How to Help Consumers Feel Secure, Not Screwed
How many times have you conducted a survey to test consumer likelihood to buy a product or product, and seen encouraging propensity numbers, only to have actual purchase/participation not bear out like the survey predicted? We see it all the time -- particularly in the green arena.
My firm,Shelton Group是为数不多的广告公司encies in the country entirely focused on motivating mainstream consumers to make sustainable choices. We work with consumer products and services companies -- utilities, building product companies and traditional companies with a green story to tell -- to craft believable, actionable marketing strategies that increase net revenue while simultaneously creating a sustainable world.
To that end, we conduct four proprietary consumer insight studies on an annual basis --Energy Pulse,Eco Pulse,Utility Pulseand Green Living Pulse. The benefit of doing the same study year after year is you can see where consumers did the things they said they would…and where they didn't.
We continually see that likelihood to buy green and/or energy efficient products is high -- usually anywhere from 30-60 percent likely-very likely depending on the product we're testing. Yet year after year the percentage of people who say they've bought those products doesn't add up to the same number who said they would. There are two explanations for this and they're both about fear:
•Fear of being screwed. When it comes to green products this country is in desperate need of a believable, trustworthy green label. In our focus groups consumers often express frustration about not knowing who to believe when it comes to green products. They joke about "Bob in the back" deciding if a product is green or not, slapping an eco logo on it and putting it on the store shelf.
在我们2008年的生态脉冲研究中，只有13％的人口表示，他们认为企业做绿色索赔，因为该公司老板/板真正关心环境（大多数人认为这是一种营销策略）。所以，虽然近一半的人口说，他们认为公司的环保记录，因为他们使他们的购买决策只有7％能说出他们购买，因为他们喜欢一个公司的环境记录在另一个产品。是的，缺乏教育的，但同时也是不信任 - 他们真的不知道该相信谁。
•恐惧拧自己。In our recently released Utility Pulse study we saw that propensity to purchase energy efficient products like programmable thermostats, high efficiency water heaters and insulation was through the roof when consumers learned the potential utility bill savings associated with each product. Yet we also learned through that study that over half the population doesn't believe they're using more electricity today than they were five years ago (which likely isn't true -- as a nation our electricity consumption increased 10 percent over the last five years).
And two-thirds of the population thinks their home is energy efficient as it is, even though two-thirds also told us their homes are over 20 years old (which means their homes likely aren't efficient). So, though consumers say they'll spend the extra money for a higher efficiency product, when it comes time to write the check a little voice in their head says, "You know, your home's already pretty efficient, and you don't use that much electricity anyway, so save the money and do something else with it." And thus they go from "likely to" to "not doing" just like that.
Obviously, the missing link is education. But that piece is tricky. Most consumers don't want to hear a big list of things they're doing wrong or a list of things they need to change or a list of threats of what will happen if they don't change their ways. (It never worked when your mother used those tactics did it?) Yet most green marketing boils down to exactly that.
底线：如果你想鼓励消费者做出环保的选择，你一定要告诉他什么在它他。而且他会为绿色营销回应是，他会为几乎任何其他营销应对同样的事情 - 人类的基本情感需求的满足。他希望获得平和的心态，幸福，操控感。他希望被看作是聪明和冷静。吸引那些司机，并给消费者一个理由相信他们不会被拧，你会从他们可能缓慢而稳步地走向行动。
Suzanne C. Shelton is founder, president and CEO ofShelton Group广告代理公司专注于主流激励消费者作出可持续的选择。
Image bywoodsy
