusiasm for energy-efficient or green home products has fallen.
"People are becoming much more inquisitive about the bill of green goods being sold to them - not only in terms of 'is it as green as what they say it is?,' but also 'does it matter enough to me to pay extra,'" Shelton said.