Indian and Brazilian consumers care the most for their environment in their day-to-day behaviour while consumers in the US care the least, a study of 14 countries conducted by National Geographic and GlobeScan has revealed.
“This first-of-its-kind study reveals surprising differences between consumers in developed and developing countries, in terms of environmentally friendly actions,” NatGeo said.
The survey was conducted online among 14,000 consumers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain and the United States.
However, while Indian and Brazilian consumers outranked others on the Greendex survey of environmentally sustainable behaviour with a score of 60 points, Indians came in last on a short quiz on environmental knowledge. The two countries were followed by consumers in China (56.1), Mexico (54.3), Hungary (53.2) and Russia (52.4).
Wealthy countries
Among consumers in wealthy countries, those in Great Britain, Germany and Australia each had a Greendex score of 50.2. The US consumers had the lowest score of 44.9. According to the study, people in developing countries are more likely to live in smaller residences; they prefer green products and own relatively few electronic devices; they walk, cycle, or use public transportation, and choose to live close to their most common destination.
Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president of Mission Programs said the Greendex will give an “unprecedented, meaningful look at how consumers across the globe are behaving”.
The results will help the surveyors “over time to assess the progress that people are making to conserve, minimise waste and protect natural resources for the future”, Garcia said.
The official warned that the patterns might change as consumers in developing economies in due course of time might adopt more consumptive behaviour.
GREEN INDEX
US fares worst
US consumers scored worse than those in any other country, developing or developed, concerning issues of housing, transportation and goods.
Consumers in developed countries have larger homes and are more likely to have air-conditioning; they also generally own more cars and prefer driving alone to using public transport.
And about consumables. A huge amount of garbage is generated mainly due to packaging. And lack of recycling and reuse. Which is thankfully much lesser in India. But thats more due to lack of resources than due to increased awareness. And the funny part is, when such an Indian goes to the US, he behaves like the Americans, either by force or by simply losing concern for the environment.
by Shruthi on 5/9/2008 3:49:19 PM
I strongly agree. When I am in Bangalore, I prefer to use a bus to travel whenever possible. But in the US, even if we want to use public transport, there is none or very little available in many cities, which forces us to use our own cars. Electric cars are not as easily available as those running on gasoline. A smaller population and stronger economy leads to a high car-to-human ratio. Clearly India too is heading the same way unless public transport is dramatically improved.
