Shoppers blind to green crusade

Hong Kong - Environmental friendliness is ranked lowest in consumers' minds when it comes to grocery shopping according to the latest survey on global food packaging.

The survey conducted by The Nielsen Company revealed that a shop's environmental friendliness is the least important consideration among other factors such as price, product quality, convenience and location.

However, mainland China shoppers, some 39% of them compared to Hong Kong at 28%, ranked using recyclable bags and packaging as an important factor when deciding which store to do their grocery shopping.

The figure is reflective of the majority of Hong Kong people's attitudes towards stores adopting green policy.

In November last year, ParknShop had to abandon its policy of charging 20 cents for plastic bags after just five days since the green policy launched, which caused an uproar from shoppers.

Commenting on launching green marketing initiatives in general, Ashley Hegland, APAC manager, social engagement practice for Edelman, said marketers have to make sure that their green claims are true and credible or face the huge risk of being labeled as 'green washing'.

He added that marketers should really understand their target market and segment their audience based on their green purchasing preferences.

Hegland cited local supermarket ThreeSixty is successful in adopting a green positioning as its shoppers would be more inclined to pay for environmental initatives.