My general belief is that the new emerging markets don't care so much about the environment, as they feel now it is their turn to be the big players. They believe the established nations should make up for what they have done wrong the last 60ish years. This idea was enforced through China's behavior on the COP15 last weeks in Copenhagen.
But luckily consumers in these countries don't completely share this opinion. A global survey on green brands by the branding firm Landor revealed some surprising facts. Green marketing is really important to most consumers, and Brazilians turn out to be the most opinionated about green matters out of the seven countries participating in the study.
The majority of countries in the study believe the environment is on the wrong track, whereas the majority of Indian and Chinese respondents (around 65 percent) think that the environment is on the right track. Rather surprising that only participants in India and Brazil are more concerned about the environment then about the economy. This might be an indication that countries like the US, UK, France and Germany are afraid that too much 'green' could hurt their economy.
Consumers also make a conscious effort to buy green products (81 percent in Brazil ) and they intend to spend more on green products in the year to come. India, China and Brazil score the highest here, but this might be because the green marketing trend is only just emerging, while consumers in other markets are already buying more products.
Consumers in all countries indicate that there are still obstacles to buying green products, the reasons depend on the country. While in developed countries the price is the main hurdle, consumers in India and Brazil find it hard to find green products. Chinese consumers on the other hand are concerned with unclear labeling of products.
Buying from companies that are environmentally responsible is very important (more then 93 percent of the respondents) in emerging countries while established countries iew this less of an issue.
In Brazil consumers heavily rely on advertising to inform them about green products. Western countries seem less receptive to this, maybe distrust of the media plays a role here.
So while governments remain skeptical of green initiatives (or slow in the actual execution of these initiatives), the consumers seem really open to green products. 2010 will no doubt present more opportunities for brands to capitalize on this green trend.
Different opinion? Please share!
