Do you gaze out your window every day at a sky full of smog? Or do you live on the edge of a pristine wilderness? One thing's for sure, thanks to the ongoing efforts of activists, our threatened environment will be a subject that's never far from your awareness.

When we probed attitudes to the environment across the world, we found considerable variations in what concerned people, and what action they were prepared to take.

The results of this study came from quizzing nearly 5,500 people in the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France, Egypt, Germany, Spain, Malaysia and Hong Kong.


Green is not a niche market

The study uncovered some useful insights for marketers. For example, half the people quizzed expressed a willingness to boycott companies and products that are identified with environmental problems. The number was highest in the UK, France, Germany and Egypt.

This seems to confirm that organisations such as WWF and Greenpeace are having a considerable impact on public opinion. People in the US, Malaysia and Spain appear the least inclined to support boycotts.


BOYCOTT OR NOT - When asked what action do they take to address an environmental concern that bothers them, respondents who replied "Yes" to "Not patronise companies or products that you know are contributing to the problem"


The most worrying problem

We asked people which of these five problems were the most worrisome:

  • Polluted air because of factory and car emissions
  • The effects of global warming due to the greenhouse effect
  • The growing amounts of non-recyclable waste
  • Destruction of old growth trees to produce paper and building materials
  • The possible extinction of animal species due to human activity
 In general, most people were concerned with polluted air because of factory and car emissions, and the greenhouse effect.

Egypt was an exception to this — there, 87% of people said polluted air was the most worrisome problem and none of our sample registered any concern about the greenhouse effect.

In the UK, Spain, Hong Kong and Germany, respondents reported that the greenhouse effect was their biggest environmental worry.

In the US, people's concerns were more evenly distributed than any other place.


What are you going to do about it?

Subjects were also asked which of the following ways they were personally addressing the problems:

  • By learning more
  • By changing lifestyles
  • Avoiding companies or products associated with the problem
  • Contributing money to organisations addressing the problem
  • Volunteering for organisations that address the problem
 US respondents registered the most complacency, with 35% saying they were doing none of these. At the opposite end, fewer than 10% of people in the UK, France, Germany and Egypt stated they did nothing.

People in Hong Kong (46%) and Malaysia (42%) were the most willing to open their wallets. Russians (8%), the least willing, or perhaps the least able?

Egyptians, Malaysians and Chinese were the most willing to actively volunteer. US, German and Spanish people, the least willing.


Something must be done (not necessarily by me)

Our interviewers went on to ask respondents how much they agreed with statements such as:

Polluting companies should be fined even if it puts some jobs at risk. Generally, 77% of people agreed with this — 71% agreed that power stations and factories should switch to cleaner processes even if it leads to higher prices. In Egypt, only 38% of respondents supported cleaner, costlier processes — considering the levels of concern with pollution there, this likely reflects the lower disposable income of Egyptians.

An overall average of 87% of respondents agreed that they would take action if they knew how to better contribute to a cleaner environment. US respondents registered the least agreement at 75%.


Mining gold from a green environment

Most people indicated a willingness to learn about environmental issues, and to change their lifestyle as a result. And almost everyone, everywhere (over 80%) agreed that improving the environment is the responsibility of every citizen and that recycling programmes should be instituted and promoted.

The numbers strongly suggest that fulfilling people's desire to be green should lead to product development and marketing opportunities that are good for both the bottom line and for the planet.





Thank you for reading Synovate In:fact. This issue of In:fact was based on information gathered from a TeleNations Global telephone omnibus survey. These are regularly conducted in over 30 countries across the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

If you'd like more information about this study, please email infact@synovate.com.

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