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WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 23 September 2008 —Based on the analysis of 40 million blog posts collected during the past six months, in six major industries, four brands—Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Whole Foods—garnered the greatest volume of positive conversation among online bloggers regarding environmental sustainability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Environmental Sustainability Report released today. The six industries included in the report are discussed frequently in online conversations regarding eco-sustainability: automotive, retail, oil and gas, food and beverage, household products and utilities.
This report, conducted by the J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division (formerly Umbria, Inc.), which specializes in blog research and consumer-generated media research for market insight, is the first in a series to take a detailed look at consumer blogosphere conversations about environmental sustainability, global warming, purchase trends and user demographics. The report goes a step further to classify brands based on volume and percentage of positive mentions, and then to categorize those brands into four quadrants: pacesetters, contenders, emerging or challenged. Brands that receive less than 1 percent of the total number of online social media mentions within their respective industries are designated as dormant.
Whole Foods received a positive mention rate of 78 percent, the highest of any major brand studied. Three automotive manufacturers—Toyota, General Motors and Honda—each generated a considerably greater volume of mentions than did Whole Foods—more than three times as much, of which approximately one-half were positive. All four brands fall within the pacesetter category in 2008, having received higher-than-average volume and higher-than-average positive sentiment compared with other brands in their respective industries. No other major brand in any other industry qualifies as a pacesetter.
Consumers are showing rapidly increasing interest in environmental sustainability, both in their personal routines and in the brands that supply the products they buy, according to the inaugural study. There is a marked shift in the way consumers are discussing sustainability—62 percent of recent online posts were related to action-oriented solutions to environmental issues, a notable difference from 18 months ago when consumers were debating whether an environmental crisis even existed.
The report also finds that consumers are increasingly holding companies responsible for not only offering eco-friendly products, but also for acting in a sustainable manner. In addition, as consumers express feelings of uncertainty about how to effect environmental change on a personal level, they are also looking to the brands they use to provide information and clear direction.
“As more companies launch ‘green’ initiatives, consumers are becoming more skeptical and confused about what’s real, what’s not, and where they should focus their energy,” said Janet Eden-Harris, vice president of the Web Intelligence Division at J.D. Power and Associates. “Brands that help consumers understand which products are and aren’t green, and make it simple for customers to incorporate these products into their daily routines, will gain a major foothold in the sustainability conversation.”
Consumers cite habit, convenience, price, and perceived loss of functionality as the challenges of “going green” in everyday life. Groups that indicate an interest in pursuing environmentally friendly lifestyles include parents adopting green habits to help provide for their children’s future, as well as consumers generally looking to avoid social criticism and judgment for not adopting green practices.
“Consumers appreciate and often seek out positive social reinforcement surrounding the use of eco-friendly products and strategies in the home, and they desire for these aspects to be visible in some way,” said Eden-Harris. “For the same reason, consumers are generally willing to spend more on more conspicuously sustainable purchases, such as hybrid cars.”
“By tapping into spontaneous online conversations and gathering sustainability insights across several industries and topics—from automotive to consumer packaged goods to energy—we’re providing brands with actionable insights into consumer motivations and behaviors that they wouldn’t be able to access otherwise,” said Chance Parker, vice president and general manager of the Web Intelligence Division at J.D. Power and Associates.
The following are excerpted findings for each of the core markets addressed in the report:
Retail
- Conversations around sustainability are focusing on actions that retailers are taking that will make them more sustainable.
- Whole Foods is a pacesetter in the industry, with higher-than-average volume and percentage of positive mentions related to environmental sustainability, while Home Depot is a contender, with the second-highest percentage of positive sentiment.
- Wal-Mart and eBay also receive large overall volumes of sustainability discussion, but have less-than-average positive sentiment, placing them in the emerging quadrant.
- Reusable bags are becoming a standard expectation among many consumers.
Automotive
- Seventy-eight percent of customers express concern around automotive sustainability.
- Honda and GM generated more positive buzz around sustainability than did Toyota, primarily because Prius owners are viewed by some as being snobbish and showy.
- Nissan generated the highest percentage of positive mentions of all automotive brands during the first six months of the year. While Ford also generated a large amount of discussion volume around sustainability, the brand received a lower-than-average number of positive mentions, placing it in the emerging quadrant.
- Discussion has shifted in favor of smaller vehicles during the past 18 months, with the exception of bloggers in the Gen-X demographic, who express concern about the need for more space for their families.
Energy, Utilities and Oil & Gas
- Consumption of and demand for energy was mentioned in nearly one-half of the sustainability discussions.
- While the topic is important to all consumers, the conversation was dominated by Boomer generation males.
- Unlike in other industries, no company in the energy sector is a pacesetter.
Exxon-Mobil led in overall volume of discussion, but has lower-than-average positive sentiment, placing it in the emerging quadrant
There is consumer skepticism regarding green and renewable energy marketing from oil companies, which are not thought to be credible.
Household Products
- The most commonly mentioned brands were household cleaning products, with Seventh Generation, Clorox, and Method leading in discussion volume.
One in four discussions called for reducing energy usage and product consumption and waste.
- Gen-Y bloggers conducted the most discussion about the impact of various products on the environment.
- Consumers are looking to incrementally change their household practices to become more green.
Food and Beverage
- Food prices were a key theme of discussion during the first six months of 2008.
- Unique to the food and beverage industry is the focus on making conscious choices about food as a way to not only impact the environment, but also to improve health and reduce illness.
- With the proliferation of brands, product categories, manufacturers and food types in the food and beverage category, no single brand received more than 1 percent of sustainability conversations.
- Most consumers expressed disdain for diverting corn and other food products into biofuel production.
- Eight in 10 mentions involving food and beverage companies and organic products were positive.
The J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division is unique in its ability to assess both what is being said, and who is doing the speaking in the online world. Its patent-pending technology enables the classification of posts and ability to estimate gender and age of the speaker, as well as rapid identification and elimination of spam posts. The Web Intelligence Division analyzes voices of the online community by using proprietary Natural Language Processing and machine learning algorithms to dissect the who, what and why of online opinion, offering in-depth insights for some of the world’s leading brands. For more information about environmental sustainability industry trends, visit http://www.jdpower.com/corporate.
About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on boat ratings, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor’s, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.
J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division
J.D. Power's Web Intelligence Division is unique in its ability to assess both what is being said, and who is doing the speaking in the online world. Umbria’s patent-pending technology enables the company to classify posts and estimate gender and age of the speaker, as well as rapidly identify and eliminate bogus spam posts. J.D. Power analyzes voices of the online community by using proprietary Natural Language Processing and machine learning algorithms to dissect the who, what and why of online opinion, offering in-depth insights for some of the world’s leading brands. For more information on Umbria, please visit www.umbrialistens.com.
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com/corporate
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