Remember the naysayers in the 80s? (Apologies if you were knee-high at the time). They told us green was a fad, that sustainability was unsustainable and that customers wanted low prices, not high principles. Strident words – and wrong, because today, the key to retail success is going green.

If the rise of greenwashing wasn’t a clear enough indicator of the way the wind is blowing, we now have the results of a survey of 20,000 customers across 10 countries undertaken by Havas Media. They found that:

80% of those surveyed favored brands with sustainable practices

72% would punish (i.e. neglect to grace with a purchase) eco-unfriendly brands

and 48% – nearly half - were perfectly happy to pay more money for sustainable goods.

Not doing badly for a fad, I’d say.

Source: Reuters

Image: Unhindered By Talent