The green and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumer are ones that definitely recognize the brand and the company to be inseparable. Many of my recent articles on green marketing focus on the buying behavior of these consumers.
Their decision to buy focuses on three critical points:
Pre-purchase (Is this a company and brand whose mission and values I support?)
Point of purchase (Does this product or service meet my needs for the right price?)
Post-purchase (Is this packaging recycled or recyclable? Are the profits from my purchase going to be used ethically and responsibly?)
So to get their dollars, you have to focus on their most critical points and make sure your benefits outshine your competitors’ benefits. In my recent green article for Green Lodging News on green marketing, I mention how to do just that.
Here are some of the ideas that you can apply to most any industry:
When you’re considering how to let people know about your hotel’s green benefits, say something such as ”our hotel was built using environmentally friendly materials, such as bamboo, reducing the toxins that are normally emitted into the air by non-renewable resources.” I mention this regularly in many of the more recent articles on green marketing I write for various national publications.
You can also say something about how your product or service strives to decrease its carbon footprint and how it is doing so. A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels; in the case of an organization, business or enterprise, as part of their everyday operations.
But, as many of my recent articles on green marketing indicate, it is not enough to just say your “decreasing your carbon footprint.” You have to indicate how this benefits consumers buying your product or service or staying in your hotel. Don’t just assume people will translate this to a benefit automatically. You’ll notice in quite a few of my recent articles on green marketing and my blogs, I mention that you can never assume even a green consumer will know everything about which you are talking even if it is green. Define everything and educate them as much as possible.
Helping You Understand and Profit from Consumer Health and Green Trends
Colette Chandler
