Greenwashing vs. Greenshy

Greenwashing is defined as when a company tries to persuade the public that they are doing a lot for the environment when in fact they are not doing that much. In contract, being greenshy means that a company might be doing a lot for the environment, but consumers do not know about it. This is a major problem for green efforts. Consumers will act sharply when they are deceived or think they are deceived. Likewise, numerous consumers might shy away from a product because they might feel the company or product is not supportive of the environment. That is why it is so important for a company to clearly indicate what they are doing to green their business, and provide specific facts that support those initiatives.

In a recent survey by Ipsos (in their Ipsos Green technology Report) 44% of surveyed consumers did not associate any technology brand as being green. This number needs to be compared with the 1/3 of respondents who indicated they would pay more for a green product. Thus, consumers are not familiar with what green efforts are being undertaken, but if they knew they would often be willing to pay more for such products.

Thus, if a sport product, team, facility, etc... can effectively communicate what green efforts they are legitimately undertaking, they might be able to help increase revenue and develop greater customer loyalty.

Gil-