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Studies Agree: Green Marketing Works!

Two recent studies – one a professional marketing study and the other a college honors thesis – make a strong case for the value of green marketing.

In the professional study, 33 percent of respondents said green marketing was more effective than their normal marketing efforts, with just 7 percent saying it was less effective, according to a study of 370 marketing executives for Environmental Leader.  Other findings include smaller firms tend to spend more, on a proportional basis, on green marketing, and the Internet is by far the most popular green marketing medium. The full study is available for $479.

In the college study, Wittenberg University student Lukas Treu (currently an intern here at Dix & Eaton) found that Chevron’s green marketing (its Untapped Energy commercial) is paying off in building the Company’s trustworthiness, goodwill on the environment and overall credibility. Lukas also found that environmentally involved people are more likely to believe and trust Chevron than those who are not as interested in environmental issues. His psychoanalysis of the results is enlightening: People who care most about the environment have an increased motivation to process the messages. The more they care about a topic, the more attention they pay; the more attention they pay, the more a message can persuade them. This study is available here for free.

Interesting findings all the way around. If you have a story to tell, and you tell it well, the people who matter most will believe and trust you. And probably reward you with their business.

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The New York Times: Big Business = Environmentalists

Look back at the December 6 New York Times Sunday Opinion section and you’ll find this headline, “Will Big Business Save the Earth?”

The author, Jared Diamond, op-ed contributor to The New York Times and UCLA Professor of Geography, answers with a resounding “yes” and to make his point, he profiles three companies, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Chevron, which he admits “many critics of business love to hate.” Today, he says, companies such as these are “among the world’s strongest positive forces for environmental sustainability.”

Among his specific comments:
- Wal-Mart is changing procedures, working to double the fuel efficiency of its truck fleet, pursuing a goal of zero packaging waste, and buying from sustainability-managed sources.
- Coca-Cola is committed to fresh water conservation and protection, recycling plastic bottles, and reducing energy consumption.
- Regarding Chevron, he says, “Not even in any national park have I seen such rigorous environmental protection as I encountered in five visits to new Chevron-managed oil fields in Papua, New Guinea.

Whether you’re pro-business or anti-business, it’s an interesting read. It confirms sentiment I heard at the “Business as an Agent of World Benefit” Global Forum at Case Western Reserve University earlier this year.

Business is saying and doing the right things, and it’s making a difference. Even in tough economic times, doing well by doing good is working. Sustainability = Attainability.

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