The Green Consumer - Market Research Report

Green Event
Final Report
Researchers:
May Abughazalah
may.i.ag@gmail.com
Shital Kadakia
smkadakia@usfca.edu
Erin Lanphier
elanphier@gmail.com

Date:
December 5, 2011

Recipient:
Nanette Leuschel

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Table of Contents

Introductory Remarks 3
Section A – Focus Group Findings & Interpretations 4
Focus Group Summary 4
Focus Group Findings 4
Focus Group Interpretations 9
Section B –Survey Findings & Interpretations 11
Survey Summary 11
Survey Findings 12
Survey Interpretations 14
Section C– Recommendations 21
Appendix 26
Appendix A – Focus Group Questions 26
Appendix B – Focus Group Key Quotes 27
Appendix C – Limitations 30
Appendix D – Survey Questions 31
Appendix E – Survey Respondent Demographics - Customer 37
Appendix E – Survey Respondent Demographics – Non-Customer 41
Appendix F – Greenness Level Calculation Methodology 45
Appendix G – Website Technical Analysis and Recommendation 46
Appendix H – Non-customer Survey Definitions of Environmentally 48
Friendly Products

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Introductory Remarks
Green Event is a San Francisco-based online retailer and wholesaler of compostable plates, cups,
utensils and napkins. The company was founded by Nanette Leuschel and John Oppedahl in February
2008 and since March 2009 is solely owned by Nanette. The company’s mission is to “play a small part
in advancing the green movement; address global warming by offering ‘disposables’ made from plants
rather than plastic; and divert organic waste away from ocean litter and landfills and into compost”.

The retail operation is Green Event and the web address is www.greenevent.biz or
www.greeneventshop.com. Through the website, consumers can purchase a la carte products or
reception, wedding and picnic packages. The website features product information, ordering
capabilities, a blog and other educational information about the environment. Products can be shipped
to customers via United Parcel Services ground service or made available for local pickup at their San
Francisco warehouse. Green Event also has a Facebook fan page and utilizes Constant Contact as their
e-newsletter that contains announcements and environmental blogs and articles.

Green Event has a customer list of about 344 individuals and organizations. However, no customer
analysis had been performed. Based on customer information collected at the time of sale, and
provided for preliminary analysis, the following information was determined:
● Individual customers:
○ Approximately 314 individual customers purchased from Green Event and only 6% or 18
were repeat customers.
○ 24 customers live in the city of San Francisco (this group became our customer contact
list for the focus groups).
○ About 28% of individual customers live in California indicating that majority of her
customers live outside of California in about 30 states.
● Organizations and foundations:
○ The organizations and foundations list had about 30 customers with about one third or
10 repeat customers.
○ A little over half of these customers were in California with 53% or 16
organization/foundation customers and the remaining came from about 13 other
states.
No demographic or other information is known or available to Green Event and thus there was no clear
understanding of which Green Event customers are, their product preferences and concerns nor their
attitudes and behaviors toward environmentally friendly products. The purpose of our research was to
understand these questions about Green Event customers and to develop a customer and target market
profile.

This report contains the findings and interpretations based on focus group interviews and online
surveys, which were conducted and analyzed by our team as part of a project for an MBA Marketing
Research Class. We conducted focus group interviews to determine the behavior of consumers
regarding environmentally friendly products. From the study we gained insight into the attitudes,

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knowledge, values and beliefs of green-minded consumers and developed a greenness scale to
distinguish between these differences. We then conducted an online survey to further refine our
understanding of consumers and the differences between Green Event customers and non-customers.

Note: Go Mega Green is a division of Green Event that sells the same compostable products in bulk
quantities. This sister website (GoMegaGreen.com) and company were not part of our study or analysis.

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SECTION A – FOCUS GROUP
FINDINGS & INTERPRETATIONS:
Focus Group Summary
The purpose of the focus group was to gain insight into the attitudes (values/beliefs, knowledge and
behaviors) toward environmentally friendly products, specifically compostable products. Through the
focus group, we sought to develop a profile of the Green Event customer and better understand the
customers’ purchasing behaviors.

For our focus group, we targeted both Green Event customers (SF Bay area customers) and green-
minded participants from our personal networks. We conducted two focus groups (each with 4
participants) in a conference room at the University of San Francisco. Additionally, we conducted two
individual phone interviews. As a thank you, participants received samples of Green Event products.

Our questioning route opened with general questions on environmentally friendly products and
narrowed down to specific questions about compostable products. The questions were unstructured to
encourage conversation among the participants. Additionally, we posed a scenario to understand their
decision making process and underlying buyer behaviors.

Our findings centered around three key themes: 1) product knowledge and awareness 2) values and
beliefs and 3) consumer purchase behaviors.

