According to a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association and reported on by The New York Times, more than 50 percent of consumers think companies overstate the environmental friendliness of their products in order to sell more, a practice sometimes referred to as "green washing." The study also found that 38 percent of consumers were confused by eco-friendly messages attached to various electronic products.

There are important lessons here for communicators interested in green messaging:

· Don't aggressively promote the "greenness" of your company unless you can back it up. The words "green" and "environmentally friendly" are becoming about as meaningless as the words "fresh" and "natural" (sorry, Foster Farms chickens). Rely on hard data to back up any environmental claims.

· Think long and hard before touting your company's environmental focus. What does this claim mean for your customers? What does it have to do with your business? Make sure it has some relevance to the people you do business with, or your efforts will be useless and may even backfire in the long run.

· If you do have legitimate green claims to promote, do it in clear, simple language that is easy for your customers to understand. Nobody likes to feel stupid.

For further reading:

Consumers Want, and Are Skeptical About, Eco-Electronics