Segmenting the Market Using the 2014 Greendex Data
Welcome to the first of a series of four short articles that examine the potential for more sustainable consumer behavior within the food category. We draw on our recently published Greendex 2014 study of consumers in 18 countries, conducted with National Geographic, to mine for insights to help governments, companies and NGOs unlock further change.
Find After launching the 2014 Greendex at the Sustainable Brands New Metrics conference, we are kicking off this new blog series in celebration of World Food Day.
Our team of analysts and specialists in behavior change has used a variety of statistical techniques to group consumers into five distinct categories that differ in their food habits and potential to change to start eating more sustainably.
The five Greendex segments include:
- Those who are unwilling to change their not very sustainable habits
- Those with a heavy footprint but who are open to change
- Those with a modest footprint but who still want to improve environmental behavior
- Those most driven to improve their environmental footprint
- Vegetarians who already have a very light environmental footprint.
Each entry in this series will provide a snapshot of one our five segments.
Greendex Moveable Masses Segment
We begin with the largest segment, which we have labeled the “Moveable Masses.” They represent 37 percent of consumers in the 18 countries surveyed. “Moveable Masses” consumers are the most mainstream segment, who eat a lot of food with a heavy environmental footprint, but they are open to changing their behavior.
Consumers in this group have good intentions to eat in a more environmentally responsible way, are relatively conscious of environmental issues and understand that changes to the global food system required on both the production and consumption side of the equation. But many feel they lack enough information to act and/or feel unable to make a difference.
Moveable Masses consumers are a key group to focus on to unlock large-scale change towards more sustainable food habits, as they constitute the largest group of consumers with a lot of room to improve.
Read More in the Greendex Series
- Read part 2 in the series about the ‘Motivated Greens’ segment
- Read part 3 in the series about the ‘Conflicted Consumers’ segment
- Read part 4 in the series about the ‘Immobilized’ segment
Greendex Infographic
The infographic below is intended to help us better understand the Immobilized segment (click to enlarge).
