• by Aaron Baar , March 31, 2009

Consumer electronics companies may be selling an environmentally friendly message, but consumers aren't necessarily buying -- especially if it means a higher price.

According to the results of a recent survey by Retrevo, a consumer electronics information Web site, 75% of consumers said buying energy-efficient products is important to them. However, less than half of them -- 35% -- are willing to pay any premium for green products, even if those premiums would be passed on in energy savings.

"We were surprised to see that it wasn't as widely accepted as these companies might want," Andrew Eisner, director of content for Retrevo, tells Marketing Daily. The company queried 1,500 people for the study.

Moreover, 40% of the respondents said they had trouble believing companies' environmental claims, saying companies are selling the idea of being environmentally friendly, rather than by creating or selling energy-efficient products. Only 13% of the respondents said they believed these green claims.

"Consumers are naturally skeptical, and the green labels might not mean as much as these companies might think," Eisner says. "It looks like [these companies] have got to be doing a better job of educating consumers. If they can't educate them, they're going to have to drop prices."

On a positive note, consumers said they were disposing of electronics in environmentally friendly ways. About one-third of the respondents said they give old electronics to charity, while 20% said they take them to a recycling center. Only 12% said they throw them away. "At least most of them aren't throwing them in the trash can," Eisner says.