Redefining green consumerism: a diminutive approach to market segmentation for sustainability

The purpose of this study is to accelerate green consumerism efforts by assisting green marketers in identifying the homogeneous and significant eco-friendly customer segments emerging in India. The study determines the antecedents driving customers to purchase green products, which can be leveraged while targeting the studied customer group and designing promotional strategies for these microgreen segments. Non-probability criterion-based sampling technique was used in collecting the data across Pan India through various online platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. The exploratory factor analysis, followed by the cluster and discriminant analysis, is conducted for inferential results. The results reveal eight major factors influencing green consumer behavior, out of which green habit, green culture awareness and attitude, interpersonal influence, and green purchase intention/behavior emerged as the most significant factors. The study establishes two important clusters of green consumers, that is, "Green Dads"-generation Y males and "Green Janes"-generation Z females, with social media marketing and subjective norms as the most influential factors in discriminating between these two clusters. This research magnifies the importance of profiling customers based on demographics, psychographics, behavioral variables, and external marketing cues. The varied combinations of factors concerning ecological behavior imply the focus on micro variables by marketers, hence promulgating the projected granularity of green market segmentation and consequential consumer behavior.