Title: A segmentation proposition of Brazilian undergraduate students regarding their pro-environmental consumption behaviour

Authors: Leonardo Mendes Lacerda De Menezes; Cleber José Cunha Dutra; Fernanda Gomes Leitão; José Milton De Sousa Filho

Addresses: University of Fortaleza, Washington Soares Avenue, 1321 – Bairro Edson Queiroz – CEP: 60811-905, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil ' University of Fortaleza, Washington Soares Avenue, 1321 – Bairro Edson Queiroz – CEP: 60811-905, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil ' University of Fortaleza, Washington Soares Avenue, 1321 – Bairro Edson Queiroz – CEP: 60811-905, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil ' University of Fortaleza, Washington Soares Avenue, 1321 – Bairro Edson Queiroz – CEP: 60811-905, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

Abstract: The pro-environmental behaviour is a research area that has been gaining attention in several scientific journals that address the theme of sustainability. Within the various topics of research covered in this field, environmental segmentation is considered an important tool to better understand consumers. However, by analysing various existing segmentations, we noticed that the vast majority of them target individuals considering their conscience or the environmental actions that they perform, but they do not analyse the behavioural influence aspects. The purpose of this study is to contribute to this field by proposing a new segmentation model, which considers influencing factors (nine motivators and ten barriers) as key drivers for environmental behaviour analysis. We conducted a survey with 1,009 Brazilian undergraduate students and we used exploratory factor analysis to define the motivating factors and barriers of environmentally responsible behaviour. In order to develop typologies, we applied cluster analysis. As an outcome, we found seven new consumer segments.

Keywords: environmental segmentation; green segmentation; consumer behaviour; pro-environmental behaviour; Brazil; undergraduate students; environmental behaviour; green behaviour; motivation; barriers; cluster analysis; consumer segments.

DOI: 10.1504/LAJMSD.2015.073061

Latin American Journal of Management for Sustainable Development, 2015 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.211 - 228

Received: 04 Apr 2014
Accepted: 27 Oct 2014
Published online: 16 Nov 2015 *

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