Going Green: Do Consumers Buy It?
The greening of corporate America often has less to do with environmental concern and more to do with perceived influence on consumers, who are hungry for environmentally friendly products and services. But a survey released this month by global business communications firm Gibbs & Soell found that only 21 percent of American consumers actually believe businesses are committed to going green.
In Part Two of our series highlighting the first SAGE-published issue of Social Marketing Quarterly (SMQ), we present a new study which finds that green efforts are impacting consumers–but not necessarily in the ways we would expect. David Raska and Doris Shaw, both of Northern Kentucky University, published “Is the Greening of Firms Helping Consumers to Go Green?” in the SMQ March 2012 edition. Click here to view the Table of Contents.
The abstract:
Although research supports the notion that consumers look favorably upon firms that implement popular social behaviors like ‘‘going green,’’ little is known about how such practices impact the consumer’s own social attitudes and behaviors. In two experiments, the authors explore this underresearched area in social marketing by examining how a firm’s stated motive for its environmentally friendly behaviors as well as brand loyalty influence consumer attitudes toward, and intentions for, similar behaviors. Implications for social marketers are provided regarding the development of effective social marketing programs. These results suggest that society may best be served when marketers integrate more honesty and transparency into socially responsible claims since consumers are more likely to model their behavior under these circumstances.
Read the full article here, and bookmark Management INK to get more upcoming highlights from Social Marketing Quarterly. You can find Part One of our series, which discussed the intersection of political and social marketing, here.
Social Marketing Quarterly, peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is a scholarly, internationally circulated journal that covers theoretical, research and practical issues confronting social marketers. Published in association with FHI360, SMQ is the only journal exclusively focused on social marketing issues. SMQ targets social marketers and other public health, communication, marketing, and social science professionals with research studies, case studies, conference notices, essays, editorials, book reviews, and other relevant news regarding social marketing efforts around the world. To learn more about the journal, please click here.
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