Climate change is a major problem and marketers can play a serious part in combatting it. As we discussed last week, a method is cutting the 4% of world CO2 emissions generated by digital marketing. Another is communicating with consumers increasingly concerned about sustainability and the environment.
This October was the warmest one on record, smashing the record set in 2019, and making it “virtually certain” that 2023 will probably be the warmest 12 months in 125,000 years, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The increased heat is causing stronger and more frequent extreme weather events like hurricanes, blizzards and droughts.
This 12 months has already seen major shipping problems brought on by a scarcity of water within the Mississippi River and Panama Canal. Also, it’s making populous regions uninhabitable for a part of the 12 months due to the extreme heat and/or the evaporation of fresh water.
Although the magnitude of climate change has been known for the reason that late Nineteen Eighties, most people has only recently begun to understand it. Some 70% of consumers say sustainability is more essential to them now than it was two years ago, according to a study by NIQ, Nielsen’s consumer research unit. This is yet one more attitudinal change brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When all of us stopped commuting back in March 2020 we physically saw the impact of the environment,” said Sherry Frey, NIQ’s vice chairman of Total Wellness. “At the identical time, it was really hard through the pandemic to ignore the haves and have-nots and the polarization of this country.”
As everyone knows, that polarization has meant the politicization of many things, including science. During the worst of the pandemic, a loud a part of the population got a whole lot of attention for opposing public health measures reminiscent of mask requirements and vaccination.
Climate change clash
That grassroots, anti-science activism energized climate change deniers. However, the denial itself pre-dates the pandemic by a long time and is anything but grassroots. To quote Scientific American:
“Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue. … This knowledge didn’t prevent the corporate (now ExxonMobil and the world’s largest oil and gas company) from spending a long time refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformation.”
The oil industry and its lobbying organization, The American Petroleum Institute, have spent tens of millions fighting efforts to curtail CO2 emissions (the first reason for global warming).
The NIQ survey found that globally 26% of consumers fall right into a category it calls “skeptics.” These are the people most definitely to be climate change deniers and least likely to be eager about sustainability. Fray said that within the U.S., skeptics make up 34% of the population, far more than in another country they surveyed.
Green divisions
While climate denial is essentially the most glaring divide amongst consumers, it will be significant to note the very real differences amongst those that know climate change is real.
The groups are based on what people say they do and what they really do. Those differences are the important thing to communicating with each group — including the skeptics.
“On one end, you’ve got these people we call the evangelists,” said Frey. “They’re super passionate. They’re those that teach us all how to recycle and are well educated on the problems.” They make up 19% of the population and although they’re financially secure they spend cautiously — which has an impact on how much they may pay for sustainable products.
Dig deeper: How advertisers can take the lead in reducing carbon emissions
The next group Frey calls the “healthy me & planet” people. They see environmental issues when it comes to how they affect personal health — making that a key driver when it comes to selecting brands. At 20% they’re the second-largest segment and are most definitely to pay a premium sustainable products.
After them comes the minimalists, the 17% of consumers with awareness of sustainability, but little motivation to do anything about it. They are likely to be financially secure, but not free-spending. The cost of sustainable products is the largest barrier for this group.
What I do, not what I say
“They say they don’t care about sustainability, but they’re super minimalized,” said Frey. “Very frugal and really focused on waste.” The result’s people taking many actions that fall under supporting sustainability despite saying it’s not essential to them.
The last group, idealists, is form of the alternative of that. They are passionate about the problems but unlikely to make consumer decisions that support sustainability. This is partly because they’re young and don’t earn as much as people in other groups. However, also they are unlikely to pick sustainable products even once they are offered at the identical price point because the brands they sometimes select.
Frey said that in doing the research for his or her report, NIQ has been surprised by the variety of brands and retailers taking motion each themselves and across their supply chains.
“We were impressed at how lots of them that you just wouldn’t expect are literally driving among the biggest impact,” said Frey. There’s a reason you wouldn’t expect them to be environmentally conscious: They are going out of their way to keep a really low profile on this. “More brands are starting to do what’s being called ‘green hushing’ where they’re not talking about it because they don’t wanna get put a goal on their back,” said Frey.
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