Finding the Green in Today's Shoppers

Fifty-four percent of shoppers demonstrated that they actively consider environmental sustainability characteristics in their buying decisions, according to a new study released today by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and Deloitte. But while shoppers are often thinking green, they actually bought green products on just 22% of their shopping trips. More than 6,400 shopper intercept interviews were conducted for the survey, which is the basis of a larger GMA-Deloitte report released today titled Finding the Green in Today's Shoppers: Sustainability Trends and New Shopper Insights. (For the full report, download the attachement at right.)"We found that for most shoppers, sustainable considerations are an important tie breaker when deciding between two otherwise equal products and they are a driver in product switching," said Brian Lynch, GMA director of sales and sales promotion. "But it's not enough to just put green products on the shelf. We have to better educate consumers and leverage in-store communication to make the sale."Most shoppers surveyed, 95%, are open to considering green products, 67% of shoppers looked for green products, only 47% actually found them and 22% purchased some green products on their shopping trip, highlighting the need for better shopper marketing programs to close the gap. Sometimes concerns about product performance and credibility of the environmental claims are the reasons shoppers opt not to buy green products, but more often communication and product education are the biggest obstacles. The study also found that a significant minority of committed and proactive green shoppers will pay a premium for sustainable products; however, the larger potential population of shoppers that lean toward green want price and performance parity for sustainable products because it is not their dominant purchase driver."Sustainable product characteristics are emerging as an important brand differentiator, but to capture the potential market value of green shoppers, retailers and manufacturers must do a better job of communicating the sustainable attributes behind the products to show the value of buying green to the shopper," noted Scott Bearse, director and retail leader of Deloitte LLP's Enterprise Sustainability group. "Consistent, aligned messaging in stores, online and at other touch points will be essential to converting shoppers from simply being interested in green to buying green.""This study marries two of the consumer product industry's top priorities: meeting the needs of consumers and reducing our environmental footprint," said Elliott Penner, Reckitt Benckiser president of food products and GMA Sustainability Task Force leader. "Understanding consumer expectations and shopping behavior are critical to the development of the industry's overall strategy on environmental sustainability."Additional key learnings from the study include: Demographically, green shoppers are diversely spread among all income ranges, age brackets, education levels and various household sizes. On average, green shoppers tend to be older, have higher income and are more educated, but they can be found across the consumer population. Green shoppers represent a high value segment who buy more products on each trip and visit the store more regularly.Green shoppers are less price sensitive than the average shopper and they are generally not bargain hunters.The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents the world's leading food, beverage and consumer products companies. For more information, visit www.gmaonline.org.Deloitte's Enterprise Sustainability group helps clients drive shareholder and stakeholder value through improved environmental, social and economic performance. The group is comprised of a cross-functional team of consulting, financial advisory, tax, and audit and enterprise risk management professionals, serving clients in the areas of corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change. For more information, visit www.deloitte.com.

Finding the Green in Today's Shoppers

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