BusinessWeek Logo

New Study: Americans Misunderstand Eco-Marketing

Posted by: Heather Green on April 15

A new survey released by consultant Cone LLC and the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, finds that Americans misunderstand key words used in green marketing, giving products more green cred than they deserve.

39% of Americans buy product that they think are “environmentally friendly.”

But 48% believe that these products have a positive impact on te environment, while only 22% get that these words actually mean that he impact is less negative.

The survey clearly shows that Americans do not realize this green gap exists:

47% trust companies to tell them the truth in green messaging
and 61% say they understand the marketing terms

Still, Americans want oversight: 59% want the government to regulate messaging.

The 2008 Green Gap Survey was done online February 21-22 by Opinion Research Corporation, which interviewed 1,080.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/

Post a comment

 

About

In Green Business, BusinessWeek Energy & Environment Editor Adam Aston and Associate Editor Heather Green cover the green scene from New York, with Senior Correspondent John Carey in Washington D.C. and correspondent Mark Scott filing from London. Keeping on top of the business aspects of energy, the environment and climate change, their focus is the technologies, policies, markets and people that are shaping how the earth's resources will be used in the century ahead.

RSS Feed: Green Business

BW Mall - Sponsored Links