{"id":19866,"date":"2022-11-11T15:31:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T14:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flustix.com\/blog\/lost-in-the-label-jungle-how-unfamiliar-green-labels-really-are\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T10:06:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T09:06:13","slug":"lost-in-the-label-jungle-how-unfamiliar-green-labels-really-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flustix.com\/en\/blog\/lost-in-the-label-jungle-how-unfamiliar-green-labels-really-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost in the label jungle? How (un)familiar green labels really are"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row padding_top_multiplier=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]Bio and vegan, MSC and Oekotex: on the yogurt pot, the sock wrapper or the glass cleaner – small colorful sustainability seals are now plastered everywhere, often even several next to each other. Can anyone still see through all this? The news portal Utopia, which specializes in sustainability, asked 3002 participants online for a label study on which seals are really useful and helpful when shopping. The results are exciting for both manufacturers and customers – and sometimes quite surprising, too.<\/span><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row padding_top_multiplier=”” padding_bottom_multiplier=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Top-10 most important facts from the study<\/h3>\n
1. Food labels are best known<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

Most respondents (more than 80 percent) are familiar with nine food seals, six cosmetic seals, and four apparel seals by name or logo. The best-known labels in all three categories are Fairtrade, \u00d6kotest and Stiftung Warentest.
\nOther very well-known certificates: German organic seal, Demeter, Bioland, Nutriscore, EU organic seal, V-label, Blue Angel. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. “Speaking” labels are most easily recognized and used<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

The survey showed: seals that are logical and explain themselves (Fairtrade, \u00d6kotest, Vegan) are the most helpful when shopping. The more abstract the seal, the less familiar it is. Especially in cosmetics and clothing consumers know the higher-level seals such as Fairtrade or \u00d6kotest, but less the actual association seals such as GOTS, BCI or the bunny logos without a name.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. It is important to know what a seal means<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

Most important, put some seals on it and the sale will go better…? It doesn’t quite work that way! Only one in six respondents agreed with the statement that they generally find a product with a seal better than without. All others stated that it depends on what kind of seal it is and what properties it assures.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Sustainable furniture and banks are difficult to recognize<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

In most areas, it is already easy for customers to recognize sustainable products. The easiest are food and cosmetics: 81 and 77 percent of respondents, respectively, said they could easily recognize sustainable offerings in these two areas. The situation is different for banks and furniture, where 69 and 73 percent respectively find it difficult to identify such products. In the midfield rank household items, energy and clothing: About half of the respondents easily find sustainable offers in these categories.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Customers trust certificates issued by independent organizations more<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

In the opinion of the respondents, the most trustworthy seals come from environmental protection organizations, associations and NGOs, followed by certificates from government test institutions. 89 and 72 percent of respondents trust these sustainability seals. Only 16 percent trust certificates from private-sector test institutes and just 12 percent of customers trust labels from manufacturers and retailers. 5 percent do not trust any “originator” at all. Here<\/a> you can read how an environmental protection organization acts against false seals.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Five main problems weaken the trust in a seal<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

The following negative ranking of problems that weaken trust in a label emerged from the survey conducted among Utopia users:
\n<\/span><\/p>\n