TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, September 8, 2008 (ENS) – Contrary to the idea that environmentalism is a youth movement, consumers over 55 years old are the most prolific users of green products in the United States, according to survey results released Saturday by ICOM Information & Communications, a Toronto-based marketing communications company.

ICOM conducted the household products survey in March and April 2008 with 6,036 people responding from across the United States.

The poll shows that despite higher costs, more than six in 10 U.S. homes now use environmentally friendly household products.

Both male and female groups 55 years and older reported above average usage of environmentally-friendly home goods.

How green is your home? (Photo
courtesy The Company Store)

Leading the way are 55-59 year old females, who are more than twice as likely as the average consumer to use green products, the survey shows.

Males 65-69 years old are second, more than 1.7 times as likely to use green products than the average American.

“The data is very telling for marketers,” said Peter Meyers ICOM vice president of marketing. “There is incredible interest brewing for sustainable products.”

“While the numbers show that significant inroads have been made with the older demographics, they also suggest untapped potential in prime younger consumer groups to engage them with eco-friendly products,” said Meyers.

Showing the penetration of green products into American homes, 61.9 percent of survey respondents said that they do use some type of environmentally friendly product.

When asked why they elect to purchase eco-friendly goods, a leading 33 percent of the group said it “makes me feel good about myself.”

When asked why they elect not to purchase or use green products, 50 percent of non-adopters cited high prices as the main factor.

The next most common reason selected for avoiding green goods was, “I do not believe that they are that much better for the environment,” said 17 percent of respondents.

Of those that said they do not use environmentally friendly products, both male and female demographics aged 25-34 years old were among the “least likely to use” eco-friendly products when compared with the national average.

“Younger demographics are still green, that is, inexperienced when it comes to engaging with environmentally friendly goods,” said Meyers.

“The data suggests that targeting these groups with more calculated offers – such as at slightly more aggressive price points, appealing to their personal values or reinforcing the true benefits for the environment,” he said, “could introduce green products to a new, promising consumer base.”

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NEW YORK, New York, December 26, 2007 (ENS) – A wide majority of holiday shoppers expressed a willingness to pay more for eco-friendly gifts and took note of the country where items were made, finds the 2007 Annual National Shopping Behavior Survey by the audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP.

“When consumers had the opportunity, they purchased gifts to fit their social conscience,” said John Rittenhouse, a KPMG retail partner and national leader for Operations Risk Management.

“The ‘green-quotient’ and a product’s country of origin have become important reputational concerns for shoppers, due mainly to recent publicity on the environment and manufacturing issues in emerging markets,” he said.

Some 88 percent of the survey respondents, Rittenhouse said, were very concerned about the environment, 74 percent indicated they buy environmentally friendly products, 60 percent were willing to pay more for such items, and 55 percent say they make a special effort to patronize retailers with a “green” reputation.

Shoppers in a Philadelphia area
mall. (Photo by Gina Rubel)

In addition, 40 percent of consumers said they checked the country of origin on potential gifts, with 31 percent using such information to decide against a purchase.

While 79 percent of those decisions not to buy an item involved products from China, toys were involved more than half (52 percent) of the time.

Money appeared to be more of an issue this year. While an average of 36 percent of shoppers have previously reported spending more each year during similar surveys from 2003 to 2006, just 30 percent of respondents in 2007 said they spent more than the preceding holiday season on gifts.

Mark Larson, KPMG’s global leader for the retail sector, said the survey shows that well-stocked retailers with a customer friendly return policy continued to attract business. He observed that 76 percent of shoppers said their spending decisions were influenced most when a store had the item they expected, while 58 percent cited a store’s return policy as influential.

By contrast, 47 percent said newspaper ads affected where they shopped, and 43 percent said a coupon figured into the decision, the survey said.

Rittenhouse said, “The KPMG survey respondents said they shopped basically at the same time they do every year, and sales or early promotions did little to change their patterns.”

“Even though price remains the most significant driver to attract customers initially, busy shoppers told us they went to the retailer where experience told them they could get what they wanted,” said Larson.

The survey, designed and managed by The Gordman Group, was conducted randomly by telephone with 815 shoppers. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent, at a 95 percent confidence level.

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