Men and 55+ Age Group More Skeptical of Green Movement

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The most recent findings from Crowd Science's Just Ask! opinion survey show that men are nearly twice as likely to believe that shopping 'green' makes no difference. The study shows that 19% of men vs. 10% of women hold this view. Similarly those over the age of 55 are much more likely than those younger (25% vs. 13%) to hold this same belief. Men are also much less likely to check that their purchases come from 'ethical' companies than women (30% vs. 42%) and twice as likely to believe that the green movement is just a marketing ploy (16% vs. 8%).  

The survey, fielded between Oct. 20-27, 2010, reveals that education also plays a key role in understanding green behavior, as 21% of those with a post-graduate education will pay substantially more for green products as opposed to 12% of those with a basic undergraduate background or less.  "We're seeing an interesting gap in what we call 'green shopitudes' when you consider gender, age, and education," noted Sandra Marshall, Crowd Science VP Research.  "Women and younger age groups appear to be more eco-centric when it comes to shopping practices," says Marshall.

Source: Crowd Science Just Ask! Survey; October 20-27, 2010; 1299 respondents

While the study clearly indicates gaps between men's and women's attitudes towards green shopping, it also revealed a palpable level of skepticism:

• 16% don't believe shopping green makes a difference
• 13% think the green movement is a marketing ploy
• 13% don't believe it makes a difference if a company is green

At a more general level, the study found that many people exhibit ethical behavior in the shopping action:

• 43% have boycotted products for political/ethical reasons
• 34% always buy local when given the choice
• 20% always choose products with green packaging

Methodology: These recent survey findings from Crowd Science were gathered from a random sample of 1,353 online visitors across the Crowd Science network of sites between October 20-27, 2010. Complete results of the study will be reviewed in a free webinar entitled Uncovering the Green Attitude Gap hosted by Sandra Marshall, VP Research for Crowd Science, Tuesday, December 14th at 10:30 PST/1:30 EST.  To register for the free webinar, visit http://bit.ly/fwJkDX

About Crowd Science:

Crowd Science (http://crowdscience.com), based in Mountain View, California with offices in Toronto and Sydney provides online market research applications that combine the benefits of web analytics and survey research in a single research platform. Crowd Science's growing suite of products includes Audience Profiler, which lets website publishers better understand their audiences, and Campaign Profiler, an online ad effectiveness solution. Crowd Science also recently introduced a series of Free Online Market Research Tools (http://crowdscience.com/free_tools) to help small and medium businesses better understand their online audiences. Crowd Science is helping publishers, brands, agencies, and ad networks generate better insights that increase ad sales, inform editorial decisions, and demonstrate the ROI of marketing programs. Crowd Science's market research technology has been deployed on over 4,000 websites. Clients include Everyday Health, Federated Media, Halogen Network, Meredith, and Turner Sports and Entertainment.

About Just Ask!:

Just Ask! is Crowd Science's online research program that delivers timely, topical insights on online attitudes and opinions. Just Ask! surveys is conducted on an ongoing basis covering diverse, relevant topics including mobile and social network usage, online shopping attitudes, and brand perception. Just Ask! collects survey responses from a random sample of visitors across a network of over 4,000 websites.

SOURCE Crowd Science