Mastering the New Green Market - Part 1 - The Green Wave hits the Economic Tsunami meets Barack Obama

• The Green Wave.  In earlier posts, we've explored what the green wave is, how it arose, and why it's destined to keep on rising over the long haul.  Briefly, it's a wave of public environmental concern in response to environmental problems.  Environmental problems are bad and getting worse, and the green wave will grow in response.
   
• The Economic Tsunami.  Our last four posts explored what a company can do to revamp its marketing in the face of the recession.  But how, specifically, will the economic tsunami impact the green wave?  Last October, NPR's Sarah Gardner reported that in the view of environmentalist Ted Nordhaus, "The green bubble has burst."  Understandable?  Yes.  Good?  No!  Not for green marketers or the planet!
   
• Barack Obama.  Obama may well be the first truly green president.  He clearly recognizes the reality of global warming and the need to "save the planet."  As much as politically possible, he's packing his economic stimulus package with green spending.  And simply by winning in 2008, he reversed the anti-environmental climate that has infected Washington for so long.  Will this be enough to counter the economic crash?  Where does it leave green marketing?

The good news is that green values are now mainstream in America.  You no longer have to battle to establish the importance of going green.  Obama in the White House certifies that.  But as people tighten their wallets, you need to establish the urgency — or better yet, give people ancillary reasons to buy from you now.

Three important principles come into play here.  You're probably familiar with all of them, so I'll only link to the definitions and explanations.

1. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  As economic clouds crowd in, people hunker down — and slide down the "needs" scale from more global, idealistic and altruistic levels to a more self-centered, survivalist orientation.  This will not necessarily diminish people's green values, but it will backburner them, temporarily giving them a lower priority — which does, in effect, diminish them.
    
2. The Tragedy of the Commons.  When people perceive a conflict between doing what's best for the planet and doing what's best for themselves — and especially when that perceived conflict is magnified by budget constraints and sliding down the need's hierarchy — they will rationalize choosing person over planet on the basis that their choice will have little impact on the planet but much impact on their own welfare.  Individually, they'll be right.
    
3. Cognitive Dissonance.  When people experience a conflict between their consciously held beliefs and values and their actual decisions and actions — for example, green people making non-green purchases — they experience psychological tension that may be distinctly uncomfortable.  A common defense against this discomfort is to repress half the equation, "forgetting" either their green attitudes or their non-green actions.

The net effect of this "terrible trio" is to make people, in effect, less green.  But they may not want to admit it, even to themselves, which makes it harder to confront head-on but just might give you a bit of sideways leverage.  And let's be clear:  we are just talking here about people's purchasing psychology, quite apart from their actual financial purchasing ability.

Bottom line:  green marketing just got tougher.  But you knew that.  The question is, how do you deal with it?  Read our next post to find out!