Focus Group Findings
We organized our findings around three key themes 1) product knowledge and awareness, 2) values and
beliefs 3) consumer purchase behaviors. We provided illustrative quotes where relevant.

1. Product Knowledge and Awareness
We categorized our focus groups’ knowledge and awareness findings into environmentally friendly
products and compostable products. We grouped these findings based on how participants defined
these products, the types of products used and how they gained knowledge about these products.

Environmentally friendly products
All participants in the focus groups were aware of environmentally friendly products.

Definition:
Participants had a wide range of words and phrases to define an environmentally friendly product. The
most frequently mentioned words included: recycled, reusable, recyclable, compostable, energy
efficient, and organic.

One participant defined environmentally friendly products by the designation on the package or product
- “any product with an eco-mark.”
Other less frequently mentioned words and phrases included: biodegradable, “no harm to the
environment”, non-toxic, chemical free, sulfate free and “products that contained minimal packaging”.

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Products:
Cleaning products, household and personal items and organic food were the most commonly purchased
environmentally friendly products.

Eco-friendly brands mentioned by participants included national brands such as Method, Seventh
Generation, Whole Foods, and Starbucks.

One participant also mentioned organic clothing as a product occasionally purchased but also made it
clear she was “not entirely sold on it, I feel like it has a huge water impact that may not be balanced out
by the other things.”

Sources:
Knowledge about environmentally friendly products was acquired through various sources:
● Personal sources: Recommendations from family, friends and trusted coworkers.
● Commercial sources: Local restaurants, hardware stores (Fredericks and Cole’s) and local
grocers (Rainbow and Whole Foods) that advertise locally grown or sourced products, product
packaging and point-of-sale displays.
● Public sources: websites (Treehugger.com), blogs, newsletters, advertisements, books, specialist
magazines, San Francisco municipal programs, logo or city law and dwelling requirements
helped deepen awareness of products as well as environmental impacts.
● “I have always been concerned about trash and the volume of trash that is created. It was
probably when San Francisco as a municipality started to encourage composting – individual
residential composting and composting in public places (individual bins, restaurants, take-
out containers).”
● Experiential sources: handling, examining and personal experience with products.
● Work Environment: For two participants, their job influenced the depth of their knowledge.
Both worked for environmentally focused entities and their views expressed demonstrated
their level of consciousness and active involvement in how they lived and purchased or not
purchased goods.

Compostable Products
All participants in our focus groups were aware of compostable products but several did not have an
understanding of the various product types, ingredients, sourcing, benefits and availability.

Definition:
A few participants defined composting as “the green bin” and something that Starbucks and the
cafeteria does. Other descriptions included biodegradable and “it turns into fertilizer”.

Product:
Most participants did not view compostable as a product but rather food scraps that are thrown away in
composting bins.

A few participants were aware about dinnerware and flatware and compostable bags.

Two participants were customers of Green Event and had previously purchased compostable
dinnerware and flatware.

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Knowledge:
Knowledge about composting was varied and gained through a variety of sources:
● Family: One participant learned about composting from his mother
● Personal Experience: Starbucks was one vendor specifically mentioned as practicing composting
since they have implemented compost bins in their shops. Others mentioned the cafeteria and
local restaurants that provide compostable plates and utensils. A couple of participants stated
that they currently or had previously composted on their own.
● “If I see someone else not compost correctly I will fish stuff out of the compost.”
● One participant expressed confusion - “it’s really confusing to me.”

Similarly, knowledge about compostable dinnerware was varied and gained through a variety of sources.
● A few were aware that compostable dinnerware could be made from corn, starch and sugar
cane.
● A couple of participants had experience using compostable dinnerware in restaurants and found
the utensils and straws easily breakable (some demonstrated this after receiving sample
products).
● A few participants that were aware of plates and utensils were surprised to hear from other
participants that clear cold beverage cups can be made from compostable material.
● One participant provided an explanation of the different numbering designations on plastic
products.

2. Values and Beliefs
Our focus group questions were designed to gain insight into our participants’ values and beliefs they
held for the environment.

All participants expressed concern for the environment.
● “I care”
● “It’s something I personally believe in”

Several participants expressed the belief that they have some degree of personal responsibility to take
care of the environment.
● “If I buy eco-friendly products I feel less guilty”

A majority of the participants believe that engaging in environmentally friendly behaviors helps the
environment.
● “When I purchase eco-friendly products I feel like I have done something to help the green
movement”

Several participants expressed that engaging in environmentally conscious behaviors was personally
satisfying.
● “I feel like I have done something good when I purchase eco-friendly products…”

Several participants believe that environmentally friendly products benefit their health.
● “It benefits my health and gives me other private benefits”
● “It benefits my health because when I buy something that is non-toxic, it is healthier for me”
Those with family, friends or colleagues who actively engage in environmentally friendly behaviors
expressed that this was a positive influence on their values and behaviors towards the environment.

