International Marketing Practices

• Use animals, natural landscapes, and shades of green in your advertisements. • Use a green label. Certify your operation with a recognized, third-party certification organization, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), and use the logo in your advertising. Some industry associations have their own green labeling program, such as the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association’s Environmental Stewardship Program [151]. • Avoid making misleading environmental claims (see box below). Green Advertising or Greenwashing? Greenwashing is “ the business practice of misleading consumers through ‘green’ marketing about the environmental benefits of using a product or service when no such benefits really exist” [152]. A study by TerraChoice found that of over a thousand consumer products surveyed, almost all were guilty of greenwashing [153]. According to the same company, the “six sins of greenwashing” are, in order of frequency: (1) hidden trade-off, or basing a claim solely on one attribute and disregarding others; (2) providing no proof, a claim that cannot be supported by a reliable third party or by accessible information; (3) vagueness, a claim so broadly defined that consumers may misinterpret it; (4) irrelevance, a claim that is truthful but unimportant; (5) lesser of two evils, claims that may be true within a category of products but not reflective of the category as a whole; and (6) fibbing, which is simply making a false claim [153]. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prohibits deceptive messaging in advertising, including deceptive environmental claims. For more information regarding the rules and regulations of green advertising, visit https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business- center/advertising-and-marketing/environmental-marketing. To test your understanding of this concept, can you identify the problems with the following statements from the FTC’s website? • “When you build with [BRAND] recycled plastic lumber, you demonstrate your commitment to the environment and sustainable living. [BRAND] recycled plastic lumber products are 100 percent plastic and generally contain over 90 percent recycled high density polyethylene (ReHDPE) material.” • “[BRAND] paper plates are made from 100% paper, a renewable natural resource. Our product is SFI certified, which means it is renewable, recyclable, and compostable.” • From a printed advertisement for a window [BRAND]: “50 percent savings guaranteed. Customer testimony: Our energy use dropped so much after installing your windows that our [UTILITY] thought our meter was broken!”

Research has repeatedly shown that products made of wood outperform alternative materials (see box on next page); however, the forest products industry has done an inadequate job of communicating these attributes to the public.

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