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Figure 16 Defra’s evidence based public segmentation model
Waste watchers
‘Waste not, want not’ that’s
important, you should live
life thinking about what you
are doing and using.
12%
Cautious participants
I do a couple of things to
Encourage help the environment.
I’d really like to do more,
Exemplify well as long as
I saw others were.
14%
Enable
Low
Stalled starters
I don’t know much about
climate change. I can’t
afford a car so I use public
transport.. I’d like a car
though.
10%
Honestly disengaged
Maybe there’ll be an environmental
disaster, maybe not. Makes
no difference to me, I’m just Encourage
living life the way I want to.
18%
Enable
Low potential and unwilling
High
Potential
to do more
Low
Enable
Engage
High potential and willing
Positive greens
I think it’s important that I do
as much as I can to limit my
impact on the environment.
18%
Concerned consumers
I think I do more than a lot of people.
Still, going away is important.
I’d find that hard to give up.. well I wouldn’t,
so carbon off-setting would make me feel better.
14%
Willing
to act
Sideline supporters
I think climate change is a big
problem for us. I know I don’t
think much about how much
water or electricity I use, and I
forget to turn things off.. I’d like to
do a bit more
We assess where the
potential is to do more and
how to encourage this
High
Source: Defra, Sustainable Lifestyles Framework, 2011
Sustainable lifestyle
options need to be tailored
to different behaviours in
different lifestyle domains.
Creating sustainable
lifestyle options that are
fun, desirable and easy
for all requires a better
understanding of people’s
needs and desires.
Studies employing segmentation models have found that consumer or household
segments are often not consistent across different categories of products,
services or activities (Crompton and Thøgersen 2009). The same is true
for values that shape and frame our choices and behaviours (PIRC 2011). For
example, people with the strongest “green” preferences for food and the best
recycling performance might be the heaviest users of private cars and the most
frequent flyers. This implies that sustainable lifestyle options, as well as policy
programmes, technologies and business models aimed at implementing these,
need to be tailored to different behaviours in different lifestyle domains.
Understanding how people think and behave and what motivates and hinders
the shift toward sustainable lifestyles can help policy makers, community leaders
and designers to develop solutions that resonate with consumers that are
fun, desirable and easy for all. This means changing current trends and conditions
that foster unsustainable behaviours to enable more sustainable lifestyles
across the breadth of population segments.
Diverse and tailored options for more sustainable ways
of living
Successful sustainable
lifestyle initiatives need to
be tailored toward:
• Behaviours
• People
• Context
The natural question that follows from the conclusions above is how fun and
desirable sustainable lifestyle options for different people can be fostered. One
solution is to begin at the local or individual level of households, neighbourhoods,
communities, and schools. Change can be initiated by individuals, neighbourhoods
or schools themselves. Change can also be induced externally, for
example by social entrepreneurs, an NGO, a local business or municipality.
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SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: TODAY’S FACTS & TOMORROW’S TRENDS