Green is the new black in marketing but all’s that labelled green isn’t necessarily good for the environment or the consumer.
A University of Canterbury researcher is slamming consumer goods companies for green-washing supermarket shelf items with a flood of eco-labels. . . .
UC College of Business and Economics research director Pavel Castka said today there were so many labels with products claiming all sorts of environmental and social issues that it was difficult to distinguish, which one to trust.
It’s easy to label something as eco-this or environmentally-friendly-that but such claims might be nothing more than green-wash.
Even if the claim can be substantiated it’s not the only concern for consumers:
New Zealanders are becoming greener when they think about what to buy, but only when the price suits, a survey has found.
Colmar Brunton’s Better Business Report for 2012 found that 73 percent of New Zealanders thought about at least one green factor when deciding what to buy.
But price (94 percent), quality (88 percent), taste or performance (81 percent) and brand name (76 percent) were all more important factors, the survey showed.
“We’re prepared to recycle and be more energy efficient at home but not quite ready to buy organic foods or offset carbon on flights en masse,” Colmar Brunton chief executive Jacqueline Ireland said. . .
That last sentence illustrates the problem – recycling and organic farming are regarded as better for the environment but those claims aren’t always supported by science.
