Claim Effectiveness over Environmentalism

Cleaning effectiveness is more important to consumers than is their going green with cleaning products.
     That’s the conclusion of a Packaged Facts report titled “Green Cleaning Products in the U.S.,” according to a Marketing Daily posting.
     Total retail sales for these products more than doubled between 2007 and 2011, and while they were once sold principally in specialty health and natural products stores, green cleaners are now seen in general merchandise stores.
     However, skepticism has increased alongside sales. About one third of surveyed consumers say green household cleaning and laundry products are less effective than regular products, and this is a higher percentage than found a couple of years ago. Taken together this indicates that your sales of these products could be substantially greater if you convince shoppers they can both be environmentally friendly and get the floors scrubbed perfectly clean.
     The Marketing Daily posting suggests giving free samples so the shopper can try it out. Here’s a shopper psychology perspective on that idea: In consumer behavior studies conducted at University of California-Berkeley, University of Southern California, Stony Book University, and Indiana University, researchers found that if a product is offered for free, the shopper becomes less likely to buy the product at full price afterwards. What happens is that when getting it at no charge, consumers conclude consciously or subconsciously that the product must be low quality. This is a terrible first impression to leave with the consumer about a new product. It also makes you look bad for giving what appears to be a low-quality gift.
     The way to avoid this problem, some of the researchers discovered, was to be blatantly honest with the customer. Tell the shopper in signage, advertising, and salesperson-customer conversation that the free item is being offered as a sample because you believe the shopper will enjoy the product and want to buy it in the future.
     This much you can do yourself as a retailer. But there are two related tactics for which the manufacturer and/or supplier can help: The free product should be clearly labeled as a sample, and it's best if the free item is in a size smaller than any of the standard sizes offered for sale. Also, because developing habits of purchase requires making more than one buy in a row, attached to the free sample should be a coupon for a customer discount on the next purchase.

Click below for more: 
Hook Going Green to the Excitement of Nature 
Be Clear What You Mean by Going Green 
Sell Multi-Solution Products 
Give Free Samples of New Products