Last Friday’s third session of Sustainable Life Media’s Sustainable Brands Boot Camp* revolved around the green consumer. Amy Hebard, Chief Research Officer at EarthSense, and Gwynne Rogers, LOHAS Business Director at Natural Marketing Institute, discussed, in their respective presentations, trends, consumer segments, and consumer preferences and behaviors in the green/sustainable marketplace. While I’ll use stuff from both presentations for a couple-three more posts, two things stood out for me.
Green consumer segmentation is bunk
Amy showed a 3×3-square green consumer segmentation model, dividing the market by green behavior and green attitudes. The main finding: the green market is polarizing, with the green core segment unchanged and the green rim increasing.
Gwynne segmented the green marketplace with a 5-slice pie chart containing consumer segments based on their concern for the environment and health as well as purchasing patterns. The main finding: the middle of the green market has grown, while the green core and green rim have declined.
How to explain the two opposing findings? In my mind, green consumer segmentation is meaningless. I’m sure you could find a segmentation model saying the above two are wrong. And, I’m also pretty sure that what people state in market research differs from what they actually do.
As both presenters agreed, green is a weak motivator for consumer behavior and there is no one green consumer (or 5 or 9, say I). Engagement happens on the individual level, no matter how many segments (or an entire market) you try to box people into.
Basic marketing principles still apply
Both Amy and Gwynne emphasized that it’s important to “know your customer”, and that consumers are asking, first and foremost, “what’s in it for me?” Knowing your customer and what matters to her is a basic rule of marketing. To expand on my point about segmentation, consumers also like to be treated as individuals, not as categories.
The presenters also agreed that pushing environmental friendliness as the main benefit of green or sustainable products doesn’t work. Consumers need to know how a product fulfills their personal interest first, while the planet is way in the background among buying-decision factors. Basic benefits like quality, price, performance, inputs, availability, or value matter more. The discussion thus also confirmed the validity of the product evolution model (functionality, reliability, convenience, price).
What do you think? Does a green market or a green consumer exist? What’s the best way to engage consumers with sustainable products?
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* Disclosure: Sustainable Life Media granted me a free press pass for the Sustainable Brands Boot Camp; the online seminar series costs $395.
Image credit: Rupert Brun and Scare Pros
