According to a recent study, shoppers in the United Kingdom are less likely to pay higher prices for green, organic, or sustainable products in the supermarket. The survey found that although most consumers agreed that being green was the right thing to do, many said they simply cannot afford to pay higher prices for climate friendly goods. The recession has caused many to stay away from sustainable and ethical goods which are often priced much higher than items produced in a traditional manner.
The report hoped to learn about the attitudes of shoppers and asked over one thousand people various questions about their shopping habits. Of those who were surveyed, one in nine said that they were no longer able to afford to pay extra for environmentally friendly products. Organic food items, green cleaning products, and ethically produced items are usually more expensive than more traditional goods. Nearly twenty percent of those polled said that they were no longer in a position to even consider these issues and just went with the cheapest product.
The numbers of people who are prepared to pay a premium for environmentally friendly products has gone down by about six percent since 2007, although environmental issues still remain a concern. The recession has had less of an effect on lower cost ways to be green, such as low energy light bulbs, and reuse of plastic bags.
What those in the green industry are learning is that buying environmentally friendly products is something that people like to do, but not something that they have to do.
|
|
