WPP research on green behaviour reveals intersting marketing insights

A newly released survey, conducted in the US, the UK, China, Brazil, India, Germany and France indicates that while many environmental beliefs and behaviours are shared across different consumer cultures, others vary widely. Generally, consumers in the US, UK, Germany and France tend to align in their attitudes, consumers in Brazil, India, and China have divergent views, but are particularly inclined to seek green products and favour companies they consider green.

The research, conducted by WPP agencies Cohn & Wolfe, Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB) as well as independent strategy consulting firm Esty Environmental Partners, also identifies some critical trends on which consumers are in global agreement.

Consumers from all seven countries believe that green products cost more than comparable non-green products, and also indicate they plan to spend more money on green products in the coming year.

China, India and Brazil showed significant support for additional spend: 73 per cent of Chinese consumers say they will spend more, 78 per cent of Indians say they'll spend more, and 73 per cent of Brazillians plan to increase their green spend. The percentage of respondents who indicate willingness to spend 30 per cent or more on green ranges from 8 per cent (UK) to 38 per cent (Brazil).

"With the global climate change discussion focused on what the major new economic powerhouses like China, India, and Brazil are willing to do to control their emissions, those three countries stood out in our polling as more interested in buying from environmentally-friendly companies and more willing to spend more on green products," said Scott Siff, executive vice president of PSB. "From a political perspective, this turns the assumptions about those countries on their heads, and from a business perspective it says the market for green branding and green products may be even bigger than generally thought."

The study finds similar global agreement when consumers are asked about how important it is for companies to be "green." At least 77 per cent of consumers in all countries say it's somewhat or very important; in India and China the numbers are significantly higher: 87 and 98 per cent, respectively, say that corporate reputation is an important purchase consideration.