[2012 State of the Industry Report] The Numbers

U.S. Consumers Not Feeling ‘Green Guilt’

Green products and services tend to come up a lot these days, but just how concerned are customers when it comes to sustainability? According to the 2012 Greendex report, a joint venture between the National Geographic Society and consultancy GlobeScan, consumers in the United States trail the rest of the globe when it comes to sustainable behavior, and are among the least likely to feel guilty about their impact.

The study, which surveyed 17,000 consumers in 17 countries, measured choices and behaviors that contribute most to a consumer’s overall ecological impact, according to National Geographic. Americans earned a Greendex score of 44.7, ranking dead last among the 17 countries in the study. Among other findings, just 21 percent of those surveyed feel guilty about the impact they have on the environment — yet 47 percent have faith in an individual’s ability to help protect the environment, among the most in that category. Only consumers in Australia, Germany and Japan reported feeling guilty about their environmental impact at a lower rate, according to the study.

The top-scoring consumers were India, China and Brazil. “Those in emerging economies continue to round out the top tier of the Greendex ranking, while the lowest scores are all earned by consumers in industrialized countries,” according to National Geographic. Interestingly, Indian and Chinese consumers feel the most guilty about the impact they have on the environment, and are among the least confident that their individual actions can have an impact on sustainability.

This year was the fourth that National Geographic and GlobeScan have partnered for the Greendex study. Results for 2012 and past years can be found at http://on.natgeo.com/OB8OW0.

August 2012 Daily Spending Among Consumers Highest Since December 2008

According to the most recent Gallup Poll, Americans’ self-reported daily spending was at its highest in four years in August 2012, at $77. That number is the highest average since December 2008, according to Gallup.

The results were based on Gallup Daily tracking throughout the month of August. Each night, Gallup asks Americans to report how much they spent the prior day apart from regular bills or “big spending” such as the purchase of a car.

Spending among the lower- and middle-class (classified as households with annual incomes of $90,000 or less) ticked up, averaging $63 daily, up from $59 in July. Daily spending among the upper crust has been on an upward trajectory all year, according to Gallup, but averaged the same in August as it did in July at $135. That pattern is atypical, Gallup said: “Usually when spending increases in a given month, it is driven by upper-income consumers rather than those with lower and middle incomes.”

Gallup accounted for back-to-school spending as a possible factor in the bump.

TV Still King of Media Influence

According to the 2012 Media Comparisons Study, consumers credit TV ads as most influ-ential in making a purchase decision, MediaPost reported.

The study, from TVB and Knowledge Networks, found that television reaches more people each day than any other medium, including Internet, radio, newspaper, mobile phone, magazines and tablets. TV was reported to reach 88.3 percent of people over the age of 18 each day. That number is down slightly from 2010 (89.5 percent), along with other “traditional” media outlets radio, newspaper and magazines. The Internet and mobile phones made gains over the two-year span.

“The study indicates that a plurality of respondents across all age groups believe that TV influences their purchase decisions the most,” MediaPost wrote. What does that mean for PMPs? While television advertising is costly, in those smaller markets where ad buys are more affordable, PMPs can build their brand and drive sales by advertising on local television.

Other findings included:

• TV’s reach is most significant in the “upscale market,” with 90.5 percent reached in households with more than $100,000 annual income.
• Women were found to use television for a longer period of time per day than men, averaging 5.43 hours per day to mens’ 4.97 hours per day.