How GreenAware are you?

Experian's latest classification system highlights variations in 'green' behaviour across the UK.

"GreenAware will help all organisations, public and private, understand consumer behaviour better, and help more people go green."

Peter Cummings, Director of Public Sector Solutions at Experian

Experian has launched GreenAware, the first accurate measure to map the relationship between household carbon emissions and green behaviours in the UK. GreenAware is the result of a unique collaboration between Experian and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). Combining SEI's expertise in carbon footprinting with Experian's consumer insight, GreenAware is designed to help organisations in the public, commercial and not-for-profit sectors improve how they communicate and deliver specific CO2 and energy efficiency initiatives.

Green Segments

GreenAware includes Green Segments, Experian's new green attitudinal classification. Green Segments classifies the UK population into 10 distinct groups according to attitude to, and understanding of, the environment and climate change. Each group can be mapped across the UK at individual, household and postcode level. Among the 10 Green Segments are Eco-Evangelists, people most likely to support 'green' causes and who believe in the power of consumer action to make a difference to climate change; and Wasteful & Unconvinced, people who have no interest in changing lifestyles and are more wasteful as a result.

By combining the SEI's carbon footprint measures with Green Segments, GreenAware provides organisations with the insight to create more effective green communications and, in the public sector, to help set realistic CO2 reduction targets and benchmarks at a local level.

Complex behaviour

GreenAware's analysis highlights the complexity of green behaviour in the UK:

• Analysis of postal sectors shows that the inhabitants of Rickmansworth have the largest carbon footprint per household. If we look at the average across Local Authorities, then Chiltern, South Bucks and Surrey Heath have the largest average household carbon footprint.
• The Local Authorities with the households with the smallest carbon footprints are Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Barking & Dagenham. However, although the least polluting, these areas also contain some of the highest numbers of Wasteful and Unconvinced consumers.
• The most affluent areas contain the most Eco-Evangelists, people most likely to support green causes and make a difference to climate change. However, these areas also include some of the highest polluters.

Dr John Barnett from the SEI, says: "GreenAware provides the evidence necessary for more effective action on climate control and for promotion of low carbon living. It enables us to accurately model levels of emissions at a household level as well as providing insight into different people's attitudes to the environment."

Peter Cummings, Director of Public Sector Solutions at Experian, says: "GreenAware offers a range of practical applications for organisations including person, household, postcode, geographic area-level targeting, area profiling and reporting, area ranking, benchmarking, catchment definition and mapping. This personalised approach provides the means for organisations from all sectors to communicate with different groups using specific measures and incentives. It also enables public sector organisations to set realistic CO2 reduction targets tailored for different segments of the population."

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