Climate change is news all over the world. You only have to pick up
a newspaper or stand by the water cooler to know it's a hot issue with
world leaders, celebrities and regular people alike. But will all
this talk lead to changing consumer behaviour? Marketers need to know.
Synovate, together with BBC World, took a look at climate change in
a global survey spanning 21 markets on six continents and discovered
that more than two thirds of respondents were concerned about climate
change. Even more significantly for the world's marketers, 95% of these
people had personally done something to reduce the effects of climate
change in the past year.
Hip pocket activists
Synovate's global head of media research, Steve Garton, said that consumers were
concerned about climate change and tackling the issue in a way that they
could control - via their hip pockets.
"People are letting their wallets do the talking on the issue of climate
change. More than half have bought
green products or energy efficient devices, reduced
packaging or saved power in the past year.
"Consumers are making purchase decisions on the back of their concern about
climate change and marketers need to take notice.
"Many of the world's corporations are already evolving their products to meet
consumers' needs for environmental friendliness but they can pick up the pace.
This survey shows that people see their purchase decisions as a way to combat
the effects of climate change and would undoubtedly be open to green products
in most categories," he said.
The Chinese are leading the charge when it comes to buying green products,
with 76% of the respondents who were concerned about climate change having
done this in the past year. Given that China is about to overtake the US as
the number one producer of greenhouse gases, it is notable that the Chinese
consumer is taking action. Germans (69%), Norwegians (68%) and Danes (67%)
are also well above the global average of 54% when it comes to buying green.
The Polish are lighting the way on purchasing energy-efficient devices, with
74% having done so in the past twelve months. Hot on their heels are the
Brazilians and Australians at 67%.
Have you personally done any of the following to reduce the effects of climate
change in the past year?
Hybrids to hit the highways?
The survey also showed a global average of 20% said they have bought or planned to
buy a smaller car.
Mr Garton said that this figure should make automotive marketers sit up and take
notice.
"At first glance this figure was not as large as other changes that consumers
are making, but when you take into account the big ticket nature of a purchase
like this, 20% is a big deal.
"Some markets in particular will see very different cars on the road in the
next few years. Thirty nine percent of Italians who are concerned about global
climate change have bought or plan to buy a smaller car as a result of the
environment, closely followed by 37% of South Africans, 34% of Australians and
31% of Brazilians.
"Change is imminent in the US too - a country known for its taste for larger cars.
Twenty three percent of concerned Americans may change their vehicle in response to
the threats of climate change," he said.
Click here
to view results for all markets.
Travellers warming to change
Respondents were also asked whether they had changed their travel habits in the past
year as a result of climate change. A global average of 28% had done so and Mr Garton
said these changes could be as simple as taking public transport instead of driving,
or as dramatic as electing to not travel by plane.
"There's a great deal of talk at the moment about the impact of airline and vehicle
emissions. These results indicate consumers are taking note and, in some places,
are prepared to change their habits."
Seventy percent of Poles who said they were concerned about climate change had also
changed their travel habits as a result, followed by 58% in Singapore and 57% in
Hong Kong. At the other end of the scale, only 4% of the French had made any changes
to travel habits.
Click here
to view results for all markets.
Is the world capable of change?
Garton asked: "Are we in the throes of large-scale change? The survey results certainly
indicate a willingness to change. We also asked about recycling and the results were
very heartening.
"Recycling first entered the public's consciousness on a major scale ten or fifteen
years ago. Now we see it is par for the course in some markets like Germany, the UK,
South Korea and Norway - and the global average for engaging in recycling activity
is over two thirds (68%). We also have 78% consciously saving power.
"With consumers showing their engagement on the issue of climate change and their
willingness to take actions, there is a new set of opportunities for marketers. The
challenge is to deliver products and services that meet consumers' needs as well
as their desire to help the planet."
About the survey
The Synovate Global Omnibus
survey on climate change interviewed 14,220 respondents across 21 countries
including: USA, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Australia,
India, Japan, Poland, Dubai, UK, Brazil, Italy, South Africa, Norway, Spain, Denmark,
Russia and Canada.
The survey was conducted by telephone, online and face-to-face throughout February
2007, during which time the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) issued
a major report from the contributions of more than 2,000 scientists specialising
in the topic. It indicated there was a direct link between climate change and human
activities.
The figures given in this email are from a base of respondents who had indicated concern
about climate change. The global average for this was 68%, with Brazilians (87%),
Spaniards (87%), Australians (84%) and South Africans (82%) most concerned.
The table below shows the findings on feelings
regarding the effects of climate change.
Click here
to see further information on the BBC World and Synovate global climate
change study.
