Changes in consumer segments and preferences to green labelling

This paper is a follow‐up on a study conducted in 1996 to determine if there have been changes in market segments and consumer preferences since that time. The specific purpose of this study is to determine whether respondents’ will be influenced by the presence of seals and/or logos certifying that the laundry detergent is environmentally friendly, and whether the customer segments and preferences have changed over time. Respondents were subjected to a stack of 16 cards with different combinations of price, degree of concentration, whether detergent had regular or low suds formulas, the presence of phosphates, and the presence of either a G reen S eal, an EPA logo or both. The data yielded three distinct clusters/groupings of respondents (i.e. G reen S eal, price and EPA L ogo) different from the previous study. This study showed that respondents were not monolithic in their preferences for green labelling techniques. The findings of this study indicate that the customer segments and their preferences have changed over time. Suggestions are made for marketing to each of the respective current segments.