How can brands make their sustainability messages relevant and avoid green wash? New research by Dragon Rouge in London.
The new research by Dragon Rouge expands on the well established DEFRA Influencing Behaviours segmentation to explore different attitudes towards sustainability across the population.
Our research shows that consumers attitudes to sustainability varies widely across different segments as does their willingness and ability to take action.
Despite the downturn consumers are not turning their back on green values but they are interpreting them in different ways and using a variety of strategies satisfy them.
There remains a broad gap between consumers desire for products which make it easy for them to “to the right thing” and availability of mainstream products which meet this need.
The drivers for taking action on sustainability are powerful and deeply held as they are connected to consumers sense of identity, values and concern for their children. The barriers to action are challenges that marketers well versed in overcoming, such as cost, convenience and awareness.
When it comes to communicating green messages a complex set of rules of engagement exists. How and what brands can say depends variety of factors including their previous reputation, their tone of voice and what they are asking consumers to do.
Drawing consumers attention to the bigger picture and reminding them of the scale of problem we are facing reminds consumers that we are all in this together, encourages them to take personal responsibility makes them more susceptible to changing behaviour, However care must be taken to not get stuck in the guilt trap.
Communicating green values is a fundamentally different as brands need to convince consumers that they are trust worthy, not that a product or service is effective or high quality. The question of building trust is no longer just about benefit delivery but about convincing consumers that you are a ‘good citizen’.
The nature of topic of sustainability requires that all brands must establish a position on sustainability and integrate it at the heart of their brand model. Sustainability offers a platform that can add depth, modernity, quality, human values or provenance to a brand, however not addressing it poses a serious risk to brand trust and reputation.
