No wonder there's such a rush to be seen as 'green'

I'm not what you might call a fan of surveys generally; I could never understand how a sample of '450 people interviewed on the Manchester city centre streets' can be seen as truly representative of the population as a whole.

This survey, reported in CRM Today, however, takes in 7,500 consumers in 17 countries in North America, Europe and Asia. OK, still not exactly representative, but far more likely to produce results that are to some degree realistic.

Now what's really interesting are some of the results:-

"Nearly nine out of 10 consumers worldwide said they would switch to energy providers that offer products and services that help reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions"

Now that's some response!

"Nine out of 10 of all respondents said they would have a negative perception of any energy provider that is not taking concrete action to address climate change."

Ditto!

"nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents said they would be willing to pay a higher price — a premium of 11 percent, on average — for products and services that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions."

Wow, a majority of consumers are willing to pay more?!!

Now I think I'm beginning to understand just why so many businesses are rushing to air their 'green' credentials.

I just hope that the consumer can rapidly learn to distinguish between the genuinely 'green', the 'greenwash' and the totally 'green bullsh*t'.