IT'S EASY BEING GREEN - BUT IS IT WISE?
While being a green company or making green products is admirable, marketers should be judicious about declaring themselves or their products green. Many products have attributes that could be considered green but, without taking into account multiple environmental considerations, the green marketing approach may backfire. Customers see through bogus green claims and they are beginning to fight back. There's even a term to describe this phenomenon: greenwashing. Just as whitewashing is an attempt to conceal flaws, greenwashing is described as the misleading of consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
In 2007, an environmental marketing firm in Pennsylvania conducted a study of 1,018 consumer products bearing environmental claims and found that all but one made claims that were either misleading or false. The study identified six patterns in misleading marketing claims. The most common, found in 57 percent of the products studied, was that of the hidden tradeoff: making a green claim based on a single environmental attribute without consideration for other, perhaps more important, environmental issues. The other common problems identified in marketing claims included, in order of frequency, lack of proof, vagueness, irrelevance, the-lesser-of-two-evils and downright fibbing.
The rise of green marketing is leading to increased scrutiny from the public, as well. A web site launched in January allows consumers to upload advertisements to the site and rate them on a scale of one to five, with one being a "good ad" and five "total greenwashing." The site, www.greenwashingindex.com, was created to expose companies that spend more time and money claiming to be green through marketing than they do implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. Criteria for the Greenwashing Index were developed by two professors from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. On the site, consumers are asked to analyze ads and determine whether the ads are:
- Misleading with words
- Misleading with visuals and/or graphics
- Making a green claim that is vague or not provable
- Overstating or exaggerating how green the product/company/service actually is
- Leaving out or masking important information, making the green claim sound better than it is.
Mainstream media also are keeping an eye on green claims that stretch the truth. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on efforts around the world to rein in marketers that make false or exaggerated green claims (see False 'Green' Ads Draw Global Scrutiny, Jan. 30, 2008). For example, the United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority recently ruled that television ads by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council were misleading in stating that Malaysia's palm oil trees "give life and help our planet breathe," while failing to mention that many of the palm plantations have been planted in illegally cleared natural rain forests. In Norway, government regulators have banned all car ads from stating that their vehicles are "green," "clean" or "environmentally friendly," noting that all automotive production leads to more carbon emissions.
That leaves the question: what rules should a company follow if it markets a product that genuinely has less impact on the environment? A number of third-party certifiers will verify that a product meets certain standards, such as the Forest Stewardship Council's certification of forest products, LEED certification for buildings and the federal government's Energy Star Program for appliances. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission is updating its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, which was last revised in 1992. The document sets standards for making environmental claims in advertising and other forms of marketing, including the use of symbols, logos, brand names and packaging. Although the guidelines are voluntary, the FTC says that "conduct inconsistent with the positions articulated in these guides may result in corrective action by the Commission."
So what's the harm in a little exaggeration when it comes to marketing claims? Environmental advocates say that misleading claims take business away from companies that legitimately strive to protect the environment. And there is a real danger that consumers will become cynical and eventually will see all green claims simply as marketing ploys.
