CEOs: Getting Consumers To Buy Green Not Easy

June 26, 2007

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Even though consumers are enamored with the idea of having cupboards and closets full of “green” products, they have not been willing to pay higher prices or accept compromises on quality, Reuters reports (via GreenBiz).

Still, manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Whirlpool, and others are cutting packaging, researching sustainable materials and making their products and operations more energy efficient.

Procter & Gamble, which is reducing its packaging this year with the launch of concentrated laundry detergent, acknowledged that changing consumers’ habits is not easy.

“How do you convince consumers that small is beautiful in laundry?” P&G’s global product supply officer, Keith Harrison, said at the summit. “Everyone has managed to do that in cell phones and iPods, but how you get consumers to understand that small is beautiful in laundry will be an interesting challenge.”

Jeff Fettig, CEO of appliance maker Whirlpool, said price is still a bigger factor for consumers than energy efficiency: “Consumers absolutely appreciate environmentalism in our products … I certainly wouldn’t say they would be willing to pay for it.”

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Reader Comments

Interesting…I noticed that I could only get the HE detergent for front loaders in the smaller jugs that you pour rather than the bigger containers that sit on the shelf. I like that the smaller jugs can wash as many or more than the previous containers, especially since the plastic used seems to be rather thick. Plus, the cost/wash is less. But I really liked the ease of using the bigger containers. They were too big to lift/pour each time so they had a little spigot thing so that you never had to pick it up. I think that is a big difference–convenience of use. Even if it is better environmentally, it needs to be AS easy to use as the previous versions.

Sophia | June 26th, 2007

I applaud P&G and other companies that are investing more green and green. Excess packaging and waste are filling up our landfills, littering our roadsides and squandering our precious natural resources. I hope that other companies will join the ranks and reduce their use of all packaging including paper packaging for the good of forests and communities around the world.

Scot | June 27th, 2007

concentrated liquid detergents may be the new product in town but one must not forget that even today in india detergent cakes are used for manually washing clothes

firoze zia | July 15th, 2007