Environmental concerns are not top of mind when B.C. shoppers hit the mall.
According to an annual Ipsos-Reid survey published Wednesday, the number of shoppers who care about a retailer’s actions to preserve and protect the environment has dropped 10% in the last three years.
Although 67% still feel that a retailer’s environmental initiatives are an important consideration when deciding where to shop, other concerns such as the economy reign supreme.
“It is typical for other issues like the environment to decline in importance when concerns about the economy are stronger, and this likely was happening in 2010 when we witnessed declining environmental concerns,” explained Catherine Dawson, retail industry team senior vice president at Ipsos-Reid.
“However, it appears that in 2011 the environment has not returned to the forefront of many consumers’ consideration set, despite an improving economy.”
The survey also found there’s a growing number of consumers who can’t tell if a retailer has done a good or poor job of protecting the environment.
Seven in 10 B.C. shoppers feel they are “ill-equipped” to judge a retailer’s environmental performance, the survey found.
“These results suggest that the decline in importance we are seeing is not because consumers are feeling better educated about retailers’ performance, but instead are part of a more general decline in how much this issue matters to them.”