Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates was pleased to conduct research in partnership with the Wall Street Journal for the 2009 ECO:nomics conference.

Santa Barbara, March 4, 2009 – At its second annual ECO:nomics conference, the Wall Street Journal today released results of a survey conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland of American consumers’ attitudes toward sustainability in the context of a recession. The research represents an attempt to answer the question: when the going gets tough, does "going green” go out the window?

The answer? "Not as much as you might expect,” said PSB Chairman Don Baer. "American consumers are still interested in making environmentally-conscious purchase decisions despite hard economic conditions. Indeed, 64% of them are willing to pay at least some amount more for green products than they would for their traditional counterparts.”

Demographically, the ranks of these "Olive Optimists” include many of the usual suspects, plus a few surprises: Democrats, urban dwellers, those under 35, people with children, ethnic minorities, and people who think the environment is moving in the right direction. On the other side, fully 25% of Americans say they are not willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly products.

"Americans overwhelmingly say that the economy is the most important issue the country faces today,” says Baer. "Only 2% believe that the environment should be the top public priority, so advocates for the environment should take the fact that most consumers say they’re still committed to green purchasing practices as a positive sign.”

The poll, conducted exclusively for the Wall Street Journal, Penn, included 1002 internet interviews with US general population aged 18 and over from February 18-19, 2009.