Seeing Green: A Look Inside GfK Roper’s 2009 Green Gauge® Report

In light of the state of the economy, marketers have been carefully watching the changes in consumer behavior—especially when it comes to their enthusiasm for all things green and sustainable. Which consumers are pulling back from green, whose commitment is holding firm and which consumers will lead us to a greener place beyond the downturn? In good times, marketers have relied on GfK Roper’s Green Gauge® Report to inform green innovation and communications; today, the report can help them navigate beyond the downturn to a brighter and greener future. “The environmental marketing community is faced with an increasingly complex set of questions about the impact of the economy on consumer behavior,” said Holly Heline Jarrell, Group Managing Director, GfK Roper Consulting and GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. “Will the current downturn temper consumers’ green enthusiasm? Can green product innovation be sustained in light of the recession? Does the downturn represent a bump in the road or an insurmountable obstacle for eco-friendly brands?”

The compelling new Green Gauge® Report measuring Americans’ attitude toward the environment—and how it impacts the U.S. economy—will be unveiled during the third annual Good And Green®-The Green Marketing Conference, November 17th & 18th at the Chicago Cultural Center. “As Presenting Sponsor of this year’s Good And Green® conference and author of the nation’s longest-running survey on consumers and the environment, we look forward to sharing our insights on this important set of questions,” said Jarrell. One attendee at Good And Green® will have an opportunity to win a copy of the new Green Gauge® Report, plus 21 complimentary consulting hours from GfK Roper Consulting, worth approximately $21,000.

To get a sneak peek into their Good And Green® presentation, we asked Ms. Jarrell, along with Tim Kenyon, Senior Market Analyst, GfK Roper Consulting (who will be leading a Good And Green® workshop on “what consumers actually expect from companies” in regards to environmentally-friendly products and CSR), to give us some additional insight regarding the 2009 Green Gauge® Report:

In the 2009 GfK Roper Green Gauge® Report, what did you find are some of the top environmental concerns consumers have?
Today, Americans' top concerns typically revolve around areas that directly affect individual Americans' health and pocket books.  The number one green concern is the depletion of our fuel and energy sources followed very closely by contamination of drinking water.   Broader green concerns, global warming, for example (ranked 13th out of 21 concerns), are much further down the public's priority list.  However, when looking at the greenest consumer segments, concerns shift to  “bigger issues.”  For example the Genuine Green consumer segment sites global warming as their most important concern, while energy concerns falls to 9th out of 21 concerns.

In a time when economy is getting more attention than environment, how are consumers balancing the two?  In other words, are they sacrificing their green initiatives to save money or are they looking at green living as a way to better manage their resources?
The short answer is both.  The word of the year for green is "practicality ".  In other words, consumers are making changes that are recession friendly AND environmentally friendly.  In fact, we see that the number #1 reason to buy a variety of green products is not “to protect the environment” but rather “to save money.” Categories where saving money is the motivating factor include CFLs and energy-saving appliances.  

Still, we do see that purchasing in specific product categories are down year over year.  But this isn’t too surprising given that consumers are making cut backs in all areas; green is no exception.  In addition, as green moves from the niche to the mass markets, consumers are less willing to pay a premium.  Green is becoming an expectation for products, not just another product attribute.

Are there things you found particularly interesting about this year’s report?
The big -- and positive -- surprise is that concern for the environment did not “fall off a cliff” as we have seen in other recessions.  For the most part concerns remained stable or only decreased slightly. Green is certainly becoming part of our values framework, although there is still a ways to go. A second surprise is that even consumers with a low eco-consciousness are now participating in the green arena.  Our eco-segmentation revealed that the least green consumers were still recycling and buying green products, albeit at lower levels.

In addition to Jarrell and Kenyon, this year’s conference features some of the nation’s top green marketing thought leaders sharing their new research, case studies and success stories during two days of solution-based workshops, drill-down discussion groups and networking opportunities. For more information or to register visit http://www.goodandgreen.biz.