North Americans are a bunch of hypocrites.
At least, that’s what recent research into their sustainable buying habits suggests.
In repeated surveys, as high as 95% of Canadian and U.S. consumers say they’re interested in purchasing sustainable products, but the same surveys suggest the percentage of consumers who actually do is more like 15% – keeping it a niche play at best.
This discrepancy between intent and action was validated in a Wunderman sponsored post-holiday survey that revealed more than two-thirds of North American shoppers didn’t consider eco-friendliness “at all” when making their holiday purchases. And despite the well-touted passion that Millennials have for sustainability, they were woefully under-represented among the group that did.
But consumers don’t deserve the bulk of the blame – sellers do. People across North America are eager to put green goods in their shopping carts, but manufacturers, retailers, and advertisers have not given them good enough reasons to do so. That has to change. Overhauling our consumer culture and making sustainability more than a niche play offers great hope for mitigating the threat climate change poses to our planet.
Businesses must actively create sustainable goods and marketers need to make them irresistible.
If virtually all shoppers say they would buy green but don’t, what’s stopping them? A lack of information is part of the problem. Businesses on both sides of the border are failing to educate consumers about what it means to be sustainable. As a result, shoppers are unsure about what constitutes a sustainable initiative or which companies are really doing it.
Many companies are taking concerted actions to go green. Some have aggressive sustainability targets for their operations, manufacturing and, in some cases, products. Many have also started requiring their suppliers to develop and deliver products that meet aggressive environmental standards. But corporations haven’t been speaking loudly enough about their environmental efforts.
That is starting to change. A recent campaign from Hewlett-Packard is a great case in point. HP wanted create a social program that taught audiences how to become part of their closed-loop recycling process by turning in used print cartridges, buying paper made from sustainable forests and purchasing printers that are made with the environment in mind. They hoped to increase awareness of HP’s strong environmental commitment and emotionally connect as the brand of choice for parents and youth who factor sustainability into their purchase decisions.
The resulting campaign around the launch of the movie The Lorax got both children and parents involved in small eco challenges through a Facebook application. With each successful challenge met, HP donated funds to World Wildlife Fund. The program was a great success on three fronts: it educated consumers about closed-loop recycling, it generated awareness for HP’s environmentally friendly products and it raised money for World Wildlife Fund.
But will a company or product’s environmental friendliness be enough to get more consumers to buy? The bad news is “green only” positioning for brands will keep them niche. What about employing some of the age old motivators that we marketers have always shot from our advertising quiver? Does it make me look good or feel sexy? Is it heartwarming or exciting? Does it outperform other brands? Forging an emotional link between people and brands still drives purchase decisions and there are many emotions to which we can appeal.
Better marketing of sustainable goods won’t solve our globe’s climate problem on its own. But ours is a consumer culture and we have no hope of improving our environment if we don’t improve the way we act in the marketplace. As marketers, we can help turn the tide on climate change by doing what we do best: create awareness about the topic and create desire for sustainable brands that appeal to a diverse range of consumers.
Trish Wheaton is chief marketing officer of Wunderman and chairperson of Wunderman Canada
For more analysis on marketing environmental products, check out “Eco Faking” in the April 22 issue of Marketing, on newsstands now. [Subscribe to Marketing]
