Green dollar strong despite downturn

The US may be in the worst recession in decades, but the green consumer market has remained relatively immune to the downturn, according to a new survey of spending trends.

The study, commissioned by environmental certification non-profit Green Seal and green PR firm EnviroMedia, found that half the people surveyed claimed to be spending the same amount on environmentally sustainable products as they were before the financial crisis, while 19 per cent said they were spending more.

The survey also reported that a fifth of consumers rated product reputation as the most important factor when making purchases, while word of mouth and brand loyalty ranked second and third.

However, a third of respondents admitted that they could not accurately evaluate green claims, which might explain why green advertising ranked fourth on the list of decision making factors. Moreover, there was evidence that some firms could still be getting away woth greenwashing, after only 17 per cent of consumers said that they bothered to research claims made in green adverts.

Goods that feature minimally-packaged goods and green cleaning products were amongst the most popular environmentally sustainable products with six out of every ten consumers claiming to purchase them. In contrast, green personal care productswere amongst the leats popular with only 31 per cent of respondents claiming to have bought them.

The survey was conducted by Opinion Research, which interviewed 1,000 people via phone using random-digit dialing. It was released as part of the Greenwashing Forum, which was held in Portland, Oregon, last week.