46 percent said they'd shop at a retailer more if they were environmentally friendly, while 54 percent said it wouldn't affect their behavior.

Environmentally friendly products and services are all the buzz. But is it just politically correct noise, or are consumers willing to pay more for eco-friendly products? According to a recent Maritz Retail Group poll, a slim majority are not.

The poll was designed to track Gen Y's brand awareness among several popular retailers. Gloria Park Bartolone, division vice president of Maritz Research's Retail Group, is quick to point out that Maritz did not set out to debate whether or not being eco-friendly is the right thing to do. "We thought it would be helpful for retailers, with all the marketing hype surrounding environmental issues, to know what influence this type of messaging had on customer loyalty, particularly Gen Y."

The poll data shows Gen Y was split down the middle on the influence a retailer's environmental policy and sustainability had on their shopping habits with 50 percent of respondents saying a retailer's policy did influence their shopping behavior. When asked to describe their attitude toward a retailer's environmentally friendly positioning, 46 percent said they'd shop at a retailer more if they were environmentally friendly, while 54 percent said it wouldn't affect their behavior.

"When it comes to determining marketing messages to reach Gen Y, this poll revealed some interesting facts for retailers," said Bartolone. "While the majority wasn't impacted either way by a store's environmental stance, you can't ignore that 46 percent of shoppers said they'd spend more with a retailer that was environmentally friendly. The percentage lends credibility to environmental messaging, which is only likely to gain more momentum with consumers in the future."

But will they pay more? Only slightly fewer respondents (47 percent) said they would be willing to pay more for environmentally friendly services, products or brands. Out of this percentage, the vast majority (77 percent) cited their "care about the environment" as the reason behind their willingness to pay more, with other qualifiers, such as "it's the right thing to do" (21 percent) or "so that people know I'm environmentally aware" (2 percent) trailing behind.