Making Sense of the Green Marketing Madness

It’s not news that the marketplace is awash in green, or that it’s difficult for the average consumer to make sense of one company’s environmental claims over another … but a recent Shelton Group study as highlighted in last week’s issue of Brandweek sheds new light on just how confused – and skeptical — consumers really are.  A few highlights:

• 49% of survey respondents said a company’s environmental record is important in their purchasing decisions … but that number dropped to 21% when consumers were asked if this had actually driven them to choose one product over another.
• When asked why most companies that adopt environmentally friendly practices do so, the most common response (47%) was “to make their company look better to the public.”

So how do you separate fact from fiction in today’s green marketing epidemic — and how can you make it work for you?  Courtesy of BusinessWeek.com, here’s environmental marketing expert Scot Case lending insight and suggestions on how to be a more eco-savvy shopper: