Researching a new typology of green and ethical consumers

1. Researching a new typology of green and ethical consumers Caroline Oates and Jo Padmore Management School University of Sheffield Internal ad hoc seminar of the Centre for Well-being in Public Policy 5th November 2008

2. Presentation outline • Green and ethical behaviour and well-being • Research problem • About the studies • Key findings • Implications for the proposed typology • Conclusions and further work

3. Green and ethical behaviour and well-being • Well-being has been linked to green/ethical issues via concepts such as voluntary simplicity • VS can be defined as a simpler lifestyle of consuming less or differently, excluding materialistic goals, paring down to the essentials of life • This may involve elements such as spiritual growth and self-discipline • Julie Newton’s recent CWiPP seminar focused on links between well-being and sustainable development

4. The research problem From the point of view of the individual consumer, sustainable consumption is very difficult • Finding alternative products, services and outlets can be time consuming and inconvenient • Difficulty of finding information and evaluating it • Sustainability factors are competing with other consumer criteria such as price, availability and brand • Many sustainability factors are also competing with one another • fair trade versus local shops • energy efficiency versus multinational manufacturers

5. Introduction to the studies • First study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council • Focused on how consumers purchased technology based products compared to purchase of fmcg • Enabled us to propose a new typology of green consumers • Second study used same interview protocol but focused on purchase of tourism products and services, again compared to purchase of fmcg • Both used a qualitative, grounded approach • Over 100 interviews and 3 focus groups • Focus on actual, recent purchases of products, services and fmcg • Third study funded by Social Sciences Devolved Fund • Used a survey design to investigate proposed typology

6. Typology of Green Consumers Translators Exceptors Selectors These groups can be distinguished by • Their understanding of ‘sustainability’ • Their orientation to product and issue research • The kind of information and outlets they use • The degree to which they critique information • The extent to which they convert beliefs into behaviour

7. Translators • For this group, awareness = action • Their concern is often at the level of products rather than companies or industries • They are prepared to make some sacrifices and changes in their lives • Their information seeking is largely passive • We think that word of mouth and opinion leaders are important to this group • They are uncritical of information sources

8. A Translator profile • Alison is in her mid 20s • She began recycling with her parents when they lived in Germany • She volunteers for conservation work with a local group • Her boyfriend Paul is more interested in sustainable consumption so she is gradually trying to incorporate local shops into her food shopping routine and starting to boycott brands and retailers • She’s never thought of looking up information on companies when buying a fridge but will try that in the future • She likes to think of herself always trying to get a little bit better

9. Exceptors • Sustainability is a priority • This group have a complex understanding of a wide range of interdependent sustainability ideas • They are change-seeking • Their information seeking is active, company level and very critical • They are comfortable with non-mainstream outlets, products and information sources BUT • There is one exception to their green lifestyle • This is usually a conscious exception • It is usually a ‘small’ exception

10. An Exceptor profile • Adriana is in her late 20s and is vegetarian • She is a member of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Amnesty International and People & Planet • She aims to reduce waste through recycling, has a wormery for composting and tries to reduce her energy and water consumption at home and never drives • She favours green or fairtrade fmcgs (and is happy to pay more for them), would never go to McDonald’s and disapproves of supermarkets • When she flies anywhere (and she tries not to) she plants trees to make her trip ‘carbon neutral’ • BUT she has recently bought an electric popcorn maker

11. Selectors • This group are green or ethical in one aspect of sustainability only • Greenpeace OR recycling OR green energy OR organic • Probably the most common group • This would explain why green marketing fails and green marketing research can give conflicting results • Could be a starting point for the other groups • Information seeking is selective, ad hoc and can be active, depending on the issue

12. A Selector profile • Sue is in her 30s • She hates waste of any kind: she recycles a wide range of materials, she composts, she reuses her carrier bags, she grows her own vegetables, she likes to make her own clothes from old material and saves any bits of material left over from that to make patchwork quilts • She does her weekly shopping in a supermarket and uses her car whenever it’s more convenient • She does worry about the way food is produced but doesn’t buy fairtrade or organic because they are more expensive • She feels that trying to find out about companies is far too time consuming

13. Of course, it’s not that simple… • Despite their own orientation to green products, an individual may be constrained in their actual purchases by conventional criteria • Price • Availability • Brand • Purchase outcomes are often negotiated within a household and individuals can also be constrained by the orientations of partners or others • Selectors and Exceptors may be at two ends of a continuum

