Cheap and low carbon? I’ll take it (Image: Nicky Loh/Reuters/Corbis)
Is China a country of eco-shoppers? Young Chinese adults say they are willing to pay extra for products that display green credentials. But those who study consumer behaviour are sceptical.
The in London on their . Overall, 68 per cent were keen for companies’ carbon outputs to be independently certified.
Most participants said they would buy products labelled with carbon footprints – whether high or low – only if they cost the same as conventional products. But in China 42 per cent of respondents said they would willingly pay more.
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“Perhaps it is the Chinese, and not the US consumer, that really holds the key to unlocking the mass demand for the new low-carbon products necessary to deliver an environmentally sustainable economy,” says Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay.
Yet, people do not necessarily do what they say they will, says of the University of Leeds, UK. In 2009 Young and colleagues found that , and yet ethically sourced foods only have 5 per cent of the market.
In practice, most consumers choose products based on the price, along with nebulous factors like brand and colour, Young says. “Those factors are stronger than their green conscience.”
His research suggests that shoppers will not buy eco-friendly products as long as cheaper, polluting versions are on the market.
