Women’s Green Commerce Survey Results
By Mary Clare Hunt of In Women We Trust
According to the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), a research firm, Conscious Consumers will take the $209 billion LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) products market past the $400 billion mark by 2010.
Last month we conducted our own WECAI survey about what drives us green – if it’s a given that the market is going in that direction, then understanding the women who are motivating to buy “green” is the first step. It turns out that just like “diet and exercise” are the ultimate answers to weight loss, there are consistent motivators emerging in green consumers as well.
Our greenest SHEsponders fell into two groups, either died in the wool tree huggers from way back or those new to the green game. I have to give kudos to those in the middle. They came into their ways during the blazing days of the 80s and 90s when many stopped caring. What’s really interesting is that less than 2% turned green this year. My take away on that 2%? Mass advertising doesn’t work, not on our habits anyway. Think about all the TONS of green “everything” that’s out there now from Gore to non-profits and TV stars to products. One would think that we’d all be screaming green at this point and yet…
How long have you been a Green thinker?
Less than 1 year – 1.85%
2 to 5 years – 44.44%
5 to 10 years – 9.26%
10 to 20 years 9.25%
20+ years – 35.19%
How Socially active are you?
In our self-selected surveyed green group, 66% were bloggers and 22% were ready to join. To me that shows a willingness to be socially engaged. You’re the type with things to say and they aren’t afraid of saying them.
Are you a blogger?
Yes – 66.04%
No – 11.32%
Not yet – 22.64%
We also asked, how many of you belong to ONLINE and OFFLINE groups? We were curious as business is focusing on women for our word of mouth potential. If you were trying to influence a greener world where would you go?
ONLINE 46.24% average 2-5 groups,
OFFLINE – 67.92% average 2-5 groups.
Does that mean we’re more loyal to our face-to-face groups and add more groups vs. leave and form new friends? (probably) I know that I stayed in a book club for much longer than I would have because of the friendships formed – dropping out of an Internet group doesn’t carry any social stigma.
Are you selling a green product? Intersect with the ground groups. Want a quick “buzz”? Stay online.
Who are the groups? Over 44 of the groups we joined were business related and 18 were green. We had 10 social type groups. All in all, we are taking our business lives seriously and building up our social skills and also our green connections. Granted this was a self selected group of survey takers interested in the green movement, but oddly enough no one named a religion in their “groups.” That surprised me. Perhaps we don’t see the weekly grouping around a spiritual theme as a group or maybe, the greener the crowd, the less ties to religion. What do you think?
To read the full results, visit: http://wecai.org/Attachments/WECAIGreenSurvey.pdf
To see the survey, visit Women’s Green Commerce.
Women who took the survey received a list of more than 100 Green Resources. If you’d like that list, leave a comment and you too can access the Resources!
