2Sustain

Last week, I discussed how Nike and Puma have pledged to eliminate the release of all hazardous chemicals across their supply chains (and now adidas has made a similar commitment).

It’s too early to know what impact these new initiatives will have on manufacturing costs. But, if making sustainable apparel costs more and those costs are passed on to consumers, how will Nike, Puma and adidas customers react?  A new study from the University of Missouri offers some insights.

Gargi Bhaduri, a doctoral student, and Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor of textile and apparel management in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri, surveyed apparel consumers to find out if they were willing to pay a premium for products made using sustainable and ethical methods.

They found that consumers would be willing to pay 15 to 20 percent more for “eco-friendly” products. However, they also found that consumers were also likely to remain skeptical about apparel companies’ claims of transparency and sustainability.

Consumer skepticism of corporate transparency stems from the suspicion that sustainability claims are falsified or exaggerated by apparel companies for use as marketing ploys. In other words, greenwashing persists as a significant, and nagging, problem. Before they buy sustainable apparel, savvy consumers feel the need for assurances such as: (more…)

When it comes to motivating people (and companies) to adopt green behaviors, I’ve always been an advocate for using the carrot, rather than the stick.

Now, new research from Recyclebank backs me up.

Last week, Recyclebank, in partnership with consumer insights agency ROI Research and Google Inc., announced the release of a joint report, Using Games for Good: Motivating A Shift in Consumer Behavior with Social Gaming.  The report, conducted over the month of April during Recyclebank’s nationwide Green Your Home Challenge, reveals that games –a widely accepted carrot –can be very effective in moving individuals along the spectrum of sustainability, with great potential to create widespread movements around social and environmental causes.

The Green Your Home Challenge used several gaming techniques, often referred to as gamification, to motivate participants to learn about green living and to take small green actions. After surveying Challenge participants, Recyclebank concluded that: (more…)

Consumers are increasingly focused on corporations’ sustainability practices. But, how well do public perceptions align with firms’ actual performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues?

New research suggests that there isn’t much alignment, at all, and that, unfortunately, many companies are facing reputational risk if they don’t better coordinate their branding, communications, reporting and stakeholder engagement processes around emerging ESG priorities.

The new study, Sustainability Research Report: Measuring Perception vs. Reality, provides a quantitative analysis of sustainability and corporate citizenship performance of 100 leading multinationals.

Conducted by the brand consulting firm Brandlogic and CRD Analytics, the study surveyed 2400 supply chain managers, investment professionals and graduating college students from the US and abroad about their perceptions of the multinationals’ ESG efforts. Then, researchers compared those perceptions against the performance data from 175 performance metrics and five key ESG performance indicators.

Data from the study showed that: (more…)

Despite the sluggish economy and the rise in energy prices, Americans still want to “go green.”

New survey results from Harris Interactive show that more than three-fourths (77 percent) of those polled purchase green products or services. Among these, 57 percent said they bought green products because they believe they are better for the environment.

The survey, conducted in partnership with SCA Tissue USA, an 80 year old company that makes paper and hygienic products for office and restaurant use, suggests that sustainability is becoming more and more a part of everyday life –good news for companies that manufacture environmentally-friendly products or are considering adding them to their product lines.

The study also revealed that: (more…)

Will sustainability become a major driver of consumer purchasing behavior?

Many leading corporations are betting that it will. But, new research from OgilvyEarth suggests that, at least for now, consumers just aren’t buying it.

The study, Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal, provides new insight on how to close what OgilvyEarth calls “the Green Gap,” a division that persists between what consumers say and what they actually do around sustainable living.

According to the study:

• The vast majority of Americans (82 percent) have good green intention. But, only 16 percent are dedicated to fulfilling these intentions. That leaves 66 percent in the category that OgilvyEarth calls the “Middle Green.”
• The Middle Green is difficult to motivate. Typically, most of the dialogue and marketing has focused on the extremes of consumer behavior – what the study refers to as the Super Greens or the Green Rejecters.
• Economics, guilt and perceptions all play roles in motivating green purchasing behavior. For example, the top barrier Americans claimed was holding them back from more sustainable behaviors was money. Guilt plays a role, too, and so does gender — 82 percent of survey respondents said going green is “more feminine than masculine.”
• Interestingly, when given a choice between purchasing an eco-friendly product from a known brand or a company that specializes in being green, 73 percent of those polled opted for the known, mainstream brand.

OgilvyEarth offers sound guidance for companies looking to normalize sustainable behaviors. In broad terms, the recommendations include: (more…)