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Environment and Consumer Behaviour

2 Summary and conclusion

2.1 Aims and objectives

The aim of this project is to analyse the barriers preventing consumers to proceed from knowledge to action, thus making the environment an integral part of their daily shopping patterns, and to make proposals on how to motivate the retail sector to apply different tools.

Moreover, the aim of the project is to identify the significance of the environment for the individual consumer, and determine to what extent environmental concerns influence their daily shopping, including all types of products offered by the retailers. The project also examines measures that will be considered important to affect consumers in their decisions to buy.

Furthermore, the project aims to produce a report of previous experience with changing consumer attitudes towards the environment, focussing on the parameters employed and the response to it. Moreover, the project includes the experience of international retailers in general as well as suppliers of groceries who have used the environment as an instrument to increase sales.

2.2 The study

The study was carried out by the Centre for Alternative Social Analysis (CASA), dk-TEKNIK ENERGI & MILJØ, and TNS Gallup. The study was performed from 1 January 2003 to 30 June 2003.

The study covers three elements:

1.  Study of the literature
In the study of the literature Danish experience and to a certain extent international experience of consumers and their contribution to the environment was examined. The study also investigates trends and values in society, including attitudes to the environment and to consumption. Finally, the literature study focuses on experience with consumers’ decision-making processes in shopping, and the methods used to influence consumer behaviour.

2.  Interviews with key players
Interviews with a number of key players in retailing and suppliers in the grocery trade were carried out to obtain information about their experience with environmental initiatives in relation to consumers. Moreover, other individual players were interviewed to supplement and elaborate on the information obtained from the study of literature.

3.  Focus groups
Three focus group sessions of six to nine consumers were held in Bramming, Skælskør and Copenhagen, respectively. The aim of the focus group sessions was to ask the consumers to explain what makes them prioritise environmental considerations when buying, what barriers they envisage, and what it would take to make them change their buying patterns towards a more environmentally friendly behaviour. Throughout the study the concept of “environmentally friendly products” was used as a common denominator for eco-labelled and organic products, where the two types of products had the same aim. Typically, more studies of organic products have been made than of eco-labelled products.

2.3 Conclusion

Today there is less focus on the environment than was seen a few years ago. From the 1970’s until the middle and the end of the 1990’s, focus on the environment was growing among policy drivers and among a large proportion of the population. Since then, however, focus on the environment has declined. Now consumers have less real knowledge about environmental impacts, they are less interested in obtaining knowledge about environmental considerations, and they are less willing to pay extra for environmental products, i.e. eco-labelled and organic products.

Regardless of the consumers’ environmental awareness, the environmental considerations in buying are weighed against several different requirements: quality, price, taste/design, health, product range at the outlets etc. Most consumers find that the environment is a bonus rather than the main reason for choosing a particular product.

If retailers were to make consumers more environmentally aware in their daily shopping, they would have to collaborate with producers to significantly reduce the difference in price between environmental goods and ordinary goods. This could be done for example through frequent discounts of organic and eco-labelled goods, or by launching special discount or bonus schemes for these products.

Furthermore, retailers will have to make an effort to help inform consumers about environmental consideration and eco-labels, and to better understand the interaction between consumer choice and environmental and health effects.

Campaigns and communication about environmental measures should be presented positively and with humour, since many consumers associate environmental considerations with values such as, for example, “tedious”, “ascetic”, “righteous” or “leftist”. In order to achieve the best effect, it would be a good idea if retailers and producers launched campaigns in collaboration with public authorities and other organisations. This should be done in order to ensure wider communication and credibility with the consumers.

It must be made clear to consumers that they will achieve benefits if they buy an environmentally friendly product.

It is important that the environmental messages are simple, and that they are repeated regularly. It is important to tell the environmental story from the beginning to the end, i.e. to focus on life cycles of the products and the packaging material. The consumers have problems finding out the impact of buying organic products wrapped in a lot of packaging material or transported over long distances.

Moreover, it is important that retailers in collaboration with producers ensure that a wider range of organic and eco-labelled products be offered, and that these products be displayed in a central part of the shops. In Japan they have good experience with shops with a 100% environmental concept only selling environmentally friendly goods. Retailers may consider a clear exposure, for example, of special modules for the organic and eco-labelled commodities placed in the department where they naturally belong, or design “environmental departments” in existing shops.

Children and young people are an important group which retailers in cooperation with the schools, for example, should target. Children and young people can influence what is being bought, and they are also more receptive to new information.

Barriers to environmental purchasing

The greatest barrier to environmental buying is the price. For most consumers it is important that they see a real benefit if they have to pay extra for the environmental goods. This may be either better health, or better quality, better taste etc.

In the current situation, where consumers often have to pay extra for environmental goods, there are indications that there is a limit to what most consumers are willing to pay, i.e. approx. 10% more for the organic and the eco-labelled products.

Another barrier to environmental buying is lack of knowledge – including limited knowledge about eco-labels, failure to establish a link between consumer choice and environmental impact, lack of faith and stories about cheating, preference for conventional Danish products to environmental foreign ones, time-scales – it takes time to find environmental products, environmental considerations is an extra bonus - not the first choice, lack of communication, environmental signals are associated with undesirable values, wrong kind of packaging, limited product range, best-before date too short, appearance too boring, quality too poor, habits and routine behaviour - are all reasons stated.

Changing buying motives

In recent years Danish consumers have changed from buying organic products for idealistic reasons and environmental considerations in general, to buying organic products for more selfish reasons, such as their own health and animal welfare.

There are several models for dividing consumers according to their environmental attitudes. The models indicate the parameters employed for the segmentation of each group. Previously, demographic variables were used for such segmentation, whereas today the concept of values is in focus. One of the dilemmas of the segmentation models is that consumer behaviour is composed of several changing, overlapping and ambivalent components.

When some consumers buy environmental foods but not other types of environmental goods, it may indicate that they make other priorities than improvement of the environment. Consumers weigh environmental considerations in buying against a number of other requirements: Quality, price, taste, product range at the outlet, health etc.

The most important motives for buying organic products are:

• Health
• Environmental considerations/nature
• Animal welfare
• Taste/appearance

Daily buying patterns can be difficult to influence

The daily shopping is a routine activity, where only simple decision making processes are included, typically characterised by brand loyalty, preferences and habit. Impulse buying may occur, although it is often part of a fixed pattern. Changes in consumers’ routine buying objectives and habits may vary from the daily shopping to shopping for party occasions, for example, or they may occur as a result of life style changes, such as, for example, house moves, work moves or an expanding family.

Consumers spend little time searching for information for their daily routine shopping. Consumers mainly get their information from flyers. However, consumers are also influenced by campaigns and TV commercials, and these may have an influence on the shopping in the long run.

The consumers associate certain values with the products, which are important for the choices they make. Apart from the price it covers values such as, for example, function, experience, technical value and life style value (image). Moreover, the choice at the outlet is a central issue. Three major aspects were identified: It must be easy. It must be cheap. Or it must support your local community. If those three conditions are met, most consumers will settle for the current range of organic and eco-labelled products.

The most effective methods

Some of the methods that retailers can apply to contribute to focus and stimulate sales of environmental products are:

• Flyers with price reductions
• Bonus schemes with discounts on organic and eco-labelled goods
• Tasting samples and sample products
• Simple messages
• Describe the correlation between the environment and the product
• Information aimed at children and young people
• Regular humorous campaigns
• Network campaigns (i.e. collaboration between private individuals and the authorities

The best results will be achieved from a combination of these methods. Besides, it should be remembered that the effect of such campaigns seldom lasts forever.

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