Buyers less keen on green ... Print21 magazine article
How much do environmental issues really occupy the minds of print buyers when it comes to placing an order? Tony Duncan reports on research that offers some surprising insights in buyer behaviour.
We recently undertook a small piece of research into the attitudes of a group of print buyers to the “environmental” issues around the purchase of print. The research project was designed to provide some insights across buyers representing a number of sectors of importance to print including retail, publishing, advertising and graphic design. Print spend varied from $350,000 to $8 million.
The research was not designed to provide a definitive answer to the direction of the market but to catch a snapshot of opinion and provide some insights which could be used in larger, more quantitative surveys.
It won’t come as any surprise that most respondents had seen print volumes reduce. Generally, they commented that while some drop-off may continue, it will likely flatten out but would not return to earlier levels. Pressure from electronic media (including electronic direct mail campaigns) was impacting on volumes, mainly driven by changing client requirements.
As indicated above, the sample size was small but deliberately covered the range of buyers we thought were indicative of many print markets. The questions were focused on purchasing criteria, and while we were primarily after attitudes to the apparent “environmental” issues impacting print, the respondents were given the opportunity to comment on wider purchasing criteria. To give some initial focus, they were asked to rank seven criteria:
1. Price
2. Service & Delivery
3. Print Quality
4. FSC/PEFC accreditation
5. Relationship with sales contact
6. ISO 14000 accreditation
7. Other environmental accreditation
Environment comes last
The first major surprise was that all respondents ranked FSC/PEFC accreditation and ‘Other Environmental Accreditation’ as the lowest priorities, commenting that generally it was client-driven and, currently, clients were not asking for it. Follow-up questions indicated this hasn’t changed in the past couple of years. However, most felt that the environment and sustainability were discussed more today by clients and that this trend will continue to gain momentum.
Two responses that covered each end of the spectrum were: “The buyer felt bad that the reality was that the environmental aspects fell way down the list. She also felt that price had become the highest priority.”. Another respondent who was responsible for the purchase of considerable print volumes and claimed a 20 per cent increase in print purchases considered environmental issues were irrelevant: price was the only stated consideration. “Very price conscious. Not overly interested in certifications or accreditations… unnecessary and just adds to costs.”
For what it is worth, the preferred criteria were Price first, Service and Delivery a close second, followed by Relationship with Sales Contact and Print Quality almost even. (Although a general comment appeared to be that print quality is not a major issue for buyers i.e. all major print companies deliver acceptable and comparable print quality.)
The next surprise was the fact that the majority of companies interviewed had no environmental policy – nor any metrics or requirements for printers when buying print. One respondent was a major corporate who had a supplier environmental policy and requested printers supply their enviro/accreditation credentials when undertaking tender submissions. However, this qualifying of suppliers was undertaken by a different part of the organisation, and the print purchaser did not follow-up or check the information when finalising print contracts. And while all felt that paper and print was a sustainable medium, there was confusion in some of the messages. Most information on environmental issues was supplied by paper suppliers and there was support for a continued campaign reinforcing the benefits.
While the respondents generally marked FSC/PEFC accreditation down as a criteria, most used accredited papers (FSC mainly) and recognised the importance of accredited papers as reputational insurance: “could not afford the fall out from a negative press article for example.” At the other extreme, a $1+ million purchaser was a little more blunt and felt accreditation was “… a wank”.
Too many logos
Generally, it was felt paper suppliers had been active in providing environmental information, however some concerns were expressed regarding the number of schemes which had been promoted in the market over the years. A relatively small buyer, a graphic designer, commented: “…there were way to many accreditations and logos and that it had become confusing for the buyers… felt very sceptical as could(n’t) tell if the paper suppliers were behind the accreditations and therefore they couldn't be trusted.” Certainly purchasers appeared to require more detail on the paper’s environmental metrics rather than the print process.
So for a small piece of research it provided some useful commentary, none of which could be taken as definitive. However, there were some consistent themes:
• Buyers inherently believe paper/print is sustainable but struggle to quantify this.
• Pressure from alternative media appears to be driven primarily driven by cost.
• Environmental/sustainability issues remain an underlying issue although used more to qualify a supplier or material rather than as a final purchasing criteria.
• The major metric used relates to the environmental credentials of the materials (paper).
• The end client’s environmental position is the primary driver for environmental initiatives.
There are some obvious implications for the way you position your business: the need for clear, succinct messages and industry leadership focused on client demands. But that’s your job!
Thanks to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for their support with this project, and SMC Consulting for the research. If you would like a copy of the findings, send an email to tony.duncan@paperround.com.au