In light of this week’s theme at the “Sustainability Marketing” course regarding how to market sustainable products and services to different customer segments, I began to immediately reflect on which customer segment I began to identify with. Referencing one of the readings that was prepared in lieu of our conversation today, Ottman’s “The New Rules of Green Marketing” divides customers in the following segments: LOHAS, Naturalites, Drifters, Conventionals, and the Unconcerneds. I immediately took some pride in identifying as a Naturalite – a segment that was closer to the top end of customers that were environmentally conscious. Naturalites are definitely dedicated to sustainability (although not quite as much as their LOHAS cousins) which seemed like a natural fit.
With more and more reflection, this immediate self-classification slowly became more and more into question. I began questioning how often, and to what extent, I truly go out of my way to integrate sustainable practices into my daily habits. The list that I created for myself was as follows: I recycle, I compost, I choose local/organic foods when possible… and that is about it. I was definitely at a crossroad between what I had perceived my ideal self to be and what I realized I was in practice. This immediately reminded me of a psychological concept named cognitive dissonance – discomfort experienced when new information challenges previously held ones. With the logical next step being one that aimed to resolve this discomfort, I had come to the realization that I probably was not (nearly) as sustainable as I had previously thought. Reffering back to Ottoman’s classification, my commitment to sustainability in practice was more in line with the “Drifters” segment. With myself “pitching in on simple green activities” and responding to information provided to me via media, this identification became clear. After further reflection, I came to the realization that I am likely not alone in this discrepancy that I had experienced. The realization was a highly valuable learning – the first step in actually becoming environmentally conscious.
