Download Purchasing sustainable technologies

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
Presentation outline
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Green and ethical behaviour and well-being
Research problem
About the studies
Key findings
Implications for the proposed typology
Conclusions and further work
Green and ethical behaviour and wellbeing
• 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
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
Introduction to the studies
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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
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Second study used same interview protocol but focused on purchase of
tourism products and services, again compared to purchase of fmcg
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Both used a qualitative, grounded approach
Over 100 interviews and 3 focus groups
Focus on actual, recent purchases of products, services and fmcg
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Third study funded by Social Sciences Devolved Fund
Used a survey design to investigate proposed typology
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Second study
• Used same interview protocol as first study but
focused on purchase of tourism products and
services, again compared to purchase of fmcg
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
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
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
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:
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Participation
Frequency
Attitudes
Information use and different product/service sectors
• Response rate of 22%
The sample – 657 respondents
Gender
Male
Female
43%
57%
Age
25 or under
26-35
36-45
46-55
56-65
Over 65
3%
9%
17%
24%
22%
25%
Occupation Full time employment
Part time employment
Retired
At home caring for others
Unemployed
Student
Other
37%
19%
35%
3%
1%
1%
4%
Analysis
• Questionnaire was structured around a Likert scale
for participation and attitudes
• And a simple tick box for information use
• Focus of analysis:
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Participation in green/ethical activities
Attitudes towards such activities
Patterns in information seeking
Support/rejection of our proposed typology
Participation in green/ethical activities
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20
40
60
80
100
Reduce wat er use
Reduce energy consumpt ion
Recycle household wast e
Buy low energy light bulbs
Use local shops
Avoid over-packaged goods
Reuse t hings
Avoid f lying
Buy locally produced goods
Avoid driving
Boycot t unet hical companies
Compost household wast e
Use public t ransport
Buy f air-t rade
Choose organic
Percentage of respondents who always/usually participate in this activity.
Always
Usually
Other activities mentioned
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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
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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
Attitudes to green/ethical issues
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10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
I am not really int erest ed in green or et hical issues.*
I t ry t o be green or et hical in every aspect of my lif e.
It 's my dut y t o invest igat e t he impact my choices have on
t he environment .
I t ake on new 'green/ et hical' act ivit ies if I know t hey will
make a dif f erence.
I part icipat e in one or t wo specif ic areas of 'green/ et hical'
act ivit y.
I act ively seek inf ormat ion on how t o adopt a 'green/ et hical'
lif est yle.
I of t en t ell ot her people what I know about how t o be more
green and/ or et hical.
Percentage of respondents who strongly agree/agree with this statement.
* Reverse scored for consistency - % respondents disagree/disagree strongly
St rongly agree
Agree
Information seeking
0
20
40
60
80
100
In-store information e.g. leaflets
M anufacturer's brochure/packaging
Friend or relative
Internet
Newspaper/magazine article or TV programme
Consumer publication e.g. 'Which'
Specialist source of 'green/ethical' information
Percentage of respondents who cited this source for each type of product
Large
M edium
Small
Everyday
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
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)
Cluster analysis of respondents by activities
• Several different algorithms (hierarchical and non
hierarchical)
• 5 group solution:
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Active across all areas (14%)
Focus on recycling (19%)
Focus on reducing (28%)
Focus on travel (13%)
Less active (26%)
Group attitudes
Strongly
disagree
Investigate impact
Every aspect of my
life
Actively seek info
One or two specific
areas
Tell people what I
know
Make a difference
Not really interested
(reverse scored)
5
95% CI
4
3
2
Strongly
agree
1
Active
Focus on
recycling
Focus on
reducing
Focus on
travel
5 activity groups
Less active
It’s my duty to investigate the impact my
choices have on the environment.
Investigate impact
Every aspect of my
life
Actively seek info
One or two specific
areas
Tell people what I
know
Make a difference
Not really interested
(reverse scored)
Strongly 5
disagree
95% CI
4
3
2
Strongly
agree
1
Active
Focus on
recycling
Focus on
reducing
Focus on
travel
5 activity groups
Less active
I actively seek information on how to adopt a
‘green/ethical’ lifestyle.
Strongly
disagree 5
Investigate impact
Every aspect of my
life
Actively seek info
One or two specific
areas
Tell people what I
know
Make a difference
Not really interested
(reverse scored)
4
3
95% CI
2
Strongly
1
agree
Active
Focus on
recycling
Focus on
reducing
5 activity groups
Focus on
travel
Less active
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
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?
Conclusions
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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?