Too many ads on eco-products can put off users

London : Companies looking to promote their environmentally friendly products should downplay their green credentials to get more customers, according to a study which says by over-advertising green attributes, firms risk generating associations with weak product performance.

The researchers, including those from the University of East Anglia in the UK, said this is because of the performance ability sometimes associated with green products which make consumers perceive them as being less effective.

According to their study, published in the Journal of Advertising, by downplaying a product’s greenness, firms may be more likely to persuade consumers to buy them, if promoted on more traditional, rather than performance, aspects. It said green products usually include environmentally friendly features that are less harmful to the planet and population, such as biodegradable and non-toxic ingredients, that enhance energy efficiency, and include recycled components.

However, while it has been suggested that consumers are willing to buy such products, these attitudes rarely result in purchases, and they often buy conventional alternatives, the scientists said.

Based on earlier studies, they said consumers tend to choose products with superior functional performance over products with better sustainability characteristics, indicating that this choice is often related to assumptions about the performance ability of green products.

The current study showed that the product category can influence the effect of a green product advertising strategy. Subtle, or ‘implicit’ messaging is more effective in conditions under which consumers have more concerns about the product’s performance, or have lower expectations about its greenness, the researchers added. When the product-related attributes are prominent in advertising, if consumers perceive them as being at odds with the benefits associated with the product category, the resulting incompatibility may further reduce how the customers evaluate their performance.