Wilmington, Del./April 14, 2008/PRNewswire/ — A new survey released today shows that nearly seven out of 10 U.S. consumers (65 percent) are willing to pay more for products made with renewable resources. The nationally representative survey, sponsored by DuPont and Mohawk Industries, queried 1,001 U.S. homeowners to identify consumers' personal attitudes and behavior toward environmental responsibility.
Conducted by MarketTools, the survey also revealed that global warming and helping American farmers were important drivers for consumers. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they would consider purchasing renewably sourced products that are more expensive to help deter global warming, while 33 percent of respondents said they would consider doing the same to help American farmers. Renewably sourced products on the market today include carpets, textiles, personal care products and others derived from renewable, farm-grown sources rather than petroleum.
"The survey confirms that people are becoming much savvier, with a growing understanding that being environmentally responsible is more than just recycling or buying products made with recycled materials," said Peter C. Hemken, vice president and general manager of DuPont Applied BioSciences - Biomaterials.
"Consumers, suppliers and product manufacturers, all stakeholders in the value and supply chains, need to take a closer look and understand the entire life cycle of products — what the products are made with, the inputs and outputs of the production process, and where the product goes at the end of its useful life — essentially the life cycle analysis," Hemken said. "This concept of 'starting at the source' is similar to reading food labels at the supermarket. The final product is what you want to buy, but its ingredients help inform the decision. This is the same decision consumers can now make when considering purchasing products that contain renewably sourced ingredients."
Mohawk Industries, a DuPont partner that recently converted its SmartStrand line of residential carpets to include DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer, has heard first-hand from their customers about their interest in purchasing products made with renewable ingredients.
"Our retailers are telling us the SmartStrand line is the best selling residential carpet they have on the sales floor today," said David Duncan, vice president of marketing - Mohawk Residential Carpet. "It appeals to environmentally conscious consumers while also delivering the innovative performance our customers have come to expect from Mohawk flooring."
According to the survey results, a majority of respondents (65 percent) are willing to pay at least $5 more on a $100 product — an additional 5 percent — for products that are made with renewable resources. On average, U.S. consumers are willing to pay $8.30 more on a $100 product that uses renewable resources.
The survey also found that there are clear regional differences in how different parts of the United States view environmental responsibility. While 28 percent of the U.S. overall believes it is extremely important to be environmentally responsible, specific regions ranked particularly high. The Pacific and East South Central regions of the United States topped the list at 39 percent and 38 percent, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum were the Mountain (25 percent), Middle Atlantic (24 percent), and tied at 21 percent were West South Central and East North Central regions.
Other key findings of the survey include the following:
- Women tend to be more environmentally responsible than men. Eighty-six percent of women said environmental responsibility is important, while 74 percent of men said the same.
- Income and age demographics have no significant impact on environmental responsibility. Surprisingly, the survey found that there was no significant disparity among various income groups in recognizing the importance of environmental responsibility. Across all income levels, the concern for environmental responsibility and degree of action to achieve environmental responsibility was similar. The same was also true for various age groups.
- Consumers take part in a wide variety of activities to help the environment, but some activities still are not popular even with the most environmentally committed. Respondents were asked what environmentally responsible actions they take in their households. Most U.S. consumers cited recycling (60 percent), using less water (56 percent) and using less energy (53 percent) as behaviors they do "all the time." Behaviors that were the least popular were likely the hardest for consumers to carry out. They included doing business with environmentally responsible companies, using alternative energy and assessing their carbon footprint, all at 9 percent.
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