Why It’s Still “Unmanly” to Be Eco-Friendly

Strong trends produce stronger critics, or so the saying goes.

And no trend is stronger in the consumer world than the eco-friendly/all-natural/organic movement. Now, more than ever, consumers are demanding their produce to be organic, their coffee beans to be ethically sourced, and their dish soap to be chemical-free. Even products that are not in any way ingestible, such as cat litter or plastic containers, must correspond to some loose definition of “all-natural” and “eco-friendly.”

And brands are rushing to appeal to this new and growing consumer group. Seventh generation, maker of environmentally friendly home and personal care goods, was recently bought by consumer goods mega-company, Unilever. Annie’s Homegrown—best known for its organic mac and cheese products—was purchased by General Mills in 2014. Applegate Farms, maker of organic and natural meat products, sold to Hormel last year. And this is just to name a few such acquisitions.

But, not all consumers are buying into the craze—most notably, men. Stubborn as they are, men are less enticed by the eco-friendly movement than their female counterparts.

Why are men still holding out? And how might brands be able to convert them? New research, led by Dr. Aaron Brough, appearing in the December 2016 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research sheds light on this interesting (if not completely surprising) gender divide.

Dr. Brough and his colleagues hypothesized that the reason women are more likely to buy all-natural has as much to do with an ingrained societal association between buying green and femininity as it does with any personality differences between the sexes.

For example, in one of their studies, participants were asked to judge the masculinity of people who engaged in green behavior. They found that both men and women were judged to be less masculine when engaging in green behaviors (for example, shopping with a reusable canvas bag).

According to the researchers, there is a societal stigma surrounding men and green behaviors that “discourages men from engaging in green behaviors, particularly if they are motivated to maintain a macho image and wish to avoid being stereotyped as feminine.”

There may, however, be a remedy for this misplaced machismo, according to Dr. Brough and his collaborators. When men’s masculinity is affirmed, they become more receptive to buying green.

In a follow-up study, Dr. Brough and his colleagues asked a group of males to write a paragraph about what they did the previous day. Some of these males were led to believe that their writing conveyed “strongly masculine” sensibilities, while others were given no feedback. In an ostensibly unrelated task, researchers then asked these same males to read about an all-natural household cleaner and to rate how likely they would be to purchase the product. They found that men who received the masculinity-affirmation (i.e., those who were told their writing was strongly masculine) were more likely to purchase the green product than those who were given no feedback on the writing task.

In other words, making men feel as if they were already “macho” liberated them from the obligation of signaling their masculinity.

So, what does this all mean for brands and consumers?

For one, it suggests that men who support eco-friendly initiatives may be the manliest of all. Furthermore, the research suggests a clear plan of action for brands who want to appeal to the all-natural buyer segment without alienating their male customers: they must present their products as eco-friendly and all-natural while subtly affirming a masculine identity (e.g., through packaging, messaging, etc.). A delicate balance, yes, but profit awaits for brands that can successfully bridge the divide.

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