Green Consumer

A green consumer is someone who is aware of his or her obligation to protect the environment by selectively purchasing green products or services. A green consumer tries to maintain a healthy and safe lifestyle without endangering the sustainability of the planet and the future of mankind. According to a recent study, 50 percent of consumers buy green products today. The top three reasons for not buying green products are a lack of awareness, availability, and choices. Green consumers are highly motivated to change their buying behavior for the good of the planet and are willing to pay 10 to 30 percent more to save the planet from environmental damage. However, businesses sometimes find it difficult to predict consumers' reaction to green products. For example, consumers were not [Page 194]excited about the smaller packages of concentrated detergents that were introduced to reduce the packaging cost, and the products were withdrawn from the market. However, niche markets of environmentally friendly consumers sustain products such as green cars, solar energy, organic food, and so on.

These consumers often use different sources of information or decision-making criteria for different types of products and services. The mass media helps them grow awareness of the harms caused by the products that are not ecofriendly, the availability of various green products in the market, the policies and practices of companies, existing and new national/global regulations regarding environmental safety and sustainability, and other helpful information. For example, in 2009, Newsweek magazine published a list of top 500 U.S. companies based on their actual environmental performance, policies, and reputation. Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Intel, and IBM are the five greenest companies on that list. Widespread Internet access has become a critical tool for consumers to spread information and advice, demand transparency from the corporations and manufacturers about their environmental data and policies, and be vigilant about company activities. Green customers have become a very powerful force in coercing large and small companies to accept their environmental responsibilities.

The future generation is growing up as green consumers. They have already taken part in maintaining sustainability and saving the planet from harm. For example, Paul Pressler, the former chief executive officer of Gap, was asked by his daughter whether the company owned sweatshops before he joined the company. As a consequence of his sensitivity to this issue, Gap's 2004 corporate social responsibility report improved substantially the transparency about worker conditions. Similarly, Dave McLaughlin, Chiquita's chief environment officer, confessed to the key role played by the appeals made by thousands of kids to reform the company's social and environmental policies. Often green consumers work with nongovernmental organizations to voice their environmental concerns to the big companies. For example, Dell had to reform its social and environmental practices after huge publicity about the intense protest organized by nongovernmental organizations at the annual consumer electronics show.

The ever-growing segment of green consumers currently includes

• consumers who carefully choose the products and services that are safe for themselves, their children, and the environment;
• business-to-business customers who inquire about how their suppliers make their products, and what is in those products;
• employees who are bringing their personal values to their profession and share their companies' mission;
• bank personnel who factor environmental variables such as financial cost of greenhouse gas emissions, projects that have adverse effects on natural habitats, and so on, in making loan decisions;
• insurance agents who consider environmental risks as a business threat; and
• stock market analysts who study the environmental performance of a company as a management quality.

The environmental damage resulting from increasing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, disappearance of species, and reduction in global water supply has contributed to the deterioration of overall quality of life worldwide. This has motivated green consumers to put pressures on local and global leaders and government officials to construct and enforce new laws and regulations for business practices that are of utmost importance for the sake of our planet's future.

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