Going Green Can Gain Clients for Financial Services Firms

Susan Menke, vice president and behavioral economist at Mintel, said in a statement, "Overcoming this cynicism is the key to a successful green marketing campaign that really stands out. But the danger lies in promoting green messaging in a way that only feeds this cynicism. In order for a green campaign to be effective, the consumer must feel like the company is truly sincere."

How to do that? Walk the walk. According to the study, companies that take green to heart and show by their actions that they take it seriously by, for instance, running a green corporate headquarters, come in head and shoulders above the rest. A little over two thirds of respondents said that that is the most important thing a company can do to become more environmentally friendly. With environmental issues an important reason for women, people 35 and under, and Hispanics to choose a company to work with, that should be incentive enough.

There’s another reason, however: despite the recession, the study showed that the number of people influenced by environmental issues in their choice of financial services companies actually grew. In January of 2009, 8% said that environmental responsibility was a determining factor in their choice of businesses; in December of 2010, that had risen to 11%, despite the fact that that time span represented "a very tough economy."