I bought the same brand of dish soap for 5 years. I don’t know why I started buying it, I think I just saw a green bottle and assumed it was relatively eco-friendly, or non-toxic, or something like that. It wasn’t until I started working with Ecos on a marketing project that I realized that the brand I had been using didn’t have nearly as many certifications or awards for sustainability. I had been buying this particular brand out of habit and assuming it was ‘green’ when in reality, there were other brands with much more environmentally friendly formulas and practices.
So, despite having all the certifications and awards, why wasn’t the more eco-friendly brand my immediate first choice? Daniel Kahneman has a theory that explains this concept. Essentially, our brains prefer to exist in a state of cognitive ease, similar to ‘autopilot’ where we don’t have to pay too much attention to the things around us. When we make decisions that don’t require much critical thinking, we use associative memory. This relies on past experiences and emotional responses. For example, when I am buying detergent, I see a green label and I assume that this brand probably fits my preference for environmentally friendly products. When we are in autopilot mode, we pay less attention and make more mistakes. This means a few things for marketers- and there’s some bad news and some good news.
The bad news: It was all too easy for a brand that was not making an effort to be ‘green’ to trick the (somewhat lazy) environmentally conscious consumer into buying. This is a trick I have now learned is called ‘green washing’.
The good news:
Brands that do the work to create social impact have already done the hard part. Now you just need to communicate it in a way that is effective and resonates.
Doing the work is important- but that’s only half the job. If you can’t effectively communicate your impact, you might as well be doing it in secret.
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