Women more susceptible to ‘green’ brands
It’s official, women are more likely than men to pay extra for brands claiming to have green credentials, confirms international advertising specialist Euro RSCG today.
According to a study by the Havas agency, which claims to be the first carbon neutral communications agency in the UK, more than half of women (51 per cent) are willing to pay extra for a brand if it is environmentally friendly, compared with just 39 per cent of men.
The research from the agency behind ads for brands bmi, Peugeot and Citroen, also reveals that brands who promote their environmentally-friendly credentials are perceived more positively by women (63 per cent) than men (52 per cent).
In general, men believe claims regarding the impact of climate change are “a bit over-exaggerated” and 14 per cent actually think poorly of brands promoting their green credits.
The findings come after a nationwide survey of 1,000 adults and will be officially unveiled at the ISBA Annual Conference tomorrow.
Russ Lidstone, chief strategy officer at Euro RSCG, said: “The male starting point tends to be more sceptical and cynical both in terms of the reality of climate change and business’s attempts to address it.
“Brands trying to engage men with a green message are already up against a number of perceptual barriers before they even begin to communicate.”
The results of Euro RSCG’s research comes in the same month image specialist Getty warned marketers about trying to “out-green” each other in the battle for consumers’ hearts and minds.
In its own report, Getty advised brands against “greenwashing” the consumer by making false or exaggerated claims.
“When it comes to the visual language of the environment, we are in danger of killing it as a meaningful symbol with visual cliché,” said Lewis Blackwell, creative advisor of Getty Images.
“The first lesson we must learn in order to grab any attention is to make ‘Death to Environmentalism’ our mantra and kill off the clichés of ecology.”
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