High prices on green goods deter consumers

(Pavel Mitrofanov)

High prices of green goods deter both consumers and business executives, but price comparison sites tailored to green needs could help.

Seventy-one percent of US executives say consumers' unwillingness to pay premium prices for green products or services is the primary obstacle facing businesses wanting to go green, according to a survey released on August 11 by global PR firm Gibbs & Soell.

Consumers in the US, the UK, France, Germany and Australia largely agree with those US executives found a June survey by PR group Cohn & Wolfe. Most consumers said that high prices were the biggest deterrent when shopping for green goods. French consumers were the most concerned with the price of green goods with 89 percent of consumers in France believing ‘green' products cost more than ‘non green equivalents.'

Concerns over high prices meant a global average of only 30 percent of consumers intend to spend more on green products over the following year.

In response to consumer concerns over the perceived price of environmentally responsible goods a number of green price comparison websites have emerged.

Green comparison shopping site, Pristineplanet.com compares prices on a wide range of goods such as stationery, kid's clothes and wine (though the site is based in America some suppliers do ship internationally). UK-based price comparison site GreeningEngland.co.uk has a far wider range of goods though many of the suppliers do not ship outside of the country.

Some established price comparison sites such as Get Price in Australia have environment-related sections and allow users to search just within organic products, for example.

www.pristineplanet.com

www.greeningengland.co.uk

http://www.getprice.com.au/eco-products.htm