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3. Consumer Purchasing Behaviors
In the focus group, we presented a scenario where the participants were planning a picnic for friends
and family. Their role was to provide the dinnerware and utensils for the picnic. We asked them to
describe their process of acquiring these products. In addition to the scenario presented, we asked
them about their purchasing behaviors towards environmentally friendly products.

Our behavioral findings are categorized into the 5 stages in the consumer decision process:
1. Problem recognition - perceiving a need
2. Information search – seeking value
3. Evaluation – assessing value
4. Purchase decision – buying value
5. Post-purchase behavior – value in consumption or use

1. Problem recognition - perceiving a need
The buying process starts with recognizing a problem or need (e.g. I need utensils and I need plates for
the picnic) or responds to a marketing stimulus (e.g. you pass Starbucks and are attracted by the aroma
of coffee).

Generally, our participants purchased environmentally friendly products on an as-needed basis.
● When they had run out of the particular product (generally applied to household goods – paper
products, personal care, cleaning products, food)
● When they were in need of a new appliance
● When they need supplies for a particular event

2. Information search – seeking value
Our findings related to where participants obtained information on environmentally friendly products
are noted in the section “Product Knowledge and Awareness” above.

3. Evaluation – assessing value
Participants cited a wide range of objective attributes to assess the value of environmentally friendly
products including: product quality and durability, product ingredients, product source, packaging (how
the product was packaged and shipped) and whether the product was recycled, recyclable, compostable
and/or biodegradable.

From a subjective standpoint, several participants expressed emotive value toward environmentally
friendly products (refer to the section Values and Beliefs above).

Of the participants who were aware of the difference between recyclable and compostable products,
the majority stated they would purchase compostable over recyclable primarily because of the
resources required to recycle.

Several participants noted they were concerned with the amount of energy used to produce
compostable products.
● “ I will prefer compostable because when you recycle you use other resources to treat it but
compostable products have only one cycle to treat”
● “ Recycled needs to be sorted then collected then treated so it involves more processes”

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One individual stated she would avoid purchasing compostable products made out of edible foods.

It should be noted that two participants with superior environmental impact knowledge stated they
would chose to bring reusable plates and utensils rather than purchase compostable products because
reusable products were least impactful to the environment.

4. Purchase decision – buying value
For the majority of participants, the decision to purchase an environmentally friendly product was most
frequently influenced by price, convenience and availability.

For a few individuals, price did not factor into the decision to purchase an environmentally friendly
product.
● “If the prices are the same or close I would prefer to buy the greener product because it makes me
feel good”

Most participants cited that they prefer to purchase products available locally rather than purchase the
products online. However, if the products were not available in the store(s) they frequent, they would
be open to purchasing the product online.

A few respondents were particularly concerned with product ingredients. For one individual, if the
product were made with ingredients that could be used as a human food source (e.g. corn) the
individual would not purchase the product. Another participant would not purchase the product if the
product ingredients were not disclosed.

Product packaging (the type and amount of materials used to package the product) significantly
influenced the decision to purchase a product for a few participants.

Additionally, several participants were able to recall particular brands (Method, 7th generation) they
regarded highly. They were willing to pay a bit more for these products and would either wait until the
product was in stock locally or would purchase the product online.

5. Post-purchase behavior – value in consumption or use
The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. Generally, the decision not to purchase a
particular environmentally friendly product again or the intent to seek an alternative was based on the
performance – quality and durability of the product.

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Focus Group Interpretations
Our findings suggested that our participants, as consumers, fell across four levels of “greenness” based
on their knowledge, feelings and behaviors toward environmentally friendly products and activities.
Based on our interpretations, we developed a profile of the consumer’s purchasing behavior toward
environmentally friendly products.

Four Levels of Greenness:
Level 1 - Oblivious Consumer
Level 2 - Conceptually Aware Environmental Consumer
Level 3 - Occasional Environmental Consumer
Level 4 - Environmental Activist

The Level 1 Oblivious Consumer has a basic knowledge of environmentally friendly products and
behaviors such as recycling but does not actively seek additional information or consciously purchase
environmentally friendly products. We did not have Level 1 consumers in our focus groups.

The Level 2 Conceptually Aware Environmental Consumer values the environment and does not
want to cause harm to the environment. This consumer does not consciously seek out and purchase
environmentally friendly products. On occasion, this consumer engages in environmentally friendly
activities such as recycling, water and energy conservation and using public transportation. However,
the lack of environmentally friendly product knowledge accounts for the gap between the Level 2
consumer’s values and behaviors (why the Level 2 consumer does not consciously purchase
environmentally friendly products).

