Green Brands Must Communicate Their Efforts to Consumers

The budding green movement has environmentally conscious consumers buying everything from energy saving light bulbs to fuel efficient cars to eco-tourism vacations. In their quest to move toward a greener lifestyle, many consumers turn to the Web to make environmentally friendly purchases.

E-commerce provides consumers fast and easy access to green products and information, and they want to hear from marketers about their environmentally friendly efforts. According to DoubleClick Performics’ recent Green Marketing Study, 60% of respondents who make online purchases say it is important that a company is environmentally conscious. The study surveyed 1,087 adults to better understand consumer behavior and attitudes regarding green marketing.

The deluge of information on what exactly is environmentally correct can be confusing and overwhelming. In fact, environmentally conscious consumers often encounter misinformation from companies hoping to capitalize on and exploit the growing green interest.

So what can marketers do to position legitimately eco-friendly brands to succeed in the burgeoning green marketplace?

About half of those who make online purchases (49%) say at least some of the time they specifically search for environmentally friendly products when shopping online. Green marketers achieve the greatest success by incorporating environmentally friendly messages into their integrated efforts, including search keyword portfolios, ad copy and other communications. Once a company has made the choice to go green, the marketing team should continuously work to promote all eco-friendly features to speak to these consumers—andimprove the bottom line.

Although consumer sentiments may seem completely altruistic, they still want to save money. So it’s easy to understand that certain green features and benefits matter more than others. Respondents indicated the most attractive type of environmentally conscious marketing is that which focuses on specific user benefits (38%). If consumers know they can save money or get more mileage out of a product, they’re more likely to buy it. The specific environmental benefits and impact of your products also hold considerable weight when it comes to consumers’ purchasing decisions. Nearly half of those who make online purchases (45%) are even willing to pay at least five percent more for a product that is promoted with environmentally-friendly attributes.

Marketers should also consider what their competitors are doing in green marketing. Eighty-three percent of online buyers say they are extremely or very likely to purchase an environmentally friendly product over a similar product without any environmentally friendly attributes. Again, marketers should include all relevant environmentally conscious information across all of their marketing promotions to ensure proper representation once consumers begin to compare. Strategic green marketing practices can generate stronger customer loyalty. Positioning a company’s social and environmental pursuits through marketing of credible eco-friendly products will likely yield consumers more devoted to its brand.

Stuart Larkins ([email protected]) is senior vice president of search operations at DoubleClick Performics and a monthly contributor to Chief Marketer.

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