Fair Trade in Recession

The Green Consumer

Polls conducted in the early 1990s showed that consumers were “confused about

environmental advertising claims” and also “distrustful of them” (Shrum, McCarty and Lowrey,

1995, p. 71). Other reports at the time showed consumers had started to tune out green

advertisements because of “overkill” (Shrum, McCarty and Lowrey, 1995, p. 71). In fact, a 1990

Roper poll showed that Americans distrusted environmental labeling claims as well (Schwartz

and Miller 1991, cited in Shrum, McCarty and Lowrey, 1995). This evidence points to a general

concern about the legitimacy of environmental claims in the marketplace and the limitations of

eco-labels.

When identifying the traits of an individual who makes “green” buying decisions, certain sociodemographic characteristics stood out. Consumer-based studies reviewed by Shrum, McCarty 32

and Lowrey (1995) showed that the “most green” consumers tended to have a higher level of

education, higher income and be older females. In addition, consumers who “made a special

effort to buy products in biodegradable packages” were also more interested in products overall

when compared to other purchasing factors such as brand loyalty or impulse buying (Shrum,

McCarty and Lowrey, 1995, p. 76-77). The research showed no significant difference between

men and women in the study. Furthermore, Shrum, McCarty and Lowrey (1995) found that both

men and women with a greater tendency to switch brands to buy green also showed a greater

tendency to refuse products whose advertising was disliked. This supports the poll data gathered

at the time indicating a widespread concern over the use of advertising and marketing in selling

environmental and green products (Shrum, McCarty and Lowrey, 1995).

Research conducted by Mainieri et al. (1997), however, showed that safety to the

environment ranked sixth for participants when making a purchasing decision at a grocery store.

The most important factor,...