Green living is currently a very popular issue as it's always talked about in the media. Industries that are dedicated to environmentally safe products will create new jobs and cultivate new energy natural resources to replace fossil fuels. But just what exactly will thrive in the Green Economy can only be confirmed by consumers reaction to them. To figure out what will succeed is to first figure out why people would want to go natural?
I sometimes ask myself this question and imagine why people do this. The obvious explanation is that many people who make an effort to live green are stressed about saving the environment. Or it's feasible that many people are interested in the latest green technologies. Another factor is that people prefer to save money, despite the initial high cost of going green.
Despite what seem like common sense reasons, the truth is quite different according to a Wall Street Journal article. The real contributing factor that gets people encouraged to go eco-friendly is peer pressure. Yes that is correct, good old peer pressure.
Recently an experience was completed where two placards were put into resort bathrooms. The two placards kindly requested that guests reuse the towels more than one day. One of the placards said "Show your respect for mother nature". The second placard had as a personal message "Join your fellow attendees in making an effort to save the environment." It proved that 75% of guests did follow the appeal to reuse the towels. But the card that received the best results was the subsequent card stating to work with the other guests. In a follow up scientific study the placards were changed slightly and the second one now read "75% of attendees using this hotel room reused their towels". The results were superior than the former.
Peer pressure works very well in this setting just like everything else in life. It seems as if just saying that one can save the environment is not enough but to say everyone is doing it will certainly cause people to do something.
This research and its results means there are certain benefits for companies that market these green products to consumers. That sense of guilt caused by peer pressure has many people taking action as a result where they would not have done anything otherwise. So it appears that companies should focus their marketing on making people feel guilty if they don't go green. It's fairly likely that companies will certainly use a similar tactic done in the experiment.
On the whole I was surprised at the study and its success. Even so after mulling over them they just didn't really surprise me as much. I guess men and women psychologically adapt to what others do because it may be less difficult or we simply don't want to be seen as different.
So that looks to be the actual main cause for people going green. While you'll find people going green for real reasons, it's a bit surprising that most would do it as a result of peer pressure.
Author Resource:-
Jim is a very keen environmentalist who promotes green technologies and issues. He helps write on this blog which encourages people to refill toner cartridges. He also worships at the St John the Evangelist church in his village.
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