consumption

54% of Consumers Care About Product Sustainability

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

Some of you might read this and think “only half of shoppers care?” while some of you might read this and think “that’s more than I thought!”. What I find most captivating is that this statistic is from a survey done by marketers to find out if people truly care about the environmental sustainability of a product. Just think, twenty, or even ten years ago people would’ve laughed at you if you mentioned how bad some products are for the environment.

Today half of shoppers will choose the more environmental product and now 95% of shoppers are willing to shop green. Here’s the press release on the survey.

“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 percent, are open to considering green products, 67 percent of shoppers looked for green products, only 47 percent actually found them and 22 percent 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.

Shopping cArt Race in Toronto

- Adam Clare

I’m organizing the Toronto Idiotarod and I like to think that these sort of crazy events function as art.

We’re de-contextualizing the shopping cart which is a device designed to have people consume more than they normally would. In the Idiotarod the shopping cart is not something that you’ll want to fill with objects. We’re taking a tool used for consumption and turning it into something fun.

At each checkpoint the Idiots (racers) will be given information from an environmental organization and condoms from a health organization. We’re trying to educate people about issues in their own city by providing a fun experience.

If you live in Toronto, hop on the TTC or your bike and come to Grange Park for the 4pm start of the race!

China Bans plastic Bags

- Adam Clare

taken by Lulu VisionChina has decided to ban plastic shopping bags!

This piece of news caught me off guard, I had no idea that they were even considering such a measure. The ban will come into effect on 1 June 2008 and not only does it forbid the use of plastic bags in stores, but it also forbids the production of the bags. I have no idea whether the ban will impact bags made for export, I hope it does.

China uses too many of the bags and fails to dispose of them properly, wasting valuable oil and littering the country, China’s cabinet, the State Council, said in a notice.

“Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic bags every year. While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources, because of excessive use and inadequate recycling,” it said.

Worries about pollution are growing among ordinary citizens, as years of breakneck growth take their toll on the country’s air and water, but the new ban may not be universally welcomed.

Late last year the southern boom town of Shenzhen sparked a public controversy by unveiling draft regulations to ban free plastic bags in its shops.

Thanks, Shealyn!

Improve Your Self-Esteem and Save the Planet

- Adam Clare

Consumption in itself is bad for the planet, no matter how you cut it. Material things are generally made from finite resources (like how oil is made into plastic); so the less we buy the better we treat the planet.

This isn’t hard to do. In fact, it’s easier for people who have high self-esteem. Apprently, some new reseach is out that argues that the more confidence an individual has the less likely it is that they will buy material objects for comfort.

“By the time children reach early adolescence, and experience a decline in self-esteem, the stage is set for the use of material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth,” they write in the study, which will appear in the Journal of Consumer Research.

The paradox that findings such as these bring up, is that consumerism is good for the economy but bad for the individual. In the short run, it’s good for the economy when young people believe they need to buy an entirely new wardrobe every year, for example. But the hidden cost is much higher than the dollar amount. There are costs in happiness when people believe that their value is extrinsic. There are also environmental costs associated with widespread materialism.

I guess this can be further backed up by examples that billionaires don’t like spending their money.

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