When it comes to environmental sustainability, consumers are clearly making a shift from all talk to action. Based on an analysis of online commentary regarding sustainability topics that occurred between 2007 and 2008, J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division determined that consumers are moving from simple discussion and debate of environmental topics to personal actions.
The analysis was based on online commentary gathered from blogs and discussion board posts on topics such as global warming, resource usage, conservation, recycling, energy usage and the environment.
“It is evident that consumer sentiment around the need to adopt environmentally sustainable habits is rapidly changing from skepticism to acceptance to activism,” said Janet Eden-Harris, vice president of J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division. “Brands that are cognizant of this important shift and manage messages about their products and services accordingly have the ability to capitalize on changes that many consumers are making in their everyday lives.”
The analysis provided the following insights about consumer behavior:
●The number of sustainability-related conversations increased.
Conversations about sustainability topics more than doubled from the first quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. There was a marked rise in conversations in mid-2008 as gas prices peaked, with almost 160,000 conversations noted in June 2008.
●Consumer concern and interest in sustainability grew since 2007.
In early 2007, conversations were centered around consumer confusion about conflicting evidence surrounding climate change and were initiated by “negators”—those who denied the existence of climate change and tried to sway the opinions of others. However, by early 2008, acknowledgement of the issue and concern about the environment grew considerably among online contributors. By December 2008, more than 7 out of 10 online posters who mentioned sustainability topics indicated they were concerned about the environment, and nearly one-half of posters reported that they were actively doing something about it, such as cutting back on electricity usage, reducing driving, recycling and buying more “green” products.
●The number of environmental “rejecters” declined.
Online commentary among consumers who are considered “rejecters”—those who are skeptical or ambivalent about environmental concerns and do not make purchase decisions based on environmental factors—declined from a high of 22 percent in early 2007 to only three percent by the end of 2008.
●The proportion of bloggers who consider themselves “activists” increased significantly.
The number of bloggers who actively encourage others to modify their behavior increased considerably during the second half of 2008, growing from eight percent during the first half of 2008 to 18 percent of the total discussion set.
●The percentage of online sustainability conversations mentioning a brand increased slightly.
During the second half of 2007, just nine percent of all sustainability conversations mentioned a brand by name. By June 2008, this figure grew slightly to 11 percent.