By Tim Kenyon

The United States is one of the more environmentally cynical nations in the world with only 62% of the population believing that environmental pollution is a serious issue according to the findings from the new Green Gauge Global report. This ranks the US 24th out of 25 markets around the world – close to dead last.

The GfK Roper Green Gauge® Global report, which examines the green habits of 36,000 consumers in 25 countries worldwide, found that American consumers are also skeptical about the cost and efficacy of green products and their impact on the environment. Approximately two in three Americans perceive green products to be too costly and one-third believes they don’t work as well as “regular” products.

In the USA, these numbers also represent a dramatic increase from just two years ago.

In the US and around the world, marketers are being challenged by consumers to produce better green products that don’t cost too much.

To that end, marketers need to be cognizant of the distinctive perceptions and attitudes about green products in order to convey these products as a smart, pragmatic purchase.

The report also identifies five distinct groups of environmental consumers ranging from the critical, “Jaded” category, who tend to exhibit the least concern about the environment, to the “Green inDeed,” the group of consumers who are not only green in their lifestyles but advocate for others to become environmentally responsible as well.

Between these segments lie the “Carbon Cultured,” consumers who are concerned about the environment, yet their green behaviors tend to lag a bit, as well as the status-seeking “Glamour Greens.” “Green in Need” consumers have the desire, but lack the means to be environmentally responsible.

Our Green Gauge Global report not only discusses the unique elements of each of these population segments, but it also provides actionable strategies for developing green marketing campaigns and tailored customer communications in every region across the globe. Now, more than ever, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to reach those consumers across the globe who embrace green behaviors compared to others who are less passionate about the environment.

As consumer perceptions of green products continue to evolve globally, marketers should keep in mind that not every consumer is out to change the world one purchase at a time. However, by understanding the varying green attitudes and behaviors globally, marketers can more effectively tailor their communications and strategies to reach their target audiences.

Consumer power is here to stay in 2010

By David Crosbie

Perhaps it’s a telling indictment of my general apathy and lack of moral fibre, but I was not one of the half million Britons who helped to strike a blow for creative diversity by buying a copy of an expletive-ridden 1990s rock song in the run up to Christmas.

Allow me to explain. As you may be aware, the race for the coveted ‘Christmas Number One’ in the UK music singles chart was enlivened this year by an online campaign run through Facebook. For the past four years, the Christmas Number One slot has been taken by the winner of the popular TV talent contest X Factor, which is similar in format to American Idol and shares a judge in the form of Simon Cowell.

Jon and Tracy Morter, a regular couple from just outside London, decided that they had seen enough of this dominance and therefore started a campaign on Facebook encouraging people to buy the 1992 track ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine instead of X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s cover of Miley Cirus’ ‘The Climb’. Their selection of this track may have had something to do with the recurring lyric, “I won’t do what you tell me” as well as the liberal sprinkling of offensive language. The campaign, begun on 13 December, was successful – particularly after Cowell branded it as “stupid” and “cynical” – and ‘Killing in the Name’ gained the top slot on 20 December.

Besides the schadenfreude to be gained from seeing a powerful media mogul being taken down a peg or two, this incident was just the latest and most striking example of consumers around the world using the power of online social networking to influence events. During 2009, this power was exercised in more serious circumstances by Iranian citizens, who kept the outside world informed via Twitter when traditional media were suppressed during a period of instability.

Another example from the UK was the reaction to a column by journalist Jan Moir in the right wing Daily Mail newspaper. In commenting on the death of singer Stephen Gately, who announced his homosexuality a few years previously, Moir made comments which were perceived to be homophobic. A campaign orchestrated via Twitter led to the UK’s Press Complaints Commission being inundated with over 25,000 complaints – a record number by some margin – in a very short space of time. One interesting aspect of this incident is that it gave rise to a new (if perhaps short-lived) verb, to be janmoired, which has been defined by media commentator Roy Greenslade as being, “condemned by a collective of tweeters demanding censorship.”

All of these examples underline the speed and ability of online campaigns to make a big difference very quickly. They relate to the Consumers in Control trend – the tendency of consumers to harness the power of the internet and word of mouth to inform their purchase decisions and brand choices – which GfK Roper Consulting has been tracking for a number of years. What these latest examples suggest is that the ability of individual consumers to influence many others is set only to grow during the new decade. While this force has been harnessed in many positive ways in the past few years through viral marketing campaigns, it is more important than ever to be careful not to incur the “rage” of an increasingly empowered and demanding global consumer. Particularly given that, according to annual global consumer study, Roper Reports® Worldwide, fully 64% of global consumers say they complain when products or services are not of expected quality. Happy New Year!

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