Survey finds green consumers are shrugging off downturn

The vast majority of consumers still believe that it is important to buy green products and services, despite the impact of the recession on household budgets.

That is the conclusion of a major YouGov survey of over 2,000 adults published this week, which found that two thirds of people still regard it as important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, while one in seven claimed to have shunned companies' products based on their poor environmental reputation.

Almost two thirds of respondents also claimed that environmental concerns influence their purchasing decisions "the same as a year ago", despite the onset of recession and growing fears that green products that are offered at price premium could become marginalised.

Harry Morrison, head of the Carbon Trust Standard, which commissioned the survey, said that it provided evidence that "consumer values do not change, even in a middle of a recession".

However, the survey also found that many consumers lack confidence in company’s green claims and find it difficult to distinguish between competing environmental records.

Seven out of ten respondents said that they do not feel confident that they can clearly identify which companies are environmentally responsible, while 59 per cent expressed scepticism at firms' environmental claims.

Morrison said that the survey confirmed that there was a strong commercial case for firms to invest in delivering real and verifiable emission cuts. "We believe companies that take real action will seize the dual benefits of immediate cost savings and a stronger reputation, which is good for business," he said.