Doing good is good for business

While even more people - 88.2% compared with 85% in last year's survey - would boycott a company or brand if they believed it was acting irresponsibly in the world, consumers are looking for guidance from business; they want to be helped to make the right decisions. A huge number of people (92.1%) want to know what businesses and brands are up to in terms of their actions - towards people and the environment - and this will then influence them in their buying habits.

These results have emerged from the Ogilvyearth Sustainability Survey whose strategist, Melissa Baird explains that this does not mean green-washing will work. "Uncertainty rules when it comes to 'green claims' made by companies". Nearly 60% of the survey sample say they can't trust green claims made by brands and businesses and nearly 70% think that 'green claims' are just another money spinner. "This just demonstrates how important it is for business to do the right thing; they have to be transparent and honest about their operations and how they do business. And then they need to be careful about how they pass on the message about the good they are doing or it could well be misconstrued as green-washing. If they get it right, they can secure loyal consumers for years to come."

The annual Ogilvyearth South Africa Sustainability Survey finds out how 'sust' (or sussed) people are and what their attitudes are towards sustainability and environmental issues.

Other results reveal that the majority of people (85.4%) feel that not enough attention is given to water conservation and a massive 96% are concerned about whether a product is made from renewable resources.

Are consumers more sussed?

Over 90% of the sample wants to know how to measure their own carbon footprint and 82% agree that climate change will change the way we do business in the future. Nearly everyone (96%) believes that recycling makes a positive difference to the environment and more people this year (86% compared to 84% last year) care about where their food comes from. In this survey, as with the last one, people are prepared to pay a little more for products that adhere to environmentally and socially ethical standards (78%) and 91% of people believe that companies and brands should invest in development projects to help combat socio-economic problems.

"What's also clear from this survey," adds Baird, "is that we should not assume that what we do and what we say are not intrinsically linked and highly perceptible by our customers. People are far more 'savvy' than we give them credit for."

An article by Melissa Baird about the survey on the Ogilvyearth site gives more information.

Download the Ogilvyearth Perception Audit (Very large file)

Notes

1. Ogilvyearth believes sustainability is the greatest commercial growth opportunity of the 21st Century.

2. Ogilvyearth offers a strategic tool kit and creates specialised sustainability communications for brands ready to become category leaders. Part of the Ogilvy Group, operating from the Cape Town offices of ZOOM Advertising, Ogilvy Earth South Africa draws on the expertise and resources of a network of worldwide specialists in South Africa and throughout the world and works in alliance with pioneers in various fields of sustainability such as Incite - which also helped Ogilvy Earth develop the Sustainable Survey questionnaire - Global Carbon Exchange, Food and Trees For Africa, WSP, Route 2 Sustainability and Tshikilulu.

3. The survey was conducted online over a period of six months in 2012 and was completed by a total of 800 individual respondents in South Africa; the majority lives in either Johannesburg or Cape Town, is aged between 26 and 45 years and falls within in the LSM 6-10 category.

4. For more information about Ogilvyearth, please contact:

Melissa Baird, Sustainability Strategist, Ogilvyearth South Africa az.oc.htraeyvligO@bassilem

Lauren Hirst, Business Director, Ogilvyearth South Africa
az.oc.htraeyvligO@hnerual