Directions Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage Reading Time 3 minutes In an effort to encourage ecologically sustainable forestry practices an international organization started issuing certifications to wood companies that meet high ecological st

Directions: Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In an effort to encourage ecologically sustainable forestry practices, an international organization
started issuing certifications to wood companies that meet high ecological standards by
conserving resources and recycling materials. Companies that receive this certification can
attract customers by advertising their products as “ecocertified.” Around the world, many wood
companies have adopted new, ecologically friendly practices in order to receive ecocertification.
However, it is unlikely that wood companies in the United States will do the same, for several
reasons.

First, American consumers are exposed to so much advertising that they would not value or even
pay attention to the ecocertification label. Because so many mediocre products are labeled “new”
or “improved,” American consumers do not place much trust in advertising claims in general.

Second, ecocertified wood will be more expensive than uncertified wood because in order to
earn ecocertification, a wood company must pay to have its business examined by a certification
agency. This additional cost gets passed on to consumers. American consumers tend to be
strongly motivated by price, and therefore they are likely to choose cheaper uncertified wood
products. Accordingly, American wood companies will prefer to keep their prices low rather
than obtain ecocertification.

Third, although some people claim that it always makes good business sense for American
companies to keep up with the developments in the rest of the world, this argument is not
convincing. Pursuing certification would make sense for American wood companies only if they
marketed most of their products abroad. But that is not the case—American wood businesses sell
most of their products in the United States, catering to a very large customer base that is satisfied
with the merchandise.

Directions: Read the transcript

Narrator Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

Professor Well, despite what many people say, there’s good reason to think that many
American wood companies will eventually seek ecocertification for their wood
products. First off, consumers in the United States don’t treat all advertising the
same. They distinguish between advertising claims that companies make about
their own products and claims made by independent certification agencies.
Americans have a lot of confidence in independent consumer agencies. Thus,
ecologically minded Americans are likely to react very favorably to wood
products ecologically certified by an independent organization with an
international reputation for trustworthiness.

Second point—of course it’s true that American consumers care a lot about
price—who doesn’t? But studies of how consumers make decisions show that
price alone determines consumers’ decisions only when the price of one
competing product is much higher or lower than another. When the price
difference between two products is small—say, less than five percent, as is the
case with certified wood— Americans often do choose on factors other than price.
And Americans are becoming increasingly convinced of the value of preserving
and protecting the environment.

And third, U.S. wood companies should definitely pay attention to what’s going
on in the wood business internationally, not because of foreign consumers, but
because of foreign competition. As I just told you, there’s a good chance that
many American consumers will be interested in ecocertified products. And guess
what, if American companies are slow capturing those customers, you can be sure
that foreign companies will soon start crowding into the American market,
offering ecocertified wood that domestic companies don’t.