Determining the characteristics to profile the “green” consumer: an exploratory approach

The concern with environmental degradation favoured the sprouting of a new segment of consumers: the green consumers. This type of consumer has been described as one who avoids products that are likely to endanger health, cause significant damage to the environment during production, use or disposal, cause unnecessary waste, and use materials derived from threatened species or environments. As firms have recognised the strategic importance of marketing in finding responses to these consumers’ “environmental needs”, the green marketing started to became a prominent field of study. This study investigated several variables related with the environmental aspects. The aim is to group an extensive list of variables into a set of relevant dimensions that may be useful to profile the green consumer. The implications of these findings for the research of the green consumer characterisation are discussed.