Because recent studies indicate that consumers are increasingly siding with environmentalists on climate change, many believe green marketing is more important now than ever. But when it comes to sustainability, is talk cheap?

According to a J.D. Power and Associates study of online conversations that occurred between 2007 and 2008 regarding sustainability, the masses increasingly believe in global warming and are taking personal steps to negate climate change. The firm’s web intelligence division studied online conversations on topics such as global warming, resource usage, conservation, recycling, energy usage and the environment.

The study showed that conversations about sustainability topics more than doubled from the first quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. In early 2007, the disbelievers of climate change dominated online discussions surrounding sustainability and global warming. Online commentary among those consumers, who are skeptical or ambivalent about environmental concerns and do not make purchase decisions based on environmental factors, declined from a high of 22 percent in early 2007 to only 3 percent by the end of 2008. In fact, by December 2008, more than 7 out of 10 online posters who mentioned sustainability indicated that they were concerned about the environment. And almost one half of posters said they were doing something about it, such as cutting back on electricity usage, driving less, recycling, or buying more “green” products.

Because of these findings, J.D. Powers and Associates believes brands that respond to this greening of consumerism will see major financial rewards.

"Brands that are cognizant of this important shift and manage messages about their products and services accordingly have the ability to capitalize on changes that many consumers are making in their everyday lives," said Janet Eden-Harris, vice president of J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division.

And they may be right - during the second half of 2007, just 9 percent of all sustainability conversations mentioned a brand by name. By June 2008, this figure grew slightly to 11 percent.

The study only showed people are talking more about these subjects online. With increased Internet usage, people could be talking more online, but not actually doing more. However, the fact that more Internet users identify themselves as environmentalists and claim to take personal steps towards limiting climate change is a huge win in itself. If marketing can help truly green brands garner consumer interest over other brands, that’s just icing on the cake.