The Hartman Report on Sustainability: Understanding the Consumer Perspective

Table of Contents

• Sustainability: Not a Household Word
• Sustainability Consciousness
• Risk in Everyday Life
• Key Triggers to Sustainability Consciousness
• Risk and Sustainability Consciousness
• Chapter I Summary and Key Insights

• Comparing Insiders to Outsiders
• Dimensions of Consumption
  • Key Purchase Criteria: Periphery
  • Key Purchase Criteria: Mid-level
  • Key Purchase Criteria: Core
• Segment Profiles
  • Linda lives in the Periphery of the world:
  • John lives in the Mid-level of the world:
  • Kim lives in the Core of the world:
• Language in the World of Sustainability
• Imagery and Symbolism
  • Sustainability Today
  • Sustainability Tomorrow
• Adoption Pathway for Sustainable Purchases
• Chapter II Summary and Key Insights

• Risk Awareness: How Things Are...and Will Be
• Key Triggers of Risk Perception
  • Top Issues of Concern
  • Attitudes About Food and the Environment
  • Uncertainty Outside the Core
• Evolution of Sustainability Consciousness
  • Familiarity with the Term “Sustainability”
  • Perception of Threats from the Environment
  • Evaluating Possible Solutions
• Chapter III Summary and Key Insights

• Using “Green” Money...or Not
• Engaging in Sustainability Activities
  • Getting to Work
• Purchasing Sustainability Products
• Consumer Power: Purchasing or Polling Booth?
• Chapter IV Summary and Key Insights

• Identifying Adaptive Reactions
  • Radical Engagement
  • Sustained Optimism
  • Divine Faith
  • Cynical Pessimism
  • Pragmatic Acceptance
• Chapter V Summary and Key Insights

• Mid-level Optimists and Pessimists
• Understanding Mid-level Sustainability Issues
• Mid-level Participation in the World of Sustainability
• Self-Reported Behaviors
• Chapter VI Summary and Key Insights

• Characteristics Associated with Environmentally Friendly Companies
• Importance of Business Practices in Consumers' Purchasing Decisions
• Consumer Reactions to Companies with Sustainable Values
• Consumer Perceptions of Corporate Responsibility
• Companies Perceived to Be Socially Responsible
  • Aided Identification of Socially Responsible Companies
• Companies Perceived to Be Environmentally Responsible
• Perception of Socially and Environmentally Responsible Companies
  • Aided Perceptions: Most Socially Responsible Companies
  • Aided Perceptions: Most Environmentally Responsible Companies
  • Unaided Perceptions
  • Results by Segment
• Chapter VII Summary and Key Insights

• Sustainability Is the Foundational Layer
  • Self-interest Is Where the Intersection Occurs
• Role of Quality in Sustainability
• Chapter VIII Summary and Key Insights

• General Strategy
• Marketing and Communications

• Gender
• Age
• Racial/Ethnic Background
• Education
• Household Income
• Children in Household
• Region
• Summary
  • Significant Differences Across Gender
  • Significant Differences Across Age

• Quantitative Methods
  • Quantitative National Survey
  • Sampling Frame
  • Segmenting Sustainability Consumers
• Qualitative Methods
  • Ethnography

