Green Technology and

Consumers

Mohammad Zakersalehi

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• What is green tech and what are the goals of this new concept.

• Trends of green technology and green products.

• Outlook of green market and subjects.

• Consumers of green market and its segmentation

• Marketing mix to reach each customer segment and our

suggestions.

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• encompasses a continuously evolving group of methods and
materials, from
techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products.

•is the application of the environmental science to conserve the

natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative
impacts of human involvement.

•Present Expectation :
This field will bring innovation and changes in daily life of
similar magnitude to the "information technology" explosion
over the last two decades.

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Goals :

•Sustainability 

•"Cradle to cradle" design 

•Source reduction 

•Innovation 

•Viability

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• Energy
• Green building
• Environmentally preferred purchasing
• Green chemistry
• Green nanotechnology
• Green everything

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• Cutting costs through lowered energy consumption and improved
process control
• Improved energy efficiency,
– can boost customer satisfaction and the overall brand image
• superior corporate image in the marketplace

Green products provide:

– The need to be healthy
– Saving the money
– Stronger and more effective brand image

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  people prefer to have a positive moral self Thus, people tend
to be strongly motivated to engage in pro-social and ethical
behaviors
 people attach higher social and ethical values to green than
conventional consumerism
PricewaterhouseCoopers(PWC) survey in September 2007
indicates:
 61 percent of executives feel it is:
 very important (29 percent) or
 important (32 percent)
that their companies take steps to reduce their
environmental impact

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• 94% of 300 American consumers , cited their most sought-
after green upgrade as energy savings, followed by water-
saving appliances and recycled building materials

• Roughly nine in ten (91%) said energy-efficient features in a

new home are extremely or very important

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• In Sweden, an estimated 3,500 "clean tech" companies
generate $14 billion annually

• In 2003, with the help of energy-efficient technologies,

Americans saved over $8 billion on their energy bills

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How Technology manufacturers expand their portfolio of green
products:
• Pursuing energy efficiency
• Implementing designs that reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous
materials,
• Using recycled or recyclable materials,
• Building products that last longer,
• Creating packaging that meets or exceeds global environmental
standards.
• Reducing the weight and improving capacity for recycling
purposes. 10
• Developed countries:
– Higher awareness, consumers seek out green products on their own

• Third-world and developing countries:

– Lower awareness, consumers have other priorities and green
technology may not feature prominently in that list.

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 Support by customers:
Survey by Harris Interactive:
• 47% of U.S. adults agreed they would be willing to pay more
for environmentally-friendly products
• 64% of those surveyed said they would be willing to pay more
for a  hybrid car
• 63% indicated they would spend more for organic, fair trade, or
locally sourced food
• 62% said they would dig deeper into their wallets for
green/organic cleaning supplies
• 57% of those surveyed said they would pay the additional costs
for products made from recycled materials

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 Government Support
• Green enterprises in Vietnam will enjoy a low tax rate of just 10%
compared to 25 per cent for other companies
• Malaysia has formed Green Energy office in Malaysian Energy
Center
- Green Technology counsel has been formed managed by prime
minister to simplify licensing and works in Green tech
• For the next two years, the Swedish government is investing
$180 million to support commercialization of green
technology

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• Fact book 2009:
• $148 billion market size in 2007
• Clean tech Group, 2008:
• Global venture capital investments in green tech reached an
estimated $8.4 billion,
• 38% increase over 2007 levels. 
• Green tech Media, 2008:
• Reported lower total expenditures but stronger annual growth,
from $3.4 billion in 2007 to $7.8 billion in 2008

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• Industries are different in accepting green technologies.
• Being Green is the main goal of some industries like automotive,
and is difficult for some to accept and move toward like Paper
industry.

 Green in the first sight

• Investment, mostly a huge amount
• Unclear ROI to persuade managers.
• Unclear and latent benefits.
• Perceptions and understanding

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Why the pace is not as fast as it should be?
• Industry thinks of green as something costly and extra to do.
Despite that perception, Ursula M.Burns, VP of Xerox and member of
board of directors states
that The greener we get, the more we can reduce costs and boost
efficiency. In 2006, Xerox
saved $18 million because of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

• Impacts of today’s green technologies are hidden and more globally to be seen
locally and it makes the
decision difficult for companies to choose. (Vales, 2009)

• Industries think and believe it is hard to make customers to understand what is

the effects of non
environmental friendly products on their disposable income like inefficient
automobiles.
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• Automotive & Transportation
• Biofuel & Agriculture
• Energy Management & Efficiency
• Energy Storage
• Nanotech & Materials
• Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel)
• Solar
• Waste Management
• Water

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 According to J.A. Ottman 2006, Green marketing must satisfy two objectives:

Improved environmental quality and customer satisfaction.

Green products must show at least 5 values of non green products:

(E.R Stafford, 2006)
• efficiency and cost effectiveness;
• health and safety;
• performance;
• symbolism and status;
• convenience.
• He argues that producers must be careful of targeting and values. Cost efficient
green products must be positioned for cost-conscious consumers to be effective.
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Consumer perceptions and preferences
• Higher prices as misleading perception.
• In some industries like Automotive or Fast food, people will buy
regardless of non
green brand image. (Joel Makower, 2007)
• Identifying the green products is an issue.
• Bad perception of functionality of green products, Fashionable goods
rather than applicable
• Lack of facilities for maintenance and services of green products.
• "The recession has almost been a catalyst to being green." Sheehan CEO of
GFK research, 2008 19
 who should be taking the lead in addressing environmental
problems?
• 46% of Americans believe Federal Government is responsible.
• 39% Believe Individuals should take the lead.
• 32% respond that Businesses are responsible for taking care of
environment.

