New Tools to Capture the Elusive Green Consumer

Some feel the reason that the green boom of the ¿90s failed to realize its full potential was partly due to a lack of understanding of what constituted the ¿green consumer¿ in the first place. In this article, the author fleshes out this fragmented picture, using the results of a study of executives from 26 countries to discern their attitudes toward sustainability practices, both at home and at work. The research reveals some surprising differences from previous pictures of green consumers. Among other things, economic pragmatism seems to play a much larger role than pure altruism when it comes to purchasing decisions. Therefore, businesses seeking to exploit altruism to advance their sustainability agendas may need to rethink their approach, and focus on offering tangible value that benefits their stakeholders. The author overlays these findings with ¿locus of control¿ ¿ testing how the internal or external orientations of individuals may predispose their behavior. Together these findings yield a constructive framework that combines dispositional factors and economic trade-offs, which will help executives as they seek to integrate sustainability into their procurement practices, while also rethinking their product or service offerings for consumers.