Ethical pressure on tech sector to grow

A recent GfK NOP survey found that consumers have become more sceptical of companies’ claims of ethical behaviour, in spite of the focus businesses have put on pushing their environmental and fair trade credentials.

A higher proportion of consumers are also saying they felt pressure to buy "ethical” brands – up from 23 per cent to 33 per cent – an enthusiasm they were likely to retain even in an economic downturn. However, they also have raised expectations of corporate behaviour with just 18 per cent of believing that business ethics had improved, down from 21 per cent a year ago when the survey was first conducted. For an overview of the research in the FT, click here

The position of the technology sector is mixed; on the one hand no technology companies register in the top or bottom 10 ethical brands, but only a quarter of all consumers are willing to pay a premium for an ethical technology product. We consider that falling prices and rising take-up of technology products mean we may be heading towards much more focus on this category in the future; as households move on to 2nd or 3rd PC, mobile or MP3 player, the issues of production, consumption & recycling will inevitably grow.

GfK Technology has produced a presentation on the results of the study and the implications for the tech sector in particular – if you are interested in this, please contact Ian Ralph (ian.ralph@gfk.com / 020 7890 9966).