Marketing and sustainability: Identifying the profile of green consumers

Abstract

There is a growing number of consumers in the marketplace, who express positive attitudes towards green products, corporate socially responsible practice and the concept of sustainability in general. However, these attitudes do not always translate into an actual green consumption behavior. This phenomenon, also known as “the attitude-behavior gap”, draws the attention of a large number of researchers, who have pointed out that the investigation into the leading characteristics of green consumers (a segment that largely expresses a pro-environmental behavior) is necessary in order to understand the drivers of green behavior and establish the framework within which green consumers regularly operate. Addressing green consumer behavior also allows companies to create a proper marketing approach and fulfill consumers’ green needs and desires, support the broadening of the base of the green market segment and the creating of durable patterns of sustainable consumption, which a bright future requires. Thus, the aim of this paper is to administrate the profile of green consumers, based on a review of the available marketing literature and various globally conducted studies.

Keywords

• green consumer segment
• green marketing
• sustainable consumption
• sustainable development