You make two key points I agree with. The first is that “green” is not a key driver compared to something like price. “Cost less, mean more” is the mantra for successfully selling “green.” I have been privileged to see market research that says Concerned Caregivers and the Millennial Generation will buy the “green” product almost everytime if this product is at least at price parity.

The second is timing. Guilty as charged if I am being too optimistic but I think it is hugely significant that environmental impacts ranks 9th for household cleaners and 8th for personal care products. It was not too long ago where environmental impacts associated with a particular household or personal care product were not even on the consumer's radar screen. Today Green Works is a $100 million annual revenue household product. We will know the sustainable economy has arrived when the top ten household products are all “green.” This is not a tidal wave but rather it is a process and the good news is that consumers are increasingly buying, and businesses are increasingly offering, “cost less, mean more” goods and services. My economic analysis points to a time period around 2017 when the combination of pricing and consumer demand for “green” will grow into a $10 trillion global annual revenue economy or about 20% of the world's annual Gross Domestic Product. I encourage my business clients to focus upon the consumer's increasing adoption of sustainable goods and services as a revenues growth opportunity not to be missed especially in this “soft recovery.”

You make two key points I agree with. The first is that “green” is not a key driver compared to something like price. “Cost less, mean more” is the mantra for successfully selling “green.” I have been privileged to see market research that says Concerned Caregivers and the Millennial Generation will buy the “green” product almost everytime if this product is at least at price parity.

The second is timing. Guilty as charged if I am being too optimistic but I think it is hugely significant that environmental impacts ranks 9th for household cleaners and 8th for personal care products. It was not too long ago where environmental impacts associated with a particular household or personal care product were not even on the consumer's radar screen. Today Green Works is a $100 million annual revenue household product. We will know the sustainable economy has arrived when the top ten household products are all “green.” This is not a tidal wave but rather it is a process and the good news is that consumers are increasingly buying, and businesses are increasingly offering, “cost less, mean more” goods and services. My economic analysis points to a time period around 2017 when the combination of pricing and consumer demand for “green” will grow into a $10 trillion global annual revenue economy or about 20% of the world's annual Gross Domestic Product. I encourage my business clients to focus upon the consumer's increasing adoption of sustainable goods and services as a revenues growth opportunity not to be missed especially in this “soft recovery.”

Products’ environmental impact ranks relatively low on the list of product features consumers consider when buying household products, at least in the case of household cleaners and personal care products. A study my firm Green Meridian conducted with over 600 women found that a product’s environmental impact ranks 9th for household cleaners and 8th for personal care products in the list of product features a consumer considers. Even when the most frequent green buyers are looked at, environmental impact ranks 5th in importance, with only about 63% saying it’s very important. I assume a similar pattern holds for foods like the hypothetical bags of potato chips mentioned in Bill’s post.

Now it is very likely that with GHG emission data placed right in front of consumers’ faces, a product’s environmental impact will move up in importance for many consumers. However, more conventional product attributes, especially perceived product quality, will likely continue to trump environmental impact for the vast majority of consumers. So even if there is price parity, many other factors enter into the buying decision that will not be instantly displaced by this new “upstart” factor.

I’d like to end on a positive note though. There is a substantial group of consumers out there that do not buy many green products now but who would like to green their purchasing. A key barrier has been their lack of awareness of green products and in-store ratings would go a long way to remedying this.