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It seems that consumers still haven't jumped onto the green bandwagon.
In spite of a persistent focus from government, business and the media, going green is not a concern for most consumers according to findings of a recent Yankelovich survey of environmental attitudes among 2,763 consumers. Only a third, 34 percent, are more concerned about environmental issues than they were a year ago and less than a quarter feel they can make a difference when it comes to the environment.
The results were surprising, says Yankelovich President Walker Smith, so “we went back and checked out other recent surveys. What every poll shows is that green issues have not reached the level of concern where people would be willing to pay more or suffer inconvenience to live a green lifestyle.”
Yankelovich's Going Green study included a section on housing and housing products. “The general pattern was pretty much what we saw overall,” says Smith of the results. Only a small group, about 13 percent of all adults over the age 16, is truly enthusiastic with behavior equal to their beliefs. According to Smith, they tend to be upscale, live on either the West or East coasts and are willing to pay additional costs for green features.
“Relatively indifferent” is the way he describes the majority of those surveyed. They might be interested in green but are not willing to pay an additional cost for green features or to put up with any inconvenience, according to Smith.
About 15 percent of respondents were dubbed, “green speaks,” a group who has high green values but is unwilling to put their beliefs into practice. Another interesting group emerging from the study scores higher on green practices than they do on environmental beliefs. “There are a number of people who have strong green behaviors but their behavior is driven by monetary savings rather than environmental commitment,” Smith says.
The challenge for real estate practitioners, according to Smith, is to learn how to market green features so consumers understand the benefit to them. Additionally, he says, they should also be aware that there is this target group of green enthusiasts who really do care about these features.
Source: Camilla McLaughlin for REALTOR® Magazine Online
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