Green Options » LOHAS

Targeting the “Green” Consumer

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:50:51 +0000

Yesterday, I blogged about the reasons marketers are choosing “green” as a marketing strategy. But for companies that pursue this strategy, it becomes clear pretty quickly that just marketing a green product isn’t enough. The company has to be sincere in its own commitment to environmental sustainability and show genuine sensitivity to the needs and concerns of its customer base. This has to be more than lip service. It’s got to be the real deal.

So who are these green consumers (or LOHAS or lifestyles of health and sustainability consumers) and what are some of their demographics and psychographics that will help marketers to relate to them effectively? Collette Chandler of Keyboard Culture (Green Marketing), describes them this way:

Leading-edge thinkers
Higher-than-average education
Average incomes (this may be a surprise to many who thought their incomes would be higher, but it’s no surprise to people with PhDs!)
Among the least price sensitive consumers
Expect good value (they expect green products to perform equal to or even better than equivalent non-green products)
Extremely brand loyal
Tend to write blogs
Influence others, particularly their family and friends
Early adopters
Influenced by brand image

What drives LOHAS consumers to make the purchases they do?

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Green Marketing: What’s All the Fuss?

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:52:30 +0000

What’s all the fuss about green marketing? It’s more than just another hook to get people to buy products. It’s about the types of people who purchase green products. They have higher than average incomes, they are willing to pay up to 20% more for products and services (according to Collette Chandler, an author and consultant specializing in green marketing), and they are extremely brand loyal. It’s a marketer’s dream.

It’s no wonder that companies are targeting this marketplace.

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Environmentalism, Organic Foods Explode in South Korea

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:41:01 +0000

The success of organic foods was never a sure bet in South Korea. Since the Korean word for pesticides literally means “plant medicines” many Koreans have had a difficult time seeing what’s wrong with using them. But today’s ultra health conscious Korean is becoming more environmentally savvy too. Today, words like “blossom” and “bloom” are too mild to describe the exploding popularity of organic foods and environmentalism in South Korea.

Can Ecouture Give Green Fashion More Style?

Jennifer Kho — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:00:18 +0000

If ecouture has its way, your home — and your closet — will soon be a lot greener. The San Francisco-based startup believes that consumers would buy far more eco-friendly clothing, gifts, baby products and décor if they could only find enough stylish and high-quality options.

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EcoBrain - Publishing Ebooks for Sustainability

Reenita Malhotra — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:51:46 +0000

EcoBrain is a digital publishing business that provides sustainability content while reducing their impact on the environment.

Acutely aware of the staggering production costs and environmental impact of traditional publishing, Angela Wieck and Staley Krause, two green living enthusiasts and earth-friendly role models for their children, conceptualized Ecobrain in April 2008. Publishing is not an easy business but with Ecobrain’s eBook format, new publishers can produce and publish their material much more quickly, cheaply and profitably.

EcoBrain targets a LOHAS minded audience. As a family company they focus heavily on teachers, parents and teens, although they are open to various categories of content.

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How to Reach Green Consumers - Using Psychographics To Define Your Target Market

mcmilker — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:22:05 +0000

A recent article in Business Green discusses several ways of classifying the green consumer and the issues related to reaching them. Though demographics, the tried and true way of sorting out consumers into groups by income, age, education, etc. works well in some categories, it’s not as helpful in segmenting green consumers.

Enter Psychographics, often used by niche marketers, it can be an effective tool for eco entrepreneurs.

Demographics looks at characteristics of people that include age, income, education, occupation, household size, home ownership and home value, among other factors.
Psychographics delves deeper into people’s lifestyles and behaviors, including their interests and values.

While segments of green consumers vary according to the source you use (check out this hilarious post that outlines some of them) I’ll use the Natural Marketing Institute’s labels for LOHAS ( lifestyles of health and sustainability) consumers.

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, though may like to “be seen” in Whole Foods to enhance their image (23%).
Unconcerned — have other priorities, not really sure what green products are available, and probably wouldn’t be interested anyway; they buy products strictly on price, value, quality, and convenience (14%).

