By Tom Ryan
According to study released by Experian Local Market Services, only a small segment of green consumers, known as Behavioral Greens, are likely to spend the extra cash on environmentally-friendly products and services.
The study is part of a new segmentation marketing system, GreenAware, designed to address green marketing opportunities. It breaks down consumers by lifestyle, media and buying behavior into four distinct groups based on their green tendencies. The four groups are:
Behavioral Greens: Consumers who think and act green. Have negative attitudes towards products that pollute the environment and incorporate green practices on a regular basis. Support environmental charities.
Think Greens: Think like green consumers and might recycle but don't always act or buy green.
Potential Greens: Indecisive. Don't behave or think along environmentally conscious lines but remain on the fence about key green issues. The largest group.
True Browns: Consumers who aren't environmentally conscious and may actually have negative attitudes towards media with a heavy environmental focus.
Chris Wilson, president of Experian Research Services, believes more granular segmentation and targeting of green buyers is required to identify those willing to either pay more or expend more effort in keeping their buying behavior consistent with their green attitudes.
"Which consumers are only thinking green? Which consumers are actually acting green? Who will be the most receptive audience for a green message or a new greener product or service?" asked Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson also believes a deeper understanding of the green buyer is required because green consumers behave differently than average consumers. As such, mass marketing approaches may not work.
"For example," said Mr. Wilson. "Not all media markets contain 'behavioral greens' and some markets have a higher concentration over others. The greenest markets are unique in their media and purchasing behaviors and are 33 percent more likely to avoid watching television commercials and are 40 percent more likely to shop online."
Experian's Green Marketing Map shows that that the cities with highest concentration of Behavioral Greens include San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles; Think Greens in Boston and Philadelphia; Potential Greens in Atlanta and Miami; and "True Browns" in Cleveland, Houston, and Dallas.
Going forward, Experian expects a larger number of consumers will move up to greener categories. As more companies join the green movement, the products and services they provide will help convert consumers who may only be "thinking green but not acting green."
Discussion Questions: Do you think more targeted approaches are required to reach different segments of green consumers? To what degree can mass market approaches work?