Hook Going Green to the Excitement of Nature

Consumer behavior researchers are finding that while people say they want to protect the environment by purchasing less wasteful alternatives, they quite often devise many reasons not to do so.
     According to researchers at Suffolk University in the U.S. and York University in Canada, consumers use three sorts of justifications to indulge in purchasing wasteful products while saying they object to waste.
     Here are my adaptations of those three to incorporate other research findings:

• Finances. “Especially now, when money is so tight, I want to get the most for what funds I have. If a product is manufactured or packaged in a way that produces waste, but gives me more value for my money, I deserve to be able to purchase it.”
• Institutional dependency. “The government and the industry leaders should be setting the standards that will minimize waste. If I go it alone, my individual actions won’t make any noticeable difference. In addition, if I reduce waste, but others don’t, that’s unfair to me.” Researchers at University of Kentucky found that Swedish consumers went a step beyond this to say that if they alone aimed to reduce waste, this would challenge the expectations of conformity important in their culture.
• Cynicism. “To succeed in the competitive marketplace, every business has to engage in wasteful practices at least occasionally.”

     An Entrepreneur blog posting includes an example of the price of misunderstanding this contradiction: The initial marketing thrust for luxury resort Bardessono, located in Northern California, was to broadcast the platinum environmental credentials. But consumers seeking luxury understood the word “green” here to mean sparse and uncomfortable. As a result, it was the hotel bookings that turned out to be sparse, and this made the owners highly uncomfortable.
     Now the Bardessono website gives equal billing to the Leed Platinum environmental award and the Travelers’ Choice “Top 10 Relaxation/Spa Hotels in the World” honors. The visuals on the website highlight bike trails, bountiful gardens, and rippling water.
     In your retailing, stay green in environmental awareness, but hook it to natural. For contemporary consumers, natural is more attractive than is artificial. Perhaps that preference resides within our DNA, so basic is it in the choices our shoppers make. It’s why green product packaging and store décor have a special appeal to our shoppers. Show consumers from throughout the world green product packaging and you'll probably hear descriptions like new, organic, healthy, and refreshing.

Click below for more:
See Through Anti-Waste Consumers
Excite Consumers with Nature