Measuring Success - Findings from the New Green Shopper Survey

Net Balance, in conjunction with the Australian Food and Grocery Council, recently published the results from its Green Shopper Survey.

Between 1st and 22nd March 2010, a representative sample of 1,000 Australian supermarket shoppers were interviewed at the point of sale of Woolworths Supermarkets in four store locations, two in Sydney and two in Melbourne.

The aim of the questionnaire was to understand how far environmental considerations feature when consumers make purchasing decisions and whether this was evident in their purchases on that store visit.

Ross Wyatt from Netbalance joined us at the Green Brands Forum to dissect these findings and help us understand who green shoppers are, what motivates them and how we as marketers can use our powers for good, not evil.

AUDIO - Ross Wyatt

Who are these green shoppers and do they exist?

Ross looked first at segmentation. It is of course valuable to segment but it's just as important to understand that people aren't always who they think they are, they don't always do what they think they do. A good example of this is that whilst 80% of people surveyed agreed they should drive less, only 20% were actually willing to walk more than two blocks to shop.

Another danger of segmentation is that it makes us believe that sustainability is niche. It's not. This study shows that sustainability is already mainstream, with 80% of people surveyed saying that they think about environmental issues when shopping and 84% concerned about the impact that their purchasing decisions have on the world.

Only 13%, however had actually made a green purchase when surveyed on the day. The Green Shopper Survey seeks to understand the gap evident between intent and behaviour.

What are they concerned about?

51% of participants were concerned 'a lot' or 'quite a lot' with the lack of information and green labelling currently available and 74% are concerned 'a lot' or 'quite a lot' with greenwash. They are most likely to trust claims from environmental groups and be guided by environmental logos which puts the onus on our industry to find a workable way to develop trustworthy and authentic labelling.

As Ross stated, Australia is well placed to stop the proliferation of labels before it gets out of control - egos need to be placed to one side so that we can work out a clear way forward.

What did they buy?

Toilet paper, dishwashing liquid and free range eggs came top of the list, with the pleasing inclusion of fresh produce as a green purchase. As Ross pointed out, fruit hasn't got a leaf printed in it, it is a leaf!

Conclusions

Nobody enjoys destroying the environment. Consumers are willing to make more sustainable choices but they need some help.

Manufacturers are starting to respond and take responsibility for their actions, but environmental claims are often not trusted.

'Gruen us Green' - shoppers shop by intuition, Ross cited free range eggs as a good example of how retailers have guided consumers to make a more sustainable choice.

Manufactures need to take the lead, not just respond when they are held to account.