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Different types of customers, regarding their concern about
environment.

The most famous segmentation of green market has been done by Natural
Marketing Institute which is called LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and
Sustainability)

LOHAS — very progressive on environment and society, looking for ways to do

more; not too concerned about price (16%).
Naturalites — primarily concerned about personal health and wellness, and use
many natural products; would like to do more to protect the environment (25%).
Conventionals — practical, like to see the results of what they do; interested in
green products that make sense (e.g., save money) in the long run (23%).
Drifters — not too concerned about environment, figuring we’ve got time to fix
environmental problems; don’t necessarily buy a lot of green products, (23%).
Unconcerned — have other priorities, not really sure what green products are;
they buy products strictly on price, value, quality, and convenience (14%). 21
Roper Inc. segmentation:
True-Blue Greens -- the most environmentally active segment of society (11% of
the U.S. population).
Greenback Greens -- those most willing to pay the highest premium for green
products (8%).
Sprouts -- fence-sitters who have embraced environmentalism more slowly
(33%).
Grousers -- uninvolved or disinterested in environmental issues, who feel the
issues are too big for them to solve (14%).
Apathetics -- the least engaged group who believe that environmental indifference
is mainstream (33%).
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Hartman Group on understanding the consumer perspective:
• Radical Engagement -- (36%). Sustained Optimism -- (27%).
• Divine Faith -- (20%). Cynical Pessimism -- (9%).
• Pragmatic Acceptance -- (8%)

Geographically:
• Scandinavian countries, Germany, France and China are best in accepting
green products.
• Germany is the first in green technology production and distribution
• China is the first in terms of costs, untouchably standing alone.

Demographically:
• Interestingly Generation Y is the best generation to target According to
China National Climate Council 2009.
• French, Chinese, Canadians and Germans are the most available people to
accept
Green products. 23
Marketing mix for each group of customers.
• To find the best target market as is advised by Philip Kotler 2006, The
first step is to
understand which segment of the market is most likely to purchase
your product.

5 different group of customers, hence different marketing mixes.

1.True green blues, LOHAS:
• These people do not care about price and are willing to pay more for
environmentally friendly products.
• Not difficult to motivate to buy green products.
• Product should offer something real and applicable. These segment will
be too sensitive about misleading advertisements.
• Most proficient group to target but difficult to find.

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2. Naturalites, Greenback greens:
• They care about price but environment is ahead most of the times.
• Need more advertisement and a little bit of motivation to act green, but
once they are motivated they most probably become loyal customers.
• Mostly care about personal health and wellness.
• Good part of market for short term and even long term targeting.

3. Conventionals, Sprouts:
• Interested in green products but those which make sense.
• Practical users who look for the real thing.
• To persuade these people product details is necessary.
• They are not into green products as previous groups, therefore they
need product introductions of the market.
• Better for a long term period till they adopt the technology.

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4. Drifters, Grousers:
• They are not concern with environment, so not motivated by
environmentally friendly aspects of products.
• May purchase green products due to the look or perception
occasionally.
• Concern about price and costs, so price can be a good motive for them.
• Products which reduce costs can be persuasive.
• Not lucrative in short term, even in long term.

5. Unconcerned:
• They buy product strictly on Price, Value, Quality and convenience.
• Partially practical and looking for the thing that works for them in their
situation.
• Not a good segment to target for neither short term, not long term,
unless they are in the upper levels.

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• Not an easy job to find the target market according to the segments
of the market.
• There are not much information about demographics of each
segment.
• There are huge overlaps between different groups:
o A college degree holder can be among both Naturalites and LOHAS.
• Green is a new trend and there are not much information about
customers and it means huge market researches and finding first hand
data.

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• Going green is not just a trend of the market, it is applicable and
according to many evidences helps the company to reduce costs:
 Wal-Mart spent 500 M$ on reduction of CO2 emission 2008, now they
are enjoying 25% less consumption of energy and it means a huge cost
reduction.
• It is better to see the competitive advantages of the company and then
choose the segment, to avoid competing with wrong competitors.
• Out sourcing is one good strategy in this technology, to reach the
most efficient and up-to-date technologies.

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Articles:
Alan S.Brown, 2009, American Mechanical engineering society, “Conflicts on the green”
Dustkin S.Klein, 2009, “Go for Green”, Smart business Cleveland.
Fujitsu Group Sustainability Report, 2004
Jazmin Seijas Nogareda and Andreas Ziegler, 2006, Green Management and Green
Technology - Exploring the Causal Relationship, Discussion papare, Center for european
Economic Research.
Nina Mazar, Chen-Bo Zhong, 2009, “Do Green Products Make Us Better People?”
Psychological Science
Patrick Hartmann and Vanessa Apaolaza, “Green value added”, Marketing Intelligence &
Planning Vol. 24 No. 7, 2006.
Kamal Manaktola and Vinnie Jauhari, ” Exploring consumer attitude and behaviour towards
green practices in the lodging industry in India”, International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol. 19 No. 5, 2007, pp.364-377

Web pages:
http://www.futurelab.net/blogs/marketing-strategy-
innovation/2007/05/the_many_shades_of_the_ecoloha.html
http://www.futurelab.net/blogs/marketing-strategy-
innovation/2006/10/witts_yoyos_and_why_americans.html 29
http://www.futurelab.net/blogs/marketing-strategy-
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2009/tc20090126_136
438.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/index_en.htm
http://www.biobasednews.com/
http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2007/05/the_many_shades.html

Books:
Marketing Management, Philip Kotler, 2006, Mc Graw Hill.

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