Green marketing opportunities?
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, November 28, 2011
Consumers need information first
This week we begin a three-part look at the eco-friendly mattress arena, one that generates a fair amount of talk within the trade.
We hear a number of bedding producers talk about the "natural" beds they make and the "eco-friendly" materials they use in their construction. We sometimes use the term "green" as a handy way to speak about those kinds of materials and mattresses.
Green options |
Are you aware of eco-friendly/green options with new mattresses? |
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Source: Furniture/Today, HGTV Mattress Survey, 2010 |
But the results of a consumer survey we undertook with the respected HGTV organization last year show that the industry has a great deal of work to do if it wants to successfully market "green" sleep sets.
We began our research into this subject by asking consumers a basic question: Are you aware of eco-friendly/green options with new mattresses? The results were clear: Seven out of 10 consumers responding to the survey said they are not aware. Only three in 10 are aware of green mattress options. In some ways, those findings are not surprising. We've been highly critical of many bedding retailers' reluctance to talk about much more than low prices in their advertising. Price-oriented advertising remains prevalent among mattress retailers.
Retail sales associates can - and do - bring up green issues on the sales floor, especially when consumers express interest in those issues. But it's highly significant that most consumers are not even aware of green mattress options. That simple fact ensures that there won't be too much discussion of green options when consumers look for a new sleep set.
Producers and retailers who want to market green sleep sets have their work cut out for them, these survey results indicate. The fact is that consumers' knowledge of green bedding options is limited at the present time.
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