• by December 1, 2008

When it comes to "green" consumer electronic brands, consumer perception does not match reality, according to GreenFactor, a joint study from research firm Strategic Oxygen and PR agency Cohn & Wolfe.

The survey found that Americans ranked Dell as the top "green" consumer electronics brand, followed by Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. However, separate rankings by Greenpeace, based on what brands are really doing green-wise, place Nokia first--followed by Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Samsung. Nokia came in at #14 out of 27 brands in GreenFactor's U.S. consumer rankings, Samsung at #13, Toshiba at #11 and Sony at #7. In the Greenpeace rankings of 18 leading manufacturers, Dell placed 12th, Apple ran 14th, HP was 13th and Microsoft came in 17th, ahead of only Nintendo.

"It becomes glaringly obvious that many brands have consumers believing they're investing much more into their green programs than is true," says Michael Gale, CEO of Strategic Oxygen. "Some companies, like Nokia, have an opportunity to better communicate their green initiatives to earn a higher spot on the perception scale."

Indeed, 53% of U.S. consumers surveyed cited "lack of awareness" as the number one barrier to buying green electronics. Price placed second (45%) as a buying obstacle--with 57% refusing to pay premiums for green products. This was largely age-driven, however, as 54% of 25- to-34-year-olds actually said they would pay more--and 23% of those 65 and up said green-ness was simply not important to them.

The research also addressed which areas marketers choose to emphasize and communicate--in contrast to what consumers want.

For example, "saving energy" was cited by more than half (54%) of Americans who are considering green electronics, with "design" coming in at 5%.

"Product design ranked at the bottom of both green barriers and priorities," the researchers noted in a press release, "demonstrating that for the consumers who say green buying is important, marketers should focus on making a product's financial return on investment easy to understand. Otherwise, brands may risk accusations of greenwashing by making a less green product look like one."

Other findings in the study included:

• How do consumers get their green electronics education? Packaging (33%) ranked first, followed by a brand's Web site (32%), "independent brand comments online" (28%), and input from "friends/peers" (13%).

• Which green electronics do consumers want to purchase? Apparently, the bigger and more expensive the better--as high-def TVs and desktop computers tied for first (64%), followed close behind by notebooks (63%), and then printers (60%), digital cameras and media players (53%), and GPS (51%).

GreenFactor surveyed more than 10,000 adults in 12 countries, including 2,695 in the U.S., during September and October. "Green" technology was defined as having efficient power consumption, recyclable/reusable packaging, recycling offers for older equipment, use of non-toxic materials, or making investments in alternative materials and other future concepts.