Cone released a Green Gap Survey today, regarding the gap of perception in green messaging and consumer products. The following is an indicator of what the market wants and, not surprisingly, it's exactly what the what the SMaRT Sustainable Standard offers:
1. PROOF and Third Party Audits
2. Credible information (no greenwashing, they see through it)
3. Consistent improvement
Highlights below:
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.
****
For the full report go here.
Comments