Indian consumers look for value for their money rather than environmental friendliness while zeroing in on their choice of grocery store, reveals a survey.

Even as the campaigns for eco-friendly living are on the rise, only 21 per cent of Indian consumers look for a shop's environmental friendliness to spend their money whereas 65 per cent of people are influenced by value for their money.

The online survey, conducted by global information and media firm Nielsen Company, shows that 21 percent of Indian consumers as compared to 28 percent globally, ranked environment-friendly stores, using recycle bags/package as the most important consideration for their grocery store choice.

For consumers, environmental friendliness was the least important factor, which includes price, product quality, convenience and location, while determining where to shop for groceries, the survey pointed out.

However, 44 per cent consumers are willing to sacrifice packaging for hygiene if its environmentally harmful. Further, 65 per cent of the Indian consumer as opposed to 85 percent internationally, considered 'good value for money' as the number one influencer in their choice of store.

Conducted in mid-2007, the study surveyed 26,486 internet users in 47 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and West Asia, on the factors that influenced their choice of grocery store.

The preference of consumers in India was in line with the Asia Pacific average. The Indian consumer was also willing to trade off convenience in the form of reusable, stackable, and easily transportable packaging.

They were found to be more likely to trade-off most aspects of packaging than consumers in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Ten per cent of the people would not think of giving up any aspects of packaging even for the environment.

The Indian consumer is quite used to buying open and unpackaged (loose) fresh products and other commodities. The hygiene perception offered by packaging is still not a well-established driver of choice for buying packed products.

"Moreover, Indian shoppers placed less priority on packaging that help them to store food because out here, we still shop more frequently and don't tend to buy products with a long shelf life," said Rajshree Dave, Director of Client Solutions, The Nielsen Company.

Meanwhile, environmentally-aware New Zealanders topped global rankings as the nation most prepared to give up all aspects of packaging for the sake of the environment.

According to the study, this trend may be mainly due to high levels of eco-consciousness, including in-store reminders and recyclable bag merchandising by supermarkets, and weekly recyclable rubbish collection instituted by local authorities in most cities.

As global concern and awareness about the need to preserve the environment increase, consumers around the world are demanding greater responsibility from retailers and FMCG manufacturers.

And while eco-friendly packaging might not be the top priority for shoppers today, it is certainly a growing consumer demand the food industry cannot ignore, Rajshree Dave added.