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Auto Consumers See Through Greenwashing

03/27/2008
SustainableBusiness.com News

A new report analyzing consumer-generated web-content found that customers are tuned in to which car manufacturers are making the biggest strides to improve fuel efficiency and decrease environmental impact.

The study, conducted by the online marketing firm BrandIntel, found that consumers are quick to see which auto manufacturers have credibility creating green vehicles and which manufacturers put in ‘just enough effort' to appear green.

Not surprisingly, the study also found that consumers care about green issues when they align with their own economic interests.

"Our research suggests that consumers are voicing concerns about green issues almost exclusively in the context of their personal economics--green is good, but it's most potent when it aligns with the consumers' wallet," said Alan Dean, VP of Research at BrandIntel. "Additionally, consumers have moved beyond the surface issues and are engaged in complex discussions about the lifetime environmental footprint of new technologies."

The report looks at online consumer discussions around green automotive technology and the issues in which these alternative technologies are discussed. Other findings include:

Over 80% of consumer discussions focused on fuel economy.
Automakers not in support of new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are viewed more negatively by consumers.
Consumers were three times more likely to discuss hybrid vehicles than clean diesel.
Toyota, Honda, Mercedes and Volkswagen have green credibility due to their hybrid and diesel vehicle offerings. Conversely, discussion around GM, Chevrolet and Chrysler brands reveals that consumers do not perceive these manufacturers to have green credibility due to their large truck and SUV fleets, as well as weaker diesel/hybrid vehicle lineups.

For this report, BrandIntel tracked more than two million raw search results on the Internet refining those results through technological filters and human analysis to focus on 1,100 consumer mentions on green automotive technology.

Website: http://www.brandintel.com