Nearly four in 10 American say they are dedicated to buying green products and services (ie either “almost always” or “regularly” buy green products) – which is a 6 percentage point increase over 2012 results, and equates to about 93 million Americans. Green purchasing continues to be driven by young adults (aged 18-34) and Hispanics; about half of respondents in these groups report that they at least regularly seek out green products.

However, those same young adults, or Millennials, may take less personal responsibility for the current state of the planet and instead shift the onus of responsibility to companies that have profited from years of unsustainable business practices. They are more likely than those aged 35+ to be interested in companies’ green practices and they are also more likely to avoid a company with a poor environmental record.

This report closely examines the state of the green market, including demographic factors such as income, race, and age that impact consumers’ perception of the green products and services. Topics such as attitudes about the green movement, changes in green purchasing, reasons for green purchasing, and the impact of environmental practices on service choices are also covered.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Marketing to the Green Consumer – US, March 2013 as well as the April 2012 report of the same title. Readers of this report may be interested in the analysis presented in Mintel’s Green Marketing – US, April 2011 as well as the April 2010 and May 2008 reports of the same title, and Green Living – US, February 2011 as well as the February 2010, January 2009, and February 2008 reports of the same title.

Historically, Mintel defines green practices as those that include any efforts by companies to reduce the negative environmental impact of their business. Green products are defined as goods and services that minimize the impact to the environment in one or more of the following ways:

• via the use of recycled materials

• via the absence or reduction of harmful chemicals and solvents

• via the use of organic/pesticide-free farming methods

• via reduced energy and/or water consumption

• via the use of forestry products from sustainable woods

• via products that create less waste/pollution.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel refers to a green business as one that considers profit as merely one part of a triple bottom line – one that emphasizes people, the planet, and profits.

Green consumer segments are used in this report, and they are defined as:

Value figures throughout this report are at rsp (retail selling prices) excluding sales tax unless otherwise stated.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer attitudes and behaviors toward green marketing and the green movement in general. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in January 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire US adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in the survey results. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers