Irish consumers keen to source environmentally-friendly products

The extent to which businesses need to focus on their environmental performance is highlighted in a survey conducted by Accenture, the management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, which shows 65% of Irish consumers polled last year cited long-distance transportation as a reason to avoid buying a product.

Even more tellingly for the country’s businesses, a convincing 93% said they would switch products if they could be sure that the item in question had been produced in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Meanwhile, 87% said they had bought products containing recycled material and 65% said they had thought about purchasing a more environmentally-friendly vehicle.

Accenture’s End-Consumer Observatory on Climate Change 2009 also found that the overwhelming majority of people in Ireland believe that climate change will directly affect them.

Just 15% were of the opinion that climate change is unlikely to have an impact on their lives, while 50% said it probably would and 35% said it is certain to.