Why do you buy "Green" products?

Question

I'm doing a paper for a class and the topic I've picked is "marketing natural products to green consumers". I need some ideas other than my own.

What catches your eye? Are there particular brands you trust? Or don't trust? Do you take packaging into consideration? Or distribution distance? Do you look into companies or trust word of mouth/the package/advertising?

Really, any thoughts on Green products (other than a debate whether or not to use them-it's irrelevant to me) would be helpful.

Oh, and by "products" here, I'm talking about little things like natural shampoo, eco-friendly dishwashing soap, recycled paper, etc. Just regular household products that you've replaced with environmentally friendly alternatives.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I use Green products to be kind to the Earth.

For cleaning products I use Method.  I really like all their options.

For beauty items I use Trader Joe's.

I have researched both companies and find them to be true in their environmental claims.

Answer 2

I purchase 'green' products because I feel it is my duty to be environmentally aware of how I am consuming and creating waste. I look for products that are created from the most post-consumer content I can. In our home, I try and utilize ways of conserving energy and consumable products in order to be a more 'green' citizen. By that I mean I try to use fabric napkins instead of paper, I do only full loads of laundry instead of partial and the same goes for when I use the dishwasher. Back to your questions about brands, trust, marketing, advertising, and distribution.

It has become increasingly difficult to know where a product has been made, one must become a vigilant label reader and researcher to know. When I can, I try and purchase food products that are grown locally or as close to home as possible. Consuming goods in this manner promotes the local economy, I believe it also provides me and my family with high quality foods. When reading the labels of food products, one would be surprised where our food comes from, just because the label says "Michigan Brand" cottage  cheese- does not mean it is produced here. The Food and Drug Administration does have some guidelines to protect the consumer and even goes so far as to require the label to  list all ingredients. The actions of the FDA make us trusting, complacent consumers. We are loured into believing what the label has printed on it, even if it is a thinly veiled truth. Most  people do not read or really understand the processes in which the products they buy are produced.

So, do I buy green? Yes, especially when it seems to be a product that is saving energy or resources. Do I believe all products that are advertised as being 'green' are, probably not. I should do some research in this area. I look for ways to recycle and am vigilant in this area, even though the Federal Government allows Canada to dump industrial waste into the landfills in Michigan. If even half of the landfill waste is coming from Canada and other states, I have to do what I can right here at home. Just look at the landfill behind the Palace of Auburn Hills. Ten years ago it did not tower over that building, 25 years ago it was not even visible from an airplane. Today, if I could measure it, I'd bet it is taller than Pine k**b or Mount Holly.

Good luck on your paper and be a thoughtful consumer.

Kellie

Answer 3

Hello. I buy green products for so many reasons. It feels good knowing that the earth, your family, and your own body are being subjected to fewer chemicals and are making a difference. I buy green cleaners because I don't like to breath in the harsh chemical vapors as I clean or leave residues that are potentially harmful. I also don't want a lot of toxic cleaners around that my 2 and a half year old could get into. Also biodegradability is a big concern, because the earth is a lot more then just humans. :D  try to buy products produced in the USA, and preferably from local stores as often as possible to not waste more oil in transportation of the products. Lastly, green products need to be researched to a degree for the most part. There isn't any regulation of what a company can claim on its labels, sometimes it is outright lies. There are ,unfortunately, a lot of buisnesses that will try to take advantage of a person wanting to go green, to earn some more money. :D Hope it helps.

Answer 4

First and foremost, I buy 'American' products.  I will not buy those 'green' shopping bags made in China and shipped over here.  What a WASTE of resources for a feel-good product!

What's more, when Americans make something, they are careful to ensure it complies with health and safety standards.  When our production is shut down for 'environmental' reasons, it is merely shifted to China where factories produce MORE pollution to make the same product!

I try to also buy all-natural products.  Made in America.

Like "W Ketchup".

Answer 5

Here is a good article I found

A new market research study of Americans' green passions and buying habits is out this week, from the venerable Yankelovich. I've just seen a presentation on the findings, and it's at once fascinating and maddening. That is, fascinating if you want a glimpse into Americans' green turn-ons and turn-offs. Maddening if you are trying to figure out how to sell into this unruly market space.

First, the bottom line. "Given consumer attitudes today, green is best characterized as a niche opportunity in the consumer marketplace," says Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich. "It is a strong niche opportunity, but it is not a mainstream interest that is passionately held or strongly felt by the majority of consumers."

Or, perhaps more to the point: "The majority of consumers really don't care all that much about the environment. Green simply doesn't has not captured the public imagination."

Ouch.

