The Natural Marketing Institute reports that awareness of the term "carbon offset" is low among U.S. survey respondents. Less than a third have heard of the term and just 9 percent of those aware of it have purchased carbon offset in the past year, ammounting to about 6 million U.S. adults.
Of those who are aware of the term, LOHAS consumers, opinion leaders who seek out healthy and sustainable products and services, and NATURALITES, a segment motivated largely by personal health, are most likely to translate awareness into action by purchasing offsets, according to the institute. Those marketing carbon offsets should engineer marketing campaigns towards these segments, according to the institute. Additionally, companies should engage in consumer education to combat a lack of consumer trust in carbon offset project credibility.
