AUSTIN, Texas, April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As
Earth Day approaches and consumers
look for opportunities to lessen their impact on the environment,
they may be asking themselves "at what cost?" RetailMeNot
(www.retailmenot.com), a leading digital offers destination that
helps consumers save money, recently conducted a survey that found
more than 4 in 5 (81%) consumers think environmentally friendly
items are more expensive than non-green products.
The perception that eco-friendly products are cost-prohibitive
could explain why fewer people consider their lifestyles to be at
least a little bit green compared to the prior year. According to
this year's survey, nearly 9 in 10 (89%) respondents do what they
can to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle, including
recycling, reusing products or buying "green" products. This is
down slightly from 2014, when 94 percent* of respondents indicated
they practice these eco-friendly behaviors.
The good news? A vast majority (89%) of the nation is willing to
purchase at least one kind of product that has a positive impact on
the environment. Of those who would purchase green products, 3 in 4
(75%) respondents would buy energy-efficient light bulbs and close
to 2 in 3 would purchase energy-efficient appliances (65%) or
electronics (61%). Bigger ticket items, such as solar panels (38%),
hybrid vehicles (34%) or electric vehicles (24%) are far less
popular eco-friendly investments.
Despite the nation's willingness to spend money on some form of
a green product, more than 3 in 5 (61%) of these respondents would
only consider purchasing an environmentally friendly product if it
cost the same or less than a non-green product.
"To motivate shoppers to purchase eco-friendly products, many
retailers offer discounts in April surrounding Earth Day," says Trae Bodge, senior lifestyle
editor for The Real Deal by RetailMeNot. "We typically see offers
for sustainable products, green cleaning supplies and organic
health and beauty products."
"It's not easy being green"
When it comes to practicing environmentally friendly behaviors,
a majority of people are willing to make small changes in their
day-to-day lives, such as turn off lights when they leave a room
(78%), turn off the water when it's not in use (72%), recycle
plastic/paper/metal (65%), reuse towels more than once before
washing (59%) and reuse plastic bottles/containers (58%).
However, work and transportation may be where many people draw
the line on taking steps toward living a more environmentally
friendly life. More than 3 in 4 (76%) working Americans would be
unwilling to carpool to work. Additionally, more than 2 in 3 (69%)
consumers would be unwilling to forgo their car and use an
alternate method of transportation, like public transit or
biking.
What's in it for me?
Although purchasing eco-friendly products may benefit the
environment, that has little to do with why most people make the
decision to buy them. Consumers would be most effectively convinced
to purchase a green product if a cost savings were involved. Close
to 1 in 3 (32%) would most likely be prompted to buy a green
product if it were guaranteed to save them money over time, and
nearly as many (28%) would be more likely to make the purchase if
it were on sale. The opportunity to save money far outweighed other
factors like the product being guaranteed to be of a higher quality
(16%) or if the product being linked to a good cause (7%).
And just what would people do with the extra money they gained
from purchasing an energy-efficient or eco-friendly product? Half
(50%) of consumers surveyed would put that money into savings and
nearly as many (40%) would put it toward bills or pay off debt
(35%).
Demographic differences
- Gender influences eco behaviors: More men than women
identify themselves as living a mostly or completely green
lifestyle (42% vs. 36%); however, women are more likely than men to
purchase environmentally friendly housekeeping products (56% vs.
36%)
- Women are more cost-conscious: Females are more likely
than males (66% vs. 55%) to only consider buying green products if
they cost the same or less compared to other products. More females
than males (85% vs. 76%) consider green products to be more
expensive than other items.
- Leaving behind a sustainable legacy: Living a green
lifestyle is more common among parents than non-parents (93% vs.
87%) and more parents than non-parents (92% vs. 87%) would buy
environmentally friendly products.
For eco-friendly tips and discounts on green products, consumers
can read Go Green or Go Home on The Real Deal by
RetailMeNot.
ABOUT RETAILMENOT, INC.
RetailMeNot, Inc.
(http://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) operates the world's largest
marketplace for digital offers. The company enables consumers
across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers
for their favorite retailers and brands. During the 12 months
ended December 31, 2014, RetailMeNot,
Inc. experienced nearly 700 million visits to its websites, and
during the three months ended December 31,
2014, monthly mobile unique visitors totaled 21.2 million.
In 2014, RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates $4.4
billion in paid retailer sales were attributable to consumer
traffic from digital offers in its marketplace. The
RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio includes RetailMeNot.com, the largest
digital offer marketplace in the United
States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk, the largest
digital offers marketplace in the United
Kingdom; Deals.com in Germany; Actiepagina.nl, a leading digital
offers site in the Netherlands;
Bons-de-Reduction.com and Ma-Reduc.com, leading digital offers
sites in France; Poulpeo.com, a
leading digital offers site with cash back in France; andDeals2Buy.com, a digital offers
site in North America.
RetailMeNot, Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the
ticker symbol "SALE." Investors interested in learning more about
the company can visit http://investor.retailmenot.com.
Be sure to "like" RetailMeNot,
Inc. on Facebook and follow the company via
Twitter @retailmenotinc.
2015 Survey Methodology
The RetailMeNot February 2015 Survey was conducted
between February 23 and 27, 2015,
among 1,023 U.S. residents ages 18 and over, using an e-mail
invitation and an online survey. Quotas are set to ensure reliable
and accurate representation of the entire U.S. population ages 18
and over. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation.
The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the
number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing
the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100
that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1
percentage points from the result that would be obtained if
interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe
represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups
will be slightly higher.
*2014 Survey Methodology
An online study conducted between March
17th and 21st, 2014 among 1,001 U.S.
residents ages 18 and over; margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage
points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Media contacts:
Sara Skirboll
RetailMeNot, Inc.
+1 646 413 3430 mobile
sskirboll@rmn.com
Kristen Nelson
RetailMeNot, Inc.
+1 832 398 5792 mobile
knelson@rmn.com
Allison+Partners Public Relations
retailmenot@allisonpr.com
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SOURCE RetailMeNot.com