At the risk of over-simplifying, I see most businesses falling into one of two camps when deciding whether and how to “go green.” I’ll call one the market camp and the other the values camp. 

The market camp consists of businesses whose green decisions are driven by whether there is market opportunity or customer demand for green(er) products or services. These businesses tend to be product focused. In other words, if green can sell, then they’ll produce it. Otherwise, forget it. They can’t stay in business producing things few customers want.

Businesses in the values camp decide to go green because they believe it is the right thing to do environmentally and socially. They tend to be operations focused. In other words, green operations are capable of only producing green products and services. If they find themselves to be ahead of mainstream marketplace demand, so be it. Financial success can’t come at the expense of environmental or social damage.

So how might businesses in these two camps react to results of a national survey on green issues recently conducted by an ad agency in Knoxville, Tenn.? 

Among other things, the survey found that many people remain confused about what “green” is and the “green market” is far from mature.

Not only that, the study found that about 26% of Americans (mostly affluent, white, middle-aged males) fall into a demographic called the “Never Greens.” These are skeptics who either “don’t care or are not interested” in sustainable or green products.

The market camp, which represents the majority of businesses, will probably look at this data as reason to become more conservative in deciding whether or how fast to go green. When so few buying decisions appear to be made on the basis of a company’s environmental record and such a large percentage of Americans couldn’t care less about green products, where’s the market or financial incentive to produce green?

I’d wager the values camp will remain undaunted by these findings. They will continue business as usual because the option of not being green doesn’t exist for them. They will focus on the minority of potential customers who today make buying decisions based on the environmental practices of a company and the sustainability of their products and services. And they will do what they can to educate others about the importance of sustainable consumption habits.

So do you and your organization fall into one of these camps, or someplace in between? For me, a perfect world consists only of the values camp, although as a business owner and marketer I certainly understand the importance of listening to the market. Unfortunately, the market has failed to send adequate signals to businesses to behave and produce sustainably. As a result, we’ve depended far too long on fossil fuels, depleted far too much of the earth’s resources and produced far too many good and services for a minority of affluent humans who already have too much.

As the survey reveals, most people aren’t guided by sustainability principles in their buying habits. Businesses in the values camp don’t take that as a signal to relax. They see it as a reason to re-double their commitment to sustainability. And that gives me hope.