Green Marketing - Adoptability

Adoptability

In 1989, 67 percent of Americans stated that they were willing to pay 5-10 percent more for ecologically compatible products. By 1991, environmentally conscious individuals were willing to pay between 15-20 percent more for green products. Today, more than one-third of Americans say they would pay a little extra for green products

An important challenge facing marketers is to identify which consumers are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. It is apparent that an enhanced knowledge of the profile of this segment of consumers would be extremely useful.

Everett Rogers, communication scholar and author of “Diffusion of Innovations”, claims that the following five factors can help determine whether a new idea will be adopted or not, including the idealism of the shift towards “green”:

1. Relative advantage: is the degree to which the new behavior is believed to accrue more beneficial outcomes than current practice.
2. Observability: is how easy it is to witness the outcomes of the new behavior.
3. Trialability: is the ease with which the new behavior can be tested by an individual without making a full commitment.
4. Compatibility: is the degree to which the new behavior is consistent with current practice.
5. Complexity: is how difficult the new behavior is to implement.