The Diffusion Group, an enterprise involved in market planning and research, recently announced that Apple (News - Alert) was considered to be one of the most ecologically friendly consumer technology brands.

 

The finding was announced after what was about a third of Internet users chose the consumer technology brand of Apple to be the most environmentally friendly option. The same survey revealed that 21 percent of the Internet users chose Dell (News - Alert), while 15 percent of the people selected HP (Hewlett-Packard). The research results were obtained from adult Internet users.

 

“Keep in mind that consumers were asked to select the one brand they considered most environmentally friendly,” said Michael Greeson, president of TDG and author of the new report. “In other words, this does not mean that only one-third of consumers believe Apple is an environmentally friendly brand, but that one-third of consumers believe Apple to be the most environmentally friendly brand.”

 

The results from the TDG review were in direct contradiction to Greenpeace’s September 2008 “Guide to Green Electronics,” which held that Apple was not the top environmentally friendly consumer technology company. The results of the Greenpeace guide marked Apple much further down the scale, giving the company a 4.1 on a 10-point scale. Beating Apple in this competition for green technology were Sony, Toshiba (News - Alert), Dell, Acer, HP, and Panasonic.

 

“Chalk it up to effective marketing and the brand’s aura of simplicity in both design and usage,” Greeson said. “In today’s market, aesthetics in branding and design matter when it comes to portraying a pro-environment message. Independent of whether Apple’s products and services are actually environmentally friendly, consumers perceive them as such. While other CE vendors may have to invest a fortune to improve their green image, Apple doesn’t seem to have this problem.”

 

TDG has published several related articles about green brands, and environmentally friendly technological behavior. The company also published a three-report series on ‘green’ behavior and dispositions among adult Internet users. In addition to these, TDG also released a complimentary Market dBrief titled “The Lean of the Green Scene,” which analyzed key findings from the three reports.