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4 Questions to Ask Before You Launch an Organic Product

mcmilker — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:00:14 +0000

Watching the news and reading the popular press you’d think that the interest in organic products is so high that simply making your idea for a new product a reality ensures success. Not so fast.

One of the biggest fallacies in popular folklore is:

“Make a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”

In reality, over 90% of businesses fail within the first five years, even the ones with really great ideas. Good execution beats originality any day. And good execution requires good solid market information.

With organic products so hot many a natural product manufacturer or organic food processor has found initial success came easy. As the field matures however, competitors enter the market and bigger retailers show interest in the product. Both require a fledgling company to be prepared with data and selling points.

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The Social Fashion Revolution is a web2.0 Movement

Frans Prins — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:58:54 +0000

As my friend, Sustainable Lifestyle Guru and Karmakonsum founder Christoph Harrach states, the Green Fashion movement is a web2.0 movement. He calls it “Eco2.0″. Weather it’s true or not globally, in Germany most cool green fashion labels available are sold online.

Some labels go even further and let their customers be part of their communities deciding over styles, models, and where the money spent for charity goes to. Fair Trade clothing sold over music labels, online design contests, innovative ideas are getting so normal that we don’t even react. But isn’t it great to not only decide for wearing great clothes with a conscious feel, but also being able to connect to your clothing labels within social communities? In the end social fashion is starting to mean more than organic cotton, it can meanwhile mean that you as a costumer decide how the new collection looks!

One of my German favorites here are Armed Angels, who have a radical community approach combined with high ecological and social standards of their production and Fairliebt (”Fairly in love”), who sell simple Fair Trade shirts with a strong feeling for a new community of young, conscious buyers with a dedication to great style.

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Natural Marketing Institute, Nielsen Value LOHAS Mart At $209 bn

Angelique van Engelen — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:01:58 +0000

Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability, LOHAS, for short, is an incremental part of the green marketing effort. The concept received a boost recently when marketing research giant Nielsen teamed up with the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) to create an in-depth study of LOHAS.

The two research houses put the LOHAS market size down at $209 billion. This number includes services as well as tangible products. LOHAS are determined by NMI and Nielsen as people who “have a meaningful sense of environmental and social responsibility and incorporates those values into their purchase decisions.”

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Green Business 101: Are You a LOHAS Consumer?

Cassie Walker — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:08:17 +0000

Well, if you’re reading this, you probably are.

LOHAS stands for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. Representing an estimated 50 million American adults, the name LOHAS is now synonymous with the “Cultural Creatives” segment of the population originally identified in 1996 by sociologist, author, and market researcher Paul Ray, Ph.D. Ray, along with psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson, described the segment in their 2000 book, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World.

So what’s so special about the LOHAS segment? Usually, market segments are identified using things like lifestyle, buying behavior, and demographics. But here’s where the LOHAS consumers diverge: they are distinguished solely by their values, as they care strongly about issues like the environment, social justice, sustainability, and health. Is this starting to sound familiar?

As the segment grows, more and more businesses have begun to take notice – the marketplace for LOHAS consumers is now valued at over $220 billion. This means that more products and services, meant to serve our needs, will be coming to the market. Good news for anyone tormented over having to buy a product that is no friend of the environment, due to the lack of an alternative.

I got to learn about and even sample some of these alternatives this week at the 11th annual LOHAS Forum, held in Marina del Rey, CA. Though some established brands, like Burt’s Bees, were in attendance in the exhibit hall, many were new to me. I especially liked Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate and VeeV, a spirit made from Brazil’s açai fruit and billed as “a better way to drink.” Count me in!

Of course, the Forum wasn’t all about food and drink. The program featured a variety of speakers and break-out sessions designed to educate and inform LOHAS companies. My favorite session, “Giving Sustainability More SIZZLE”, focused on the shift of the LOHAS segment from a small niche to the mainstream, and some of the keys to making that jump as a company. Not surprisingly, communicating with authenticity was at the top of the list. LOHAS consumers can see through greenwashing a mile away…even through a chocolate haze.

For those unable to attend the conference, session videos will be posted on the website: www.lohas.com