A major new research report was issued this week from marketing agency Ogilvy Earth studying the barriers to mainstream consumers acceptance of sustainability behaviors and enlightened brands.
The focus of the study was both in the United States and in China, two of the most populated and carbon intensive countries in the world. In the chart below, the report shows that the majority of people surveyed recognize the importance of living a sustainable lifestyle, a gap exists between knowledge of its importance and actual behavior. The gap is 14% in China, and more than double that – 30% – in the United States.
In analysis of the research, Ogilvy Earth observed what this blogger has believed for 3+ years:
“The marketing communications industry knows how to do this. We popularize things; that’s what we do best. But we need to embrace the simple fact that if we want green behaviors to be widespread, then we need to treat them as mass ideas with mass communications, not elite ideas with niche communications.”
In their analysis, the researchers found that “82% of Americans have good green intentions, but of those 82%, only 16% are dedicated to fulfilling those intentions, putting 66% firmly in this middle ground.” As indicated in the chart about.
In their conclusions, the report’s authors identify 12 key ways they believe the Green Gap can be bridged. They conclude:
1. Make it normal.
2. Make it personal.
3. Create better defaults.
4. Eliminate the sustainability tax.
5. Bribe shamelessly.
6. Punish wisely.
7. Don’t stop innovating. Make better stuff.
8. Lose the crunch.
9. Turn eco-friendly into male ego-friendly.
10. Make it tangible.
11. Make it easy to navigate.
12. Tap into hedonism over altruism.
For more detail and explanation on these intriguing and provocative gap bridging strategies, read the entire research report here.
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