August 7th, 2008 · No Comments

By Tom Kessler

Almost 90 percent of the car shoppers who visit Kelley Blue Book’s Web site say they are concerned about the future of our environment, company research shows. Among survey respondents, 80 percent agreed that individuals should make lifestyle changes to help reduce CO2 emissions. And 75 percent of KBB shoppers reported that they have made changes to further the betterment of the environment. The most frequent lifestyle changes cited were:

• recycling (54 percent)
• cutting back on driving (46 percent)
• purchasing a fuel-efficient car (31 percent)

The survey results also found that people are willing to sacrifice to protect the environment. Of the respondents, 42 percent are willing to accept cuts in their standard of living, and 39 percent said they are willing to pay higher prices. In addition, 29 percent are willing to pay higher taxes to help the environment.

Kelley Blue Blue said the research showed that consumers want more information on ‘green’ automotive technologies. Kelley Blue Book said it is responding by launching KBB Green, an all-new section of the company’s Web site that will help guide new-car shoppers on environmental and fuel economy issues. KBB Green will include news and blogs, car finder tools, a list of Top 10 Green Cars for 2008, community features and videos.

The study was conducted by Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research on kbb.com among 619 shoppers during April 2008 and among 637 shoppers during June 2008.