14. Moving between groups? • Incremental greening • Our focus group data is full of descriptions of Translators and Exceptors gradually taking more and more sustainability issues into account in their purchasing processes • Information orientation • Different consumers have different ways of seeking and evaluating information. This may be key to which group they belong to and may also determine whether they are likely to change groups

15. Second study • Used same interview protocol as first study but focused on purchase of tourism products and services, again compared to purchase of fmcg

16. Issues emerging from our data • Which green criteria are used in the purchase process • The role played by these criteria • Whether such criteria are applied to product/service and/or manufacturers and/or retailers • Information sources indicated • Key issues for consumers

17. Comparison across sectors • Green and ethical criteria are not used consistently across product sectors • Even very green consumers do not use the same approach to purchasing sustainable technologies as they do for buying fmcg or travel services, for example • Different research processes and information sources • Varying perceptions of retailers and manufacturers • No such thing as a totally green consumer or purchase

18. Third study • Intended to: • build on previous studies • achieve a large scale survey • test typology • BUT! • Difficult to transfer qualitative findings into a quantitative instrument • Limitations in format and size • Disentangling motivations, behaviour, intentions

19. Survey • Short questionnaire sent to 3000 households in Sheffield, UK during November 2007 • Focused on specific area - Chapelgreen • Addresses purchased from commercial data provider • Questionnaire divided into following sections: • Participation • Frequency • Attitudes • Information use and different product/service sectors • Response rate of 22%

20. The sample – 657 respondents

21. Analysis • Questionnaire was structured around a Likert scale for participation and attitudes • And a simple tick box for information use • Focus of analysis: • Participation in green/ethical activities • Attitudes towards such activities • Patterns in information seeking • Support/rejection of our proposed typology

22. Participation in green/ethical activities Percentage of respondents who always/usually participate in this activity.

23. Grow own veg Don’t over-shop Select green energy supplier Never use carrier bags Encourage recycling at work Recycle ink cartridges Buy goods that are not tested on animals Dispose of litter correctly Support paganism Home improvements to improve environmental impact Support Oxfam/charities Shop in charity shops/car boot sales Donate unwanted items to charity Mend/repair before discarding Wash the car in the rain Pick up dog dirt when walking the dogs Observe conservation guidelines Teleconferencing at work Protest against building on a green belt Other activities mentioned

24. Attitudes to green/ethical issues Percentage of respondents who strongly agree/agree with this statement. * Reverse scored for consistency - % respondents disagree/disagree strongly

25. Information seeking Percentage of respondents who cited this source for each type of product

26. Further analysis to investigate our proposed typology • Exploratory factor analysis of 15 specified activities • Clustered respondents according to the 15 activities • Labelled clusters and tested validity

27. Exploratory factor analysis of 15 specific activities • Principal components with oblimin rotation • 4 factors extracted: • Purchasing behaviour (buy fair trade/local/organic, avoid over-packaged goods, use local shops, boycott unethical companies) • Travel choices (use public transport, avoid flying/driving) • Reduction (energy and water consumption) • Recycling (recycling, composting, reusing)

28. Cluster analysis of respondents by activities • Several different algorithms (hierarchical and non hierarchical) • 5 group solution: • Active across all areas (14%) • Focus on recycling (19%) • Focus on reducing (28%) • Focus on travel (13%) • Less active (26%)

29. Group attitudes Strongly disagree Strongly agree

30. It’s my duty to investigate the impact my choices have on the environment. Strongly disagree Strongly agree

31. Strongly disagree Investigate impact 5 Every aspect of my life Actively seek info One or two specific areas 4 Tell people what I know Make a difference Not really interested (reverse scored) 3 95% CI 2 Strongly agree 1 Active Focus on Focus on Focus on Less active recycling reducing travel 5 activity groups I actively seek information on how to adopt a ‘green/ethical’ lifestyle.

32. Information seeking behaviour • Actives more likely to use specialist publications (around 10%) and less likely to use the Internet • Less actives more likely to use the Internet (30% - 50%). Very few use specialist and consumer publications

33. Implications for our proposed typology • Exceptors – the most active group? • Selectors – the groups more focused on reduction, travel and recycling? • Translators – the less active group?

34. Conclusions • Possible to identify different patterns in behaviour • Groups focused on a particular set of activities • Differences in attitudes • Patterns in information seeking and dissemination • Some demographic differences between groupings • Further work: back to qualitative research?