1.23.2008 ET

Green Surveys Accompanied By Resurgence of Watchdogging For Corporate Greenwashing

It seems not a week goes by without a new survey on green business coming out. Whether the survey focuses on green technology, or attitudes toward the environment, somebody is polling somebody about it. In the three weeks since the turn of the year, five polls on business sustainability issues have made the pages of CSRwire.com. Just yesterday, for example, Allianz Global Investors released a survey of more than a thousand investors that finds nearly three-quarters (71%) classify environmental technology companies a "buy," while nearly half (49%) intend to invest in a green company or fund over the next year--and over a sixth (17%) already have done so.

The second EcoPinion survey of customer perceptions of green technology by EcoAlign found that almost half (46%) of interviewees have adopted some form of green tech. And those who haven't have negative perceptions of it - that green tech is ugly, expensive, and difficult to understand and maintain. Likewise, a survey of mainstream green attitudes and actions conducted by Insight Research Group in partnership with Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found high percentages believe it is a "moral obligation" to care for the environment (84%) and to participate in at least one "green" activity such as recycling (86%). However, the survey found fear of being associated with extreme political or environmental viewpoints as the main barrier to increased green activity.

The proliferation of green surveys has prompted GreenBiz.com founder Joel Makower to ask: "Can market researchers be accused of greenwash?" Not exactly -- the researchers are diligently crunching the numbers, he says, but common sense suggests that actual consumer behavior does not necessarily match consumer perceptions. The rise in positive green surveys has also been accompanied by a recent resurgence of watchdogging for corporate greenwashing exemplified in the Greenwashing Index and the Six Sins of Greenwashing report, Makower points out.

Responding to this last report, Bob Langert of McDonald's pointed out the opposite effect: "greenmuting," or corporate avoidance of touting their positive environmental achievements for fear of being called greenwashers. Langert proposes his own list Six Sins of Greenmuting," as highlighted in a recent Triple Bottom Line blog post. The bottom line: the propagation of green claims indicates rising green actions and a growing need for vigilance on the credibility of such claims.

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