Four Green Consumers - Which Are You?

Right off the bat, let me tell you these are not my ideas. They come from Anne Michelsen who is a copywriter specializing in serving green companies through her website, GreenInkCopywriting.com.

In an excellent email series, Anne describes how to market to these different personas, but that's not my goal here. I just want to share her analysis of the main groupings that people fall into, and ask "Which one do you fit in?"

The more we know about how the community views the process of "going to natural", the more effective we can be in advocating natural living (and natural buying) to others.

1) "Deep greens": these are super eco-conscious consumers.

Dedicated environmentalists who are passionate about protecting planet earth. Typically they are highly educated, and action oriented (which sometimes includes taking political action). Their concern is more ecological than financial and they don't mind paying more for earth-friendly options. They see the big picture.

2) Health eco-conscious consumers.

Like the Deep Greens group they are highly educated and willing to pay more for their eco-friendly choices. But their focus is less on the welfare of planet earth and more on the health and safety of their families. Often they've adopted a natural lifestyle after having battled with a serious health challenge. Holistic solutions make sense to them, as they see how interconnected many aspects of life are. Community is important to these folks, too.

3) "Light greens": these are semi eco-conscious consumers.

These days, most people fit into this group. These folks have some interest in sustainable options and green living. They might be into recycling or solar energy or composting, for example. But they may also be cautious and have questions such as this one which Anne cites: "Won't a compost bin attract vermin to my backyard?" Light greens are open to learning more about living naturally, but when you share information with them do it in baby steps.

4) Eco-unconscious consumers.

Not so long ago, most people knew little and cared little about sustainability. So this group was the biggest, but as green awareness continues to grow, this group is slowly shrinking in size. These folks won't adopt green solutions because they are green, but they are open to doing so if the product is cheaper or better or beneficial in some way that directly affects them.

And that's it. Four types of green consumer. You probably recognized some people you know. Did you?