And the Survey Says...

Agencies in the WPP, one of the world's largest communication services groups, released a survey called the "2009 Green Brands Global Survey." The survey, which included the countries of: The US, UK, China, Brazil, India, Germany and France, covers statistical data about its inhabitants and how they see green branding, among many other green-related topics, today and in the near future. I don't know too much about environmental activism in most of the surveyed countries, but in living in the US I found the results of some of the questions very interesting. The most interesting was that consumers in the US reported they would spend significantly less on Eco-friendly products in the following years compared to the countries of Brazil, India and China.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

"Consumers from all seven countries believe that green products cost more than comparable non-green products, and also indicate they plan to spend more money on green products in the coming year. China, India and Brazil showed significant support for additional spend: 73 percent of Chinese consumers say they will spend more, 78 percent of Indians say they'll spend more, and 73 percent of Brazilians plan to increase their green spend. The percentage of respondents who indicate willingness to spend 30 percent or more on green ranges from 8 percent (UK) to 38 percent (Brazil)."


This led me to wonder why the US, a country that I as an average consumer believed to be leading the pack on Eco-friendly attitudes, is not prioritizing green products as much as Brazil, India, and China. Perhaps we as a nation are focused more on appearing green than actually being green. Or maybe these other countries are simply being more active than the US in truly promoting sustainable living. I understand that being sustainable isn't a competition but rather a way of life, so I believe that this survey should be seen as motivation to recognize that even when we feel we are making positive effort on the green front, we should not be satisfied. We should look at what the countries that, according to this survey, are leading the pack and see how as a nation we can improve Eco-friendly attitudes to beyond a fad...which I feel in many cases for some people is what it is.