The Green Agenda: Are we engaging the consumer?

22nd Apr 2009 00:00

The Green Agenda: Are we engaging the consumer?
22nd April 2009

The rise and rise of the green agenda is creating an ever increasing number of green initiatives, CSR projects, and local and national government proposals. Almost all organisations - both commercial and non commercial - want to establish their green credentials and communicate them to the consumer.

But what do consumers themselves think about this? Are they listening? And how does the green agenda really impact on them? Key questions that we should ask are:
• How do they see themselves? Do they consider themselves ‘green’ and how do they evaluate this? What effect does this have on their attitudes to the green initiatives they encounter?
• What is it that actually engages them? Do we assume too often that just telling the consumer that there is an environmental ‘problem’ will enlist their support? Do they see the green agenda as one that they share or does it really belong to someone else? Who are the green opinion leaders?
• What are the key features of effective green communication? What kinds of commercial or governmental stance are the most likely to change the perceptions and attitudes of consumers? What are the key elements of this?
In order to answer these questions we need to go beyond the familiar and well trodden paths that lead so often to ‘green wash’. We need to explore ways of delivering green credentials that are authentic, motivating and transformational for the consumer.

To explore these issues and to find new ways of engaging the customer, Kingston University has brought together a number of leading experts from a wide range of sectors – manufacturing, retailing, NGO’s, academics and a number of consultancies.

There is reduced the price of the conference to £59 and I attach a flyer - the website is www.kingston.ac.uk/green.