Green Marketing Should Focus on Mainstream Benefits

March 7, 2007

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Because only a small percentage of consumers make buying decisions based on the environmental qualities of a product, positioning green products on their inherent mainstream benefits can broaden their consumer appeal and enhance their likelihood for market success, according to a Business Week article.

Success behind many green products is not their greenness, but the practical value they provide consumers, says Edwin R. Stafford, an associate professor of marketing at Utah State University’s college of business.

“One of my favorites is the slogan, ‘Long life for hard-to-reach places,’ for General Electric’s energy-efficiency CFL flood lights,” Stafford says in the article. “That communicates how a CFL’s five-year life can be very convenient. The goal of green marketing communications should be to educate consumers that green provides practical consumer value.”

Another example the article points to: The construction industry has adopted the term ‘high-performance building’ to reframe ‘green’ away from any potential negative connotations with its energy-efficient building practices.

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