Majority of UK consumers refuse to pay a premium for green products

by James Quilter , Brand Republic 06-Feb-09, 08:50

LONDON - Marketing directors could be overestimating how much UK consumers are prepared to pay for ethical products, according to fresh research.

In the study 38% of UK consumers said they would pay a premium for environmentally-friendly products. Marketing directors believe just under half of consumers would pay more.

The research was carried out by CCB fastMAP on behalf of marketing agency Gyro.

On a global level a higher proportion of UK consumers were prepared to pay more for ethical products than their US counterparts (32%). However, many more European consumers (55%) would accept an ethical premium.

However, the decision not to pay more for ethical does not mean UK consumers are not concerned about environmental issues.

In a list of consumer concerns, the environment comes behind the cost of living and terrorism and above house prices and immigration.

Across the three regions it was found consumers were prepared to pay more for ethical products in the food and grocery category (68%). This was followed by automobiles and fuel (65%) and utilities (56%).

Comments

M S Ray - 06/02/2009

There seem to be some inconsistencies in the conclusions above. If 38% of UK consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products how can that be LOWER than the US 32%?

Michael Buffham - 06/02/2009

You need to re-read this. it is actually 2 things you are comparing in your comment review - ethical vs environmental. There is no inconsisteny in what is written. I am not involved in this specialisation but the findings align to where my gut instict would say. My view is this would decline further as the economy declines and price value becomes of key importance. Interesting.

Daniel Farey-Jones - 06/02/2009

@M S Ray - Thanks for pointing this inconsistency out. The story should have read that the UK proportion was higher than the US and that has been cleared up now.

Jeff Samuels - 08/02/2009

If people want to get serious \(and cleaner) about the environment then they should get a Bathroom Bidet Sprayer from www.bathroomsprayers.com and you won't even need toilet paper anymore, just a towel to dry off! It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. . You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper, nasty. Now we're talking green and helping the environment without any pain.