American consumers are lagging in green attitudes and 18 percent don't have an interest in buying green, according to a study from market research company TNS. TNS says Latin Americans lead the world in environmental awareness and willingness to buy green. The US is in the middle of the pack, behind many Asian and Latin countries, but on par with Europe as a whole.

U.S. consumers remain skeptical about the need to be green, with 48 percent have doubts about global warming, and 38 percent say the media exaggerates environmental problems. That's somewhat surprising considering the general lack of attention to environmental concerns in the mainstream media.

The 82 percent of consumers who are green to some extent are broken down into the following categories, according to TNS:

Frugal Earth Mothers (17 percent) Practical, prudent females in lower income, rural households
Proud traditionalists (14 percent) “Salt of the Earth” rural Midwesterners with a local focus
Eco Chic (14 percent) Young adults who see Green as something new and hip
Skeptical individualists (13 percent) Very highly educated and high income males on the urban coasts
Ecocentrics (13 percent) High education/income urbanites actively doing their part to protect and improve the environment
Respectful stewards: (10 percent) Urban Hispanics holding a deep concern for Earth as the giver of life

Green consumers get their news online, from TV and newspapers in almost equal amounts. Kimberly Bastoni, senior vice president of TNS, says marketers should therefore create integrated campaigns to reach a multitude of "touch points" with consumers.

Bastioni says 53 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for green products. However, she says the biggest misconception is that sustainable products will cost more. To me this is the biggest challenge for marketers: if you tout a green product, people will assume it costs more without checking the price. Putting "costs less" ahead of the enviro message will increase the audience.

Consumers remain skeptical that products are tagged as green only so that companies can sell more products. However, TNS' research says that companies don't have to sell exclusively green products to succeed. Clorox, for example, can continue to sell its core bleach products while promoting the GreenWorks brand of cleaners.

Bastioni suggests campaigns that target children through educational campaigns because they influence parents' purchasing decisions. While informing kids about sustainability will help future generations, to me this is a sad testament to American society -- that kids hold the power of the purse.