Communicating Green Products to Urban Indian Consumer

Study

conducted by:

Project Supported by

Green Purchasing Network India 2

Japan Fund for Global Environment

International Green Purchasing Network

The Project


Consumers, particularly those in Urban belts, reportedly

showing strong affinity for green products

Uncertainties related to green products

Challenges to promotion of green products

This study aims to understand challenges and explore

solutions for communication and promotion of green

products

Some Key Questions


What is greenness to an Indian consumer?

What criteria on greenness is the Indian consumer looking

for?

What are the barriers perceived by the consumers that deter

them from buying green?

Do Indian consumers trust various claims made by product

manufacturers? If yes, then up to what extent?

What are the problems faced by the industry in

communicating green products to Indian consumers?

Some Facts on Indian Consumer(ism)


Real household disposable income has more than doubled

since 1985

Middle class has emerged as the predominant consumer in

India

Twelfth-largest consumer market today to become the world's

fifth-largest consumer market by 2025*

Surveys suggest, Indian consumers, particularly the middle class

consumers, have become environmentally more conscious

*McKinsey Global Institute


India is the country with the highest Greendex

score since 2008

Indian consumers repairing broken items rather than

replacing them

choosing to buy things that are “used” rather than new

avoiding environmentally unfriendly products

choosing to buy environmentally friendly products

However

they are skeptical of green products

environmentally friendly products are not worth the extra cost

Regular quantitative measures of

consumer behavior and to promote

sustainable consumption


95% Indians want government to support more green

innovation and regulation

Lack of availability and inconsistent labelling as the major

barrier to buying green

Consumer perceptions of green

products and corporate brands

So Why Another Survey?


Large Sample Size

Multi-stakeholder approach

Bilateral Methodology

Designed specifically for Indian consumers

Approach


Overview of Survey Sample


Online

Survey

453

Offline

Survey

1598

Manufac-

turers

8

Retailers

6

Certifiers

2

Consumers

2051

Industry Stakeholders

16


Results and Analysis:

Consumer Survey

Overview


The survey targeted to know –

What an Indian consumer understands by ‘Greenness’ of a product?

What factors influence their buying decisions on green products? Do

Indian consumers trust various claims made by product manufacturers?

What are barriers perceived

by the consumers that deter

them from buying green?

Survey Size and its Characteristics

Mode of conduct: Online

(22%) and Offline (78%)


The sample had 55% Male and

39% Female respondents

At point of Purchase


90% of respondents of both gender were young and belonged to

the age group between 21-60 years



86% of male and 91% of female respondents were well educated

and belonged to group that had completed graduation at

minimum



66% of male respondents and 55% of female respondents had

good buying capacity


Excellent Respondent Profile


Maximum of the Respondents were young, well-educated and

had buying capacity

Representative of Urban Middle class said to be the

predominant consumer in India!

Recognizing Green Products

Understanding was

limited to the terms

Biodegradable

Recycled

Organic

Non-toxic

• 90% of the respondents were aware of the term ‘green ‘ or ‘eco-friendly’ product


Recognizing Green Products

Terms ‘Recycled and Biodegradable’ were

most recognized amongst those consumers

who said they were aware about green

products

The terms ‘organic and Non-toxic’ were

most recognized amongst those consumers

who were not aware about green products

Term ‘Organic’ was more popular with the

age group 41 years and above and the term

‘Recycled’ with the younger consumer (15 to

40 years).


Recognizing on Green Products

Do Consumer understand the terms ‘biodegradable’ and

‘organic’?

Can they differentiate between the terms ‘recycled’ and

‘recyclable’?

Terms that are popularly used as synonyms to ‘greenness’ gets imprinted on the consumer and they use these to relate it to the products.


Does buying Green Products makes a

difference?


Cost of Green Products


Cost of Green Products

Cost of the green products partially influences the buying

decision but it certainly is not the guiding factor

Cost aspect is not guided by gender differences nor by

different income group


Barriers preventing Consumers from

buying Green products

Cost is actually not the prime

factor as compared to

‘Awareness’ and ‘Availability’


Other Factors influencing the buying

decision

Design does not matter to consumers

as compared to concern for

environment and health


Eco Labels


Ecolabels or certifications

on green products can

also influence the buying

decision

Take-aways - Consumer survey

Understanding of the terms used for

defining ‘greenness’ w.r.t. the product

type needs more awareness amongst

consumers

‘Cost’ and ‘design’ of the product is not

the guiding factor that impacts buying

decision for an Indian consumer

Ecolabels and Certifications can play a

big role in influencing buying decision


Results and Analysis:

Industry Stakeholder Survey (Manufacturers, Retailers & Certifiers)


The Sample


14 Companies (Meetings and Telephonic Interviews)

Six retailers

Eight manufacturers

Covered the three categories of Organic Paper, Organic Textile

and Organic Food

Comprised of companies with both online and offline presence

All founded between the years 2000 and 2012

Certifiers

Overview


What challenges faced in communicating greenness to the

consumer?

What attracts a consumer to buy green?

What prevents a consumer from buying green?

Do consumers understand eco-labels and certifications?

Suggestions for increasing awareness and understanding of

green products

Communicating Green: What are the

challenges faced?


The top terms

used to

communicate

green are

‘Organic’ and

‘Biodegradable’

Communicating Green: What are the

challenges faced?


Indian society is not yet prepared for the concept of green

The buy-in / acceptance of a concept of a green product

requires change in mind set and behavior

Buying Green: What attracts a

consumer?


Buying Green: What prevents a

consumer?


Cost emerges as the main barrier!

Eco-labels & certifications


Awareness on green products?


All respondents cited education, media, social media, word of

mouth and a health conscious generation as the cause

Yes

100%

No

0%

Do you see increasing awareness about green

products amongst consumers?

Certifiers: A third perspective


There is an increasing awareness amongst the urban

consumers regarding such certifications.

Younger generation who are educated and health conscious

are driving this increase.

There is a tendency among Indian consumers to believe the

claims however certification does not play a role in purchase

decision.

Certifiers: A third perspective


For eco-labels, the focus is mostly on foreign markets as these

countries have stricter laws for exporters.

Top barriers to Certification:

low awareness of environmental hazards

cost of certification

low demand for certified products in India.

Overall Analysis


Consumer V/s Industry Stakeholders

Cost

For Consumers the Cost is not the prime factor for buying

green products

where as

The Retailers and Manufacturers perception is that Cost is prime

factor



Design:

For Consumers design of the product is not important

whereas

The Retailers think it is!



Awareness:

Although there is an increased Awareness on green products,

yet the terms for defining ‘greenness’ is still not understood.

Retailers and manufacturers perceive that ‘organic’ and

‘biodegradable’ is what consumer understand as Green

whereas

an aware consumer considers “biodegradable’ and ‘recycled’


Recommendations

Need to increase awareness on the

‘Greenness’ terminologies

Acceptable terminologies

Communication and Media

Communicating the shades of Green

Absolute Green or Environmentally

preferable

Preventing Green Washing

Establishing Green claims code


Recommendations

Increased Availability, affordability and

visibility

Peering and assurance

Certification


Thank you


Business

Communicating Green Products to Urban Indian Consumer