Eric Block On Responsible Branding

Proving once again that existing approaches to reporting and marketing sustainability initiatives and corporate social responsibility are failing to connect, new research from The Hartman Group demonstrates too few people are aware of sustainable products and companies.

While the research indicates at 15% increase in awareness of the term “sustainability” up to 69%, just 21% of people responding to the survey could identify a sustainable product.

“We’re seeing a broad gap in the way consumers and companies think about and approach sustainability,” said Laurie Demeritt, Hartman Group President & COO. “That very few consumers today can name a sustainable company underscores the fact that so many Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability activities go relatively unnoticed by consumers.”

Demeritt continues in the Hartman release:  “Above all consumers are looking for companies that are good citizens. From this perspective, we say consumers equate sustainability with the golden rule, or a reciprocal notion of fair treatment of communities, people or animals, and look through this lens when evaluating companies or thinking about which brands to use.”

More than 1,600 U.S. adult consumers participated in the online survey.