Report: Blogosphere hates greenwashers
Companies that engage in eco-exaggeration better look out - bloggers are out to expose you. A recent study from Nielsen Online calls greenwashing a "failed strategy", and says that one of the most popular pasttimes on environmental blogs is criticizing those businesses that talk the green talk without walking the walk.
According to Nielsen Online Research Director Jessica Hogue, bloggers are a "highly skeptical consumer group" (ya think?) who are easily riled by companies overstating the case on their environmental initiatives. Starbucks, for example, gets knocked for paying lip service to social and environmental concerns, while Dunkin' Donuts is praised for taking a low-key approach to their use of Fair Trade coffee.
The report suggests that companies wanting to a have a clean green rep follow the example of Patagonia, who offer near complete transparency on their website, acknowledging when they fall down as well as when they succeed.
Of course, the big question from a CEO point of view is whether what bloggers think really has any impact on the bottom line, or if it's just chatter that doesn't affect sales.
via [Advertising Age]
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