Marketing green products has not been as effective if based on survey results that say consumers are willing to replace product brands with eco-friendly substitutes. While some have expressed willingness to pay higher prices for sustainable products, not many actually do so. The reality is that, nowadays, consumers are looking for price reductions, discount coupons, reward points and anything that will reduce their day to day expenses.
Although people are seeing and experiencing the effects of climate change, the effect of price inflation has been affecting their living conditions. Many are still relying on government-provided food and health care assistance, while they are available to families still struggling to get by until the next paycheck, or unemployment benefit.
Green Companies Frustrated with Lukewarm Support for Eco-Friendly Products
Green companies are doing their best to make their products sustainable, but there is still much frustration with the way things are turning out for green businesses. In a recent consumer survey, 65% indicated willingness to buy brands that advocate sustainability. Yet the corresponding sales figures for the period covered by the survey, showed that sales went up by only 26%.
Unilever, a leading manufacturer of various consumer items, admits that 70% of the company’s greenhouse gas emissions depend on the products being used and disposed of by their customers.
So how can majority of consumers be encouraged to use only green products that were produced in a sustainable manner?
Using Social Influence to Boost Consumer Support for Eco-Friendly Products
Academicians have been analyzing other approaches that green companies can use to boost consumer support for green products. Not surprisingly, social influence is the most effective method of getting people to buy sustainably-produced consumer items, which will enable companies to meet their sustainability goals for the planet.
Through experiments and review of researches in economics, psychology and marketing, advocates of sustainable consumption were able to align consumer behavior and preferences. Business organizations can use the research in nudging consumers to shift to sustainable purchasing.
Based on numerous studies, it has been proven that humans in general have a strong inclination to fit in, in order to fulfil a sense of belonging.
Simply spreading word that neighbors have been saving energy with solar panels, or telling online shoppers that eco-friendly products are now the norms; or that cities are making bicycles the transpo of the future, have shown considerable increases in consumer purchases.
Such messages can very well be incorporated in promotional discounts and programs offering loyalty rewards that can reduce consumer costs. At the smartshopper usa website, a glance guest who submitted a review mentioned that the benefits of smartshopping and eco-friendly purchasing are aligned with her cost-saving goals.