Bamboo Closet Spenders

The status-conscious use green products in public, but less eco-friendly items in private.

Green products that are used or consumed publicly are more likely to do well than those those products that are low-profile, says a study from The University of Minnesota, which examined consumer behavior and green trends. While some eco-friendly products may perhaps be inferior in quality or more difficult to use than their conventional but earth-unfriendly counterparts, the role of public perception plays a strong role in consumer decision-making, say the researchers.

"Many green purchases are rooted in the evolutionary idea of competitive altruism, the notion that people compete for status by trying to appear more altruistic," Griskevicius added publicly, noting that when consumers make online purchases, they are more likely to buy luxurious, comfort-enhancing products, but when in public, buy eco-friendly items.

The Prius, Griskevicius maintains, is a perfect example of this dynamic, since a car is one of the most public status symbols one may possess.

Vancouver, Canada-based sustainability marketing consultant Lorne Craig says that the study “has little practical application.”

“The small size of the study and the lack of cultural and economic diversity within its participants skews the results,” Craig contends. “Several hundred university students would hardly seem to provide a statistically relevant group upon which to make assertions for the general population.”

Those who are predisposed to seek a university education, he notes, might be more susceptible to status motives in general.

Narciso Tovar, principal at Big Noise Communications says that the study results indicate what we have always known about people—“Human beings are social animals and want to be liked.”

Hollywood’s embrace of various green trends, including eco-friendly transport, may influence the public to make greener choices, he adds.

“When you see folks like Leonard DiCaprio or Tom Hanks driving a Prius, it clearly raises the perceived value of the vehicle,” Tovar explains. “This is not to take away from the real benefits that a hybrid brings to the market—it just catapults it into a much wider audience; thereby changing the game up a bit from a marketing perspective.”

“It makes you look at the person behind the wheel of the hybrid, as well as the styling of the hybrid,” he notes.

Marketing expert Sofia Ribeiro of Kiwano Marketing agrees with Tovar that the celebrity endorsements of green items have granted the movement some glamour. “Green is the new status symbol,” she says. “You see Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon going green and you can expect the crowd to follow.”   

Though the reasons for going green may not be noble, the end result—a healthier planet—may be in reach as long as people respond to the inherent need to be liked.

“This kind of study just solidifies those thoughts we may have when you see a guy that was driving Hummer one day may be driving a hybrid SUV the next—he may not have ‘seen the light’ so much as wanting to send a different message to his peers,” Tovar says.

As green living becomes more popular, the demand for fashionable green items has grown and will continue to expand, he adds. Spending behaviors are changing as more diverse people are making greener choices.

“The average person driving a hybrid these days has changed since the first Prius came out,” Tovar explains. “The way the 2010 Prius looks is a bit different than the way it looked in 1997. It’s not by accident that the styling on the car is a bit more appealing to the eye these days.”  

“The more mainstream ‘green’ gets, the more ‘sexy’ it has to be,” he adds. 

As green products have gone mainstream, their quality should have and should continue to improve as well, notes Ribeiro, who disagrees with the study’s claim that people will buy green products even if this means less comfort and less quality for the consumer.

“From my experience, this couldn't be farther from the truth. In the 1990s, people would definitely consider buying the eco-friendly version of a product, even if that would mean reduced quality,” she maintains. “This is no longer true. Consumers want products that won't compromise their lifestyles or their wallets.”

Status cannot exist without good quality, Ribeiro contends.   

“Green products can be a status symbol only if that means that green products provide, at the very least, the basic experience consumers would have with the non-green version,” she explains. “So green products that compare equally to their non-eco counterparts will sell well; green products that miss the quality mark won't enjoy mass adoption. If you have this basic rule of thumb in mind, then it's just a matter of applying the basic luxury marketing strategies—and you get a ‘premium’ or ‘luxury’ green product or brand.”

Craig maintains that as green appeal broadens, it is important to keep in mind how the consumer base is changing. “Most research supports the idea that individuals will shop green for different reasons, and these preferences can be viewed as a spectrum,” he says. “That a Hummer-Driving NRA Supporter will have a different set of reasons for product choice than a Tofu-Munching Greenpeacer is no surprise. But there are significant differences even among those predisposed to green behavior.”

Ribeiro says that companies that want to maximize their marketing and advertising efforts for green products should first focus on getting their product to be at least as good as its competition.

Marketers of green products also need to know their target markets, Craig adds.