Who is the Green Consumer?

Who is the Green Consumer?

In today’s world, an increasing number of  consumers are becoming not only environmentally conscious, but environmentally responsible.  However, that is not a universal sentiment.  While many people are going green and considering the environmental impact of their purchases, some people don’t see it as a pressing matter.  Who are the green consumers that feel this way though?

Let’s dive into the “Environmentally-friendly” audience, who we built using Hitwise data based off consumers with green attitudes and behaviors. This segment is more likely to believe that companies should help consumers become more environmentally responsible, they make a conscious effort to recycle paper, glass, cans, and other items, and they are more likely to purchase a product or service from a company that is environmentally friendly.

Demographics of the Green Consumer

Contrary to what one might believe, the environmentally friendly audience is more likely to be aged 45 or older, while younger age groups are less likely to agree with these attitudes.



This audience of environmentally friendly consumers is more likely to be married, with 56% being presently married, but they are less likely to be parents, with only 38% having one or more children.  Politically, they are most likely to be somewhat liberal, however they are also likely to be somewhat conservative.  By percentage, most of them are middle of the road.



Of multiple environmental attitudes, the group values recycling very much.  84% of this audience agrees that packaging for products should be recycled, 81% make a conscious effort to recycle their items and 72% feel that people have a duty to recycle.

This audience also has a fondness for technology. 40% agree that their computer is a primary source of fun and entertainment and 62% agree that the internet has changed the way they spend their free time. Surprisingly, 60% agree that they like to drive, which appears to conflict with the eco-friendly way of life.

Now that we know a majority of these users spend free time online, where are they going, and what do they search for?

Online Behavior

Let’s look at the consumption of news and media by this audience. After Reddit, CNN takes the cake with the highest number of Total Visits, although interestingly people don’t spend as much time there as on other news sites. On average per visit, people spend just over 4 minutes on CNN.com, however are spending over five minutes on FoxNews.com and NYTimes.com, over ten minutes on DrudgeReport.com, and a whopping 26 minutes and 12 seconds on Google News.

So while CNN may receive more traffic by volume, environment enthusiasts are engaging more on many other news sites.  Also important to note: this audience loves to know what’s going on with the weather! Three of these fifteen sites are weather-focused, with WeatherUnderground.com receiving the most time spent per visit on average out of all of these sites, and also wins the most average page views per visit (after Reddit).



Audience Differences by Gender & Location

Among these green-thinkers, men go to Reddit much more than women, with more than a 175 million-volume difference in total visits. Interestingly, the women are more interested than the men in weather. More women visit both accuweather.com and weather.com than men do.  In general though, it seems that men visit news sites more than women.  CNN, Fox News, NY Times, Washington Post, Google News, Daily Mail, and Drudge Report all receive more traffic from environmentally conscious men than women of the same audience.

When it comes to social media, Twitter and YouTube each receive over 100,000 more total visits from green-conscious men over women.  Alternatively, Pinterest receives over 188 thousand total visits from women while less than 90 thousand visits from men, and Facebook receives 700 thousand more visits from women than from men.  Instagram and LinkedIn are pretty balanced between both genders of this audience.

Breaking out our audience by both gender and by state, we see where there are more likely to be female green consumers, and vice versa!  States where “green women” are most likely to reside include Montana, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Alabama, and Tennessee.  For “green men”, the most likely home states include Massachusetts, California, New York, Maryland, Rhode Island, Washington D.C. and Virginia. It appears that “green women” are likely to be found in generally more conservative states, whereas “green men” are likely to be found in coastal, liberal states.

Breaking out all the different environmental attitudes, Maryland and Massachusetts are the only states where people are likely to agree to all of the eco-friendly statements.  There are numerous states in which users do not agree with any green statements, including Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, and South Dakota.


Source: Green consumer segments built in Hitwise AudienceView. Data pulled week ending 6/24