News

Surprise: Low-income shoppers more willing to pay a premium for sustainability

July 19, 2009

In the prevailing cliché, it is the wealthy among us who care the most about the environment; they are the ones willing to pay a premium for products and services that are "green."

But it is actually lower-income shoppers that are willing to pay more for sustainability. So says a new research report published by retail design firm Miller Zell.

The report also finds that women are more likely to think green is worth an up charge than men are. Half of all shoppers surveyed were willing to pay more to get green products.

The low-income finding makes sense when one stops to consider the number of "green Millennials" that have recently entered the workforce, their incomes still at the lower end of the spectrum. As for women, they have "a higher frequency of unplanned purchases," and are "more likely to be influenced to purchase based on whether or not the product is green," the report says.