NewWays for Environmental and Social Change

That’s one of the major findings of the recently-released 2007 National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS), sponsored by the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, and research firm Rockbridge Associates, Inc. This is good news for ecopreneurs, especially since the survey also notes that many consumers want to buy “green tech” products, but can’t find what they want:

…while 83 percent of adults said they wanted to protect the environment, and 59 percent said they like trying new technologies to help the environment, about 42 percent said such technologies were hard to find.

via ecopreneurist.com 

An ideal situation for ecopreneurs? Perhaps… both for new companies, and for those that want to market green products better. Both P.K. Kannan, director of the Smith School’s Center for Excellence in Service, and Charles Colby, president of Rockbridge, offer some tips for effectively tapping this market:

• About half of the consumer interest is directed towards green vehicle technology, notes Colby, with the other half focused on products for more efficient/greener heating and cooling, solar water heating, and water purification.
• Price still matters, according to Kannan: many consumers still don’t believe they can afford the premiums on green products. Lowering those premiums will likely result in greater mass-market acceptance.
• Adopters are looking towards a handful of green tech leaders for advice on product adoption, and these leaders are using social media (MySpace, Facebook, blogs) to give that advice.
• Greenwashing still doesn’t pay: according to Colby, “Consumers are quite sensitive to companies that don’t follow through on their promises. Firms that misrepresent or exaggerate the benefits of their green technology may find it backfires with consumer hostility or rejection.”

The Smith School of Business also provides some brief videos of both Colby and Kannan speaking to these observations.

Some interesting statistics from the survey:

• 83 percent of adults want to preserve and protect the environment
• 42 percent of adults said products and services that help the environment are hard to find
• 59 percent of adults say they like trying new technologies that help the environment
• 56 percent of adults say gadgets designed to help the environment would be fun to own
• 68 percent of adults like to do business with companies that are environmentally responsible
• 72 percent of adults say they resent companies who say they care about the environment but are not sincere

So, a flagging economy may not mean stagnation for green businesses. No doubt there are other conclusions to take from these numbers; let us know what you see either in the comments below, or in the Green Options Media discussion forums.