After endless months of magazine covers, TV specials, Al Gore, Live Earth, and a gazillion other media stories and events, how can this be? After all the warnings about flooded coastlines, drowning polar bears, more Katrinas, and the increased threat of invasion of everything from infectious insects to rogue superweeds, why aren't people concerned? Has all this fallen on deaf ears?

Says Smith: "The fact is, the amount of media interest given to the environment far exceeds the amount of consumer interest. It's not that consumers aren't aware of the environment, but there's something missing in the way consumers are processing information given to them about the environment today."

Consider: 82% of Americans have neither read nor seen Al Gore's book or movie.

That will likely be news to the many environmental activists and professionals I hear from who proclaim that we've reached a "tipping point" or "inflection point" on the environment -- the notion that public sentiment is growing, and will soon lead companies and products to transform their ways of doing business. (This may be the real green business bubble I keep hearing about.)

The problem, explains Smith, is that green marketing realities fly in the face of conventional marketing wisdom. "People don't buy products. They buy solutions to problems," as Ted Levitt, a marketing guru at Harvard Business School, once famously put it. But since most consumers don't see the environment as a problem, green marketers must take an extra step, helping them not just to understand the problem, but to actually care about it.

Some of Yankelovich's findings are sobering, to say the least. For example, 37% of consumers feel "highly concerned" about environmental issues, but only 25% feel highly knowledgeable about environmental issues. And only 22% feel they can make a difference when it comes to the environment.

The Yankelovich study, like many others before it, offers a consumer segmentation model, dividing the marketplace into five groups (in declining order of commitment): Greenthusiasts (13% of the U.S. population, or more than 30 million consumers), Greenspeaks (15%), Greensteps (25%), Greenbits (19%) -- and the biggest group, Greenless (29%). As with other segmentation models, there is a rich lode of data and psychographics about each.

Yankelovich's segmentations are based both on attitudes and actual behaviors, which sets them apart from most others, which are based only on attitudes. This is where things get interesting. According to the research, green behaviors and attitudes often take divergent paths -- green attitudes don't always predict green behavior, and green behaviors often occur without accompanying attitudes. Example: Greenbits consumers say they are more inclined to pay more than Greenspeaks consumers for green products, but their behavior doesn't sync up -- they buy these products less frequently than the Greenspeak-ers.

All of which presents opportunities for green marketers to change attitudes as well as behaviors, if done so in a targeted fashion. For example, says Smith, if you're trying to change the behaviors of Greenless and Greenbits consumers, increasing their knowledge has nothing to do with it. "It is strictly a matter of making it personally relevant," he says. "This is the group that is most likely to think that the media are making things seem worse than they really are."

Making all of this even more challenging is something Yankelovich calls the Mushiness Index, a device developed by Daniel Yankelovich himself more than a quarter-century ago. It measures the firmness of opinion on a topic -- the degree to which consumers are comfortable and sure about how they think.

When it comes to the environment, opinions are pretty mushy, Yankelovich found. "The vast majority of people don't have very well-articulated views of the environment," says Yankelovich. "They can answer an overnight public opinion poll. But that's not an answer they can necessarily talk about in-depth or understand the costs and consequences about those things. Even something like global warming, where there's been a lot of talk, the distribution of opinion is not very firm."

There's a lot more good stuff here. You can watch a one-hour webinar on the Yankelovich study here (registration required).

The bottom line is that there is no one-size-fits-all marketing strategy when it comes to green. That may seem like common sense, but such wisdom seems to elude most marketers, who still insist on pushing out marketing efforts that are variously too vague, too technical, or way too -- well, mushy.

Answer 6

Well, I don't have much of a choice.  In my local supermarket there isn't much of a selection.  So I would say I purchase the more affordable green product.  I also take into consideration the packaging.  I buy a lot of green baby products because I don't want harsh chemicals around my baby.

Answer 7

I purchase all my dishwashing soap (automatic & hand), laundry detergent, baby wipes etc. from Seventh Generation in bulk.  The reason I buy in bulk right now from the internet is because the products aren't readily available in stores.  

I have noticed that my allergic reactions and itching have gone away since switching laundry detergent.  There is no scent in the dish soap and a mild apple scent in the dishwashing liquid.  All products work just as well as any Dawn or Tide products and I feel better about using them because they don't use petroleum but instead use vegetable based cleaners.  I also like the baby wipes as they don't use chlorine and are scent free.

Answer 8

When I get the opportunity to shop I look for the product I want and then see if that product range as the recycle symbol.

Usually products such as writing paper,kitchen roll and etc.

Obviously I need them but not at just any cost.