[IxDA Discuss] sustainable design

[Nathan]

> And clearly, there is major incentive in an identified market that  
> will pay a 50% premium to a manufacturer who can transparently  
> demonstrate that their product consumes less energy, creates fewer  
> harmful byproducts, and benefits the social conditions of those who  
> produce it.

I wouldn't exactly say it that way. My research shows that people  
gain satisfaction from supporting their social agendas at the level  
of emotions, values, and meanings. However, that doesn't mean that  
everyone's values support less energy consumption, etc. However, when  
people have reliable, informed choice, then we'll start to see what  
the actual response is. Up until then, it's all conjecture.

> Are you aware of any industry-specific projections as to whether  
> the premium that consumers are willing to pay would cover the  
> increase in cost of production that manufacturers would face to  
> create more sustainable products - not to mention the initial  
> outlay and ongoing maintenance for the technical infrastructure?

It depends on how you define more sustainable products (we're back to  
that again : ). For example, an iPod can be considered a sustainable  
product in many ways: it's incredible dematerialized--to the point  
that it's dematerializing other products, services, and distribution  
mechanisms. Apple's also a pretty progressive company environmentally  
and socially (thought they probably aren't THE best in their  
industry. People are definitely paying a premium for iPods,  (though,  
perhaps, not for music on the iTunes music store). So, there's some  
proof. The problem is that more sustainable offerings doesn't  
necessarily mean that products will be more expensive.

The larger point is that people have been paying a premium for all  
sorts of reasons: fashion, emotions, values, meaning, etc.  
Sustainable criteria are just one more issue in this mix. If you look  
at the LOHAS market (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) you'll  
find a whole--and growing--market segment that does just that: http;// 
www.lohas.com

Roper's 2002 Green Gauge Report segments the US consumer market into  
5 groups along this line. The top two, True Blue Greens and Greenback  
Greens regularly pay more (some more than others) for "more  
sustainable" offerings, though every responds to different categories  
(some will shell-out more for food items, others for cars, others for  
clothes, etc.): http://www.sustainabilitydictionary.com/t/ 
trueblue_greens.php It's a complex market, however. Even the most  
strident sustainability boosters may not (and probably cannot) buy  
the most sustainable offerings in every category or way.

> Also, could you give a little background on the demographic(s) that  
> participated in your market research (modest as it may be)?

My study was hopelessly skewed to the "left" simply as a measure of  
who were in the social networks that passed the survey email around.  
Out of 269 respondents, only 49 somehow identified as  
"conservative" (there are a lot of ways that people might identify as  
conservative, I'm talking only neocons and overt Republicans here).  
As comparison, 174 people identified as somehow "liberal" (there was  
a little overlap even--think "economically conservative, socially  
liberal"). Anyway, even though the "conservative" group was much  
smaller, the answers showed that they were still interested in buying  
according to their social agendas, just that their social agendas are  
slightly different than "liberals." This should make sense if you've  
ever heard of the "What Would Jesus Drive?" movement or boycotts by  
the American Families Council. Each group showed slightly different  
preferences to certain issues or product categories but there was  
clear interest from both skews. The upshot is that the basic premise  
seems correct but the extent of the exact amounts, categories, and  
issues needs much further investigation.

N
________________________________________________________

Nathan Shedroff                  WEB   www.nathan.com
Experience Strategist

22 Cleveland Street                  NET    nathan at nathan.com
San Francisco, CA 94103