Green

CNN is on a roll with the global green consumer. Earlier today I posted an article and video clip about a store in London. Now we have an interesting story from China, “Would Chinese consumers ‘go green’ — if given the choice?” (CNN.com, May 4, 2010) including, to my surprise, the following revelation:

Landor recently conducted a brand survey that shows consumers in China are actually more concerned about green issues than consumers in the United States or Europe. For example, 45 percent of those surveyed in China said they consider it very important that a company is green when thinking about which brands to purchase, compared to 23 percent in the United States.

This video clip could be shown along with the earlier one to try to get a better handle on how green affects consumers. I have seen other studies which suggest Chinese consumers can be very price conscious — one study we cite in our text books indicated a willingness to pay a premium of only 2% for branded products they purchase regularly (as opposed to unbranded products). In the U.S. and many other developed countries the premium is typically 20% or more. There can be many reasons for that of course.

The aricle and video clip raise interesting issues around sustainability, consumer behavior across cultures, and international marketing.

In this article, “America’s 10 Greenest Brands?” posted on GreenBiz.com on September 29, 2009, we read about a consumer survey that identifies what consumers feel are green brands.

Many of my students are interested in sustainability and making green purchase choices. This could be discussed in the context of sustainability, marketing research, or positioning. It could also be a fun example using “Clickers.” I created a question that asked “In a survey of U.S. consumers, which of the following brands was not listed among the U.S.’s 10 greenest brands?” [I had five options – including Disney which surprised me by being on the list – and added Method which was not one of the Top 10.] In addition, ideas from the article can be singled out for discussion. For example, 38% of Brazilian consumers show a willingness to spend a premium of 30% or more to buy green products.