Analysis of Canadian Consumer Spending Patterns towards Green Products

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the consumer behavior towards purchasing environmentally-friendly or "green" products from marketing analysis and consumer price sensitivity standpoints. The experimental methodology in this paper is based on statistical analysis of the survey questionnaire results and in-depth interviews with Canadian consumers. This paper indicates that a majority of consumers see added-value for environmentally-friendly products. The spending patterns are studied for different product price groups across customers of different age and genders. Moreover, analysis of the consumer price-sensitivity results for green alternatives and different product categories, it demonstrates that the consumers attribute higher importance to the green products that have more individual monetary benefits over the ones with more social and environmental benefits such as biodegradable products. Adding the "green" dimension to original purchasing decision-making triangle of price -- quality -- brand, the findings of this paper illustrate on how the consumer behavior and priorities would differ for lower-end household items compared to more expensive products such as appliances and electronics.