Yale Conference to Examine What Consumers Value in "Green" Business

Survey of Consumer Attitudes Towards the Environment, Green Products to be Released

New Haven, Conn., September 26, 2008 - The Green Consumer Values Conference, hosted by the Yale Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management (YCCI) and the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (CBEY), will take place on October 10 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. at the Yale Club of New York City, 50 Vanderbilt Avenue.

As consumer demand for environmentally-friendly products and services grows, insights into how consumers think about "green" products have become vital to making informed marketing decisions. Which product categories do consumers believe have the greatest impact on the environment? What type of environmental impact are they most concerned about? Is it more important to them that a product's packaging is green or its manufacturing process? This half-day conference will draw from new survey findings as well as a panel discussion featuring industry experts to provide insights into these and other key challenges facing marketers.

The findings of the inaugural "Green Consumer Values Survey" will be presented. The research was conducted by the YCCI and CBEY in collaboration with McKinsey & Company's Consumer & Shopper Insights Center. This nation-wide survey with 1,000 respondents was conducted to uncover what consumers truly value in "green" business across the value chain and in a wide range of industries including automobiles, appliances, and consumer packaged goods. The findings will help companies that are investing in environmental initiatives better communicate the benefits of being green to consumers.

Among the survey findings to be discussed in depth along with their implications for industry are: 

• While 60% of consumers say environmentally-friendly products are more desirable, only 24% named a green product by brand name when asked what "green" consumer product first comes to mind. 
• Consumers are not always consistent when thinking about which environmental improvements to products will have the most impact vs. which ones will make them want to buy. For example, they believe wood harvesting in creating paper products has the most significant environmental impact but improving biodegradability is more likely to motivate purchase.

The survey research was conducted by Ravi Dhar, Professor at the Yale School of Management and Director of the Yale Center for Customer Insights; Dan Esty, Professor at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Director of the Center for Business and Environment at Yale, and co-author of Green to Gold; Tony Leiserowitz, Research Scientist and Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Yale Project on Climate Change at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies; John Forsyth, Partner, McKinsey & Company; and Tamara Charm, Expert, McKinsey & Company.

The conference will feature an opening keynote by Marjorie Schussel, Corporate Manager, Corporate Marketing, Toyota NA, and a panel discussion with Judy Hu, Global Executive Director, Advertising and Brand, GE; Lisa Klauser, Vice President of Consumer & Customer Solutions, Unilever; Rich Lechner, Vice President, Energy Efficient Technology & Services, IBM; Victor Melendez, Vice President of Marketing, Sustainability, PepsiCo; and Brian Moore, Vice President of Global Men's Footwear, Timberland.

For more information, or to register for the conference, please visit www.cci.som.yale.edu.

Members of media are invited to attend. To request a press pass, or the findings of the Green Consumers Values Survey to be released on October 10, please contact Tabitha Wilde, Director of Media Relations at the Yale School of Management, at 203-432-6010; tabitha.wilde@yale.edu. Conference sessions, with the exception of the survey release, will be under the Chatham House Rule.

The conference is sponsored by BBH and Unilever.