• Figure 1. Key Triggers to Sustainability Consciousness
• Figure 2. Zones of Risk Awareness
• Figure 3. The World of Sustainability
• Figure 4. Consumer Segments within the World of Sustainability
• Figure 5. Dimensions of Consumption in Sustainability
• Figure 6. Neurolinguistic Map for the World of Sustainability
• Figure 7. Phases of Adoption for Sustainability Purchasing Habits
• Figure 8. Phases of Adoption for Food and Beverage Purchase Habits
• Figure 9. Sustainability Adoption Cues by Category
• Figure 10. Assessing a High Quality of Life, the Way Things Are Now - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 11. Feeling that the Quality of Life Will Change for the Worse - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 12. Top Issues of Concern (Top 10 Most Often Selected) - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 13. Issues of Less Concern (11-19 Most Often Selected) - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 14. Food and the Environment
• Figure 15. Uncertainty Regarding Statements about Food and the Environment
• Figure 16. Familiarity with the Term “Sustainability” - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 17. Perception of Threats from the Environment - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 18. Evaluating Possible Solutions - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 19. Do You Sometimes Select Products Because They' re Marked with a “Green Seal” or Other Eco-Friendly Label? - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 20. Likelihood of Paying 10% Higher Prices for Sustainability Products - By Interest in Environmentally Friendly Products
• Figure 21. How Often Purchasing Decisions Are Based on Concerns Over Environment and Social Well-Being Issues
• Figure 22. Why Environmental and Social Well-Being Concerns Have No Influence on Some Purchasing Decisions - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 23. Why Environmental and Social Well-Being Concerns Have No Influence on Some Purchasing Decisions - By How Often Purchasing Decisions Are Based on Such Concerns
• Figure 24. Sustainability Activities Consumers Are Already Doing or Might Do in the Future
• Figure 25. Sustainability Activities Consumers Are Already Doing - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 26. Mode of Daily Commute To/From Work - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 27. Sustainability Products Consumers Currently Own or Might Purchase in the Future
• Figure 28. Sustainability Products Consumers Currently Own - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 29. Purchasing Decisions or Voting Decisions: Which Has a Greater Impact on Society? - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 30. Adaptive Reactions within the World of Sustainability
• Figure 31. Perspectives on Major Problems Facing the World - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 32. Assessing a High Quality of Life (the Way Things Are Now) - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 33. Feeling that the Quality of Life Will Change for the Worse - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 34. Concerns Distinguished by Adaptive Reaction - Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 35. Concerns Distinguished by Age - Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 36. The Benefits of Recycling Are Exaggerated - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 37. When Concerns for the Environment and Social Responsibility Do Not Influence Purchase Decisions - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 38. Importance of Business Practices in Deciding to Buy a Company' s Products - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 39. Your Purchasing Decisions or Voting Decisions: Which Have A Greater Impact on Society? - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 40. Sustainability Products Consumers Currently Own - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid- Level Consumers
• Figure 41. Sustainability Activities Consumers Are Already Doing - By Adaptive Reaction Among Mid-Level Consumers
• Figure 42. Characteristics Associated with Environmentally Friendly Companies
• Figure 43. Business Practices Considered Very Important in Deciding to Buy a Company' s Products
• Figure 44. Agreeing with the Following Statements about Buying Brands or Products from Companies with Sustainable Values - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 45. Absence of Write-in Answer for “Socially/Environmentally Responsible Company” - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 46. Companies Considered Socially Responsible - By Consumer Segment (Aided Responses)
• Figure 47. Grocery Stores Considered the Most Socially Responsible - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 48. Fast Food Chains Considered the Most Socially Responsible - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 49. CPG Companies Considered the Most Socially Responsible - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 50. Companies Considered Environmentally Responsible - By Consumer Segment (Aided Responses)
• Figure 51. Companies that Rank Higher among Periphery Consumers than among the Core
• Figure 52. Companies Consumers Consider the Most Socially Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 53. Companies Core Consumers Consider the Most Socially Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 54. Companies Mid-level Consumers Consider the Most Socially Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 55. Companies Periphery Consumers Consider the Most Socially Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 56. Companies Consumers Consider the Most Environmentally Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 57. Companies Core Consumers Consider the Most Environmentally Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 58. Companies Mid-level Consumers Consider the Most Environmentally Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 59. Companies Periphery Consumers Consider the Most Environmentally Responsible (Aided Responses)
• Figure 60. Companies Most Often Cited as Being Socially and/or Environmentally Responsible Consumers in the World of Sustainability (Unaided Responses)
• Figure 61. Companies Most Often Cited as Being Socially and/or Environmentally Responsible Core Consumers (Unaided Responses)
• Figure 62. Companies Most Often Cited as Being Socially and/or Environmentally Responsible Mid-level Consumers (Unaided Responses)
• Figure 63. Companies Most Often Cited as Being Socially and/or Environmentally Responsible Periphery Consumers (Unaided Responses)
• Figure 64. Sustainability Segment - By Gender
• Figure 65. Age - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 66. Racial/Ethnic Background - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 67. Education - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 68. Household Income - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 69. Children in Household - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 70. Region of Residence - By Sustainability Segment
• Figure 71. Selection Criteria for Segmentation within the World of Sustainability
• Figure 72. Field Locations of Qualitative Research