The attitude toward environmentally correct features of products as the basis for segmenting consumer markets

Abstract

In this study, the authors verified the use of the"attitude" variable concerning the environmentally correct attributes of consumer goods as the basis for market segmentation. A quantitative and descriptive research study was conducted based on a field study that relied on a non-probabilistic sample of students and professors selected on the basis of convenience at a university in São Paulo city (SP). These interviewees expressed their opinions by filling out a data collection questionnaire that was structured and disguised. The data analysis was based on the application of two multivariate techniques: Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The first enabled reducing the set of variables to two factors: Life Cycle and Economicity; the scores of these factors were used as Cluster Analysis input. This technique engendered clusters that led to a favorable conclusion concerning the researched issue. The results corroborated the initial expectations as to the possibility of obtaining clusters using the attitude toward products that have environmentally correct features.