A recently-published consumer study entitled Sustainability: The Rise of Consumer Responsibility from The Hartman Group, a Bellevue-Washington-based consumer research organization, contains a wealth of interesting findings about the current state of green consumerism. Its key finding is reflected in its title: people are increasingly embracing responsibility as a broad value and expecting it of themselves and the companies whose products they buy.

Indeed, the word "responsibility" emerges from the study as a lay definition of "sustainability. The authors write, "Recurring terms such as 'responsibility' and 'doing the right thing' emerged from interviews as ways described by consumers to achieve the greater good and link economic, social, and environmental issues important to them. Thus we find that sustainability is reflected at the consumer level in a myriad of behaviors, from purchases and non-purchases, to voting and volunteerism."

Hartman Group president and chief operating officer Laurie Demeritt elaborates: "Consumers want the companies they buy from to be responsible in all aspects of their business. They're increasingly looking to know what's happening behind the scenes. If they believe a company is committed to behaving responsibly, they'll trust its products, too. In this sense, corporate reputation drives the brand."

If anything emerges as a loser in the Hartman Group study, it's the word "sustainability." It "is still largely not a household word and means many different things for a variety of consumers … many consumers are unsure of what it means." Among its diverse connotations: saving energy, hope for a better world, and quality.

The study offers a novel twist on the usual meaning of sustainability, which is typically understand as a three-legged stool covering economic prosperity, environmental health, and social equity. The Hartman Group study turns the stool into a bench by adding a fourth leg, personal benefit. This "fourth zone of responsibility," the report states, "is particularly helpful in explaining sustainability from the consumer viewpoint. Personal benefit may lead to a greater awareness of responsibility at the societal level, as consumers consider what is good for them may also be good for others."

The study finds that green buying behavior has been growing more and more mainstream over the years. "For example, it used to be that only 'core' sustainability-oriented consumers—13% of the market—would buy packaged organic products. Now that same behavior is penetrating the next market layer," Demeritt summarizes. Eighty-eight percent of adult consumers "participate to some degree in the World of Sustainability and are 'insiders.'" The majority of consumers--66%--are in the mid-level and moderately participatory and committed.

The study confirms the recession's impact on green buying behavior, but suggests that this may not have an entirely adverse affect on sustainability. For one thing, "Economizing behaviors that consumers associate with sustainability—going to thrift stores, repurposing goods, and opting out of certain purchases—may increase since they dovetail with the zone of personal benefit in terms of economic interest." Also, "(C)onsumers are still willing to continue paying for high quality experiences. Thus, since sustainable products often resonate as higher quality, consumers are willing to continue paying …"

Essentially, here's what the Hartman Report study is saying, as parsed by yours truly: it's not quite steady as she goes for the Good Ship Sustainability, but considering the economic storm that's buffeting it, it's doing pretty well.

It needs a new name, though. The Responsibility?