I really question whether there is a "real" market for green products. My
guess is it is very marginal --a couple of percent perhaps--if cost is
factored in.
I doubt we'll ever get an overwhelming mandate to alternative fuels, as the
greenest alternative fuel is nuclear energy, and many old guard greens are
too ideologically hard-headed to put that option on the table.
I don't believe that most consumers would be relieved of having to pay even
a few dollars more for their energy needs--that's a very affluent-centric
view, that is just not supported by empirical data or even a cursory
understanding of human.
I wrote extensively about the love affair with deregulation by the green
movement in California in the 1990s. I've posted links to a few articles
below. I remember taking a lot of heat for criticizing the hegemonic left
led by the Environmental Defense Fund and others who embraced dereg because
of their belief that consumers would choose it and it would be able to
compete with normal electricity channels. Those of us (like me) who actually
looked at the evidence knew that deregulation would almost destroy that
alternative energy market because people are too price sensitive. But the
"left" pushed for deregulation and contributed to the disaster that we had
in California and set alternative energy back years.
"Green energy" is largely a misnomer anyway. It's destined to being a
boutique option for years to come. We do as a society need to keep it on the
tape and nurture its potential through regulation, but that's as far as
society is likely to go.
Here are some articles challenging the "conventional wisdom" that consumers
would choose green energy...it was me and Ralph Nader. Of course the
"socially responsible business" community got this issue TOTALLY wrong, as
usual...since the SRI movement is essentially a backward looking, status
quo, conservative movement, that's no surprise.
The Green Power Hustle: "Clean" Energy's Dirty Little Secret
Solar Utilities Network, October 1998
http://www.solarnet.org/greenwash.htm
Deregulation and Green Marketing: The Threat to Safe Energy
Dollars & Sense, September 1997
http://www.jonentine.com/articles/dereg_green_mkt.htm
http://www.jonentine.com/articles/clean_powers_dirty_secret.htm
Clean Shell: Clean Power's Dirty Little Secret
The Progressive Populist, June 1997
On 9/25/07 7:11 PM, "Rudell, Fredrica" <
FRudell@IONA.EDU> wrote:
> Thanks for posting this. Since you invited comments...
>
> I'm in the midst of my own research on consumer attitudes toward green goods
> and services, trying to explore that frustrating gap between stated attitudes
> and actual behavior. I'd welcome contact from others working in this area.
>
> I will request a copy of the full report re green electricity, but in the
> meantime, based on the summary, preliminary research, and my own observations
> of the local green energy marketing program, I would agree that motivation and
> reassurance are key.
>
> As Jacqueline Ottman (www.greenmarketing.com <http://www.greenmarketing.com/>
> ) has pointed out, consumers need more reasons to buy than just environmental
> benefits. To be chosen, the environmentally responsible option must also be a
> good value (at least in the long run), or convenient, or perform well, etc.
> You can't expect the consumer to sacrifice performance for principle. By the
> way, the same goes for nutritional products (which must be edible), and
> sweatshop free apparel (which must be wearable).
>
> These are often complex decisions and in the case of an intangible service
> like this, the true "product" is even harder for the consumer to judge. From
> a personal perspective, how am I supposed to choose from a list of green
> energy providers, with no comparative pricing or other information? Pick the
> one that calls me most frequently? or that "sounds" most responsible? Once I
> choose, since Con Ed (my current supplier) maintains control over delivery,
> how can I be sure that the electrical power coming through my wall outlet is
> really generated by windmills and not coal? Trust, but verify. But how?
>
> And I would go one step further on the role of government/leadership. If we
> as a society agree that reducing reliance on fossil fuels is vital to our
> environmental sustainability and national security (there's that supporting
> benefit, this time at a societal level), let's mandate a certain percentage of
> all power to be generated from renewable sources (as Congress seems sometimes
> on the verge of doing), and let the local utility company do the legwork and
> find the lowest cost, greenest supplier. Thus millions of consumers would be
> instantly relieved of this decision, and the goal would be achieved! (And
> while you're at it, go ahead and mandate a meaningful fuel economy standard
> for cars.) Then consumers can get back to shopping for compact fluorescent
> light bulbs and recycled paper, and maybe have time left over for dinner with
> the kids.
>
> Until I crank something out from my own research :), for those interested in
> additional online sources regarding green marketing and consumer behavior, I
> have found Makower's blog very informative. Here's a recent posting.
>
http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2007/09/whats-behind-th.html
>
> And as an aging hippie, I'm more inclined toward advocacy and action at this
> stage of the game, so I'm planning to attend the Co-op America Green Fest in
> Washington, D.C. If you don't already know about that organization, check
> them out:
www.coopamerica.org
>
> Cheers!
>
> Fredrica
>
> Fredrica Rudell, Ph.D.
> Chair
> Department of Marketing
> and International Business
> Hagan School of Business
> Iona College
> New Rochelle, NY 10801
> 914-637-2748
>
frudell@iona.edu
>
www.iona.edu/hagan/academicdepartments/marketing
>
> Chair, Environmental Concerns Committee
>
www.iona.edu/academic/ecc
--
Jon Entine
American Enterprise Institute
http://www.jonentine.com
P. (513) 527-4385
C: (513) 319-8388
FAX: (937) 910-6676