The decision to purchase a particular product (environmentally friendly or not) is primarily determined
by: a) price and b) convenience and availability. Use of environmentally friendly products is primarily
limited to third-party provided products (e.g., compostable take-out containers and flatware, Starbucks
coffee cups, etc.) When they do purchase environmentally friendly products it is because the product
was available at the point of purchase and priced similarly to alternative products. Environmentally
friendly product attributes (e.g., recyclable, made from recycled material, compostable, biodegradable,
etc.) are not factored into the purchasing decision. It is highly likely that the Level 2 consumer would
not appropriately dispose of compostable products.

The Level 3 Occasional Environmental Consumer consciously values the environment, understands
the negative impacts humans have on the environment. This consumer regularly engages in
environmentally friendly activities such as recycling, water and energy conservation and using public
transportation. This consumer periodically purchases environmentally friendly products and has likely
replaced a number of common household products with environmentally friendly alternatives.

This consumer has an above average knowledge of environmentally friendly products. Brand is
important to this consumer and will impact their purchasing decision. Some purchases are motivated by
this consumer’s desire to be “hip” and “trendy”. To gain product knowledge, this consumer first looks to
personal recommendations and word of mouth over commercial resources. Occasionally this consumer
will research environmentally friendly companies, brands or products. Traditional marketing efforts may
prompt this consumer to try the product and/or research more about the product.
The decision to purchase an environmentally friendly product is primarily influenced by: a) quality, b)
availability/convenience and c) price. The consumer will choose the environmentally friendly alternative

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if one of a similar price is available and convenient. The primary product attribute considered when
evaluating a purchase is quality. Environmentally friendly product attributes (e.g., recyclable, made
from recycled material, compostable, biodegradable, etc.) are taken into consideration but would not
necessarily be the decisive factor in a purchasing decision.

The Level 4 Environmental Activist Consumer is very passionate and highly concerned with the
environment. This consumer has superior knowledge about environmentally friendly products and
habitually engages in environmentally friendly activities (recycling, composting, water and energy
conservation, use of public transportation, etc.). This consumer thinks about the environmental impact
of every action, and will choose the most environmentally friendly approach.

This consumer regularly researches environmentally friendly products using a wide variety of resources.
This consumer has replaced a significant number of common household products with environmentally
friendly alternatives. This consumer will continue to purchase environmentally friendly products on a
consistent basis and will switch brands only if a more environmentally friendly alternative is found.
Often the environment is a dimension of this consumer’s employment.

For this consumer, purchasing decisions are made with a high degree of perceived relevance and
personal importance as well as an extensive evaluation process. This consumer will research the
environmental effects of products prior to purchase and choose the environmentally friendly alternative
regardless of price. Product attributes are the primary factors(s) in a purchasing decision. Note
however that product attributes considered encompass the entire product lifecycle (source, ingredients,
production methods, packaging and distribution). Traditional marketing efforts will likely have little to
no influence on purchasing decisions unless the message is regarding environmental impact
improvements that catches the buyer’s attention.

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SECTION B – SURVEY FINDINGS &
INTERPRETATIONS:
Survey Summary:
The survey was intended to deepen our understanding of the green-minded consumer and develop a
customer and market profile. Green Event customers and non-customers were surveyed in two
separate surveys using Constant Contact.

The results from our customer respondents show that the typical Green Event customer is a Non-
Hispanic/White female, between 41 to 50 years old, with an undergraduate degree and either works in
business or is retired and lives in the Bay Area. Additional customer findings include education and
income levels between male and female customers where in both cases; men were more highly
educated and earned more than female customers.

We were able to study respondent’s green-mindedness and developed a psychographic profile of three
of our four greenness levels. The survey results suggest that Green Event customers are primarily Level
4 while non-customers are Level 3 and Level 2. Our findings present a significant opportunity for Green
Event to target the Level 2 and Level 3 customer. Consumers in both Levels are aware of
environmentally friendly products and are more likely to purchase them if they are of good quality,
convenient and comparably priced to traditional products. Level 3 customers are more likely to
purchase Green Event products than Level 2.

Respondents’ knowledge came from several sources including: family, friends, websites, blogs, and point
of sale. A significant difference noted between customers and noncustomers was the sources of
environmental information customers used. We found that customers tend get such information from
magazines and newsletters. We think Green Event can appeal to the Level 2 and Level 3 potential
customer by allowing casual browsers to join the newsletter mailing list, advertising on other
environmental sites and partnering with other environmental bloggers.

We found that noncustomers shop more frequently at large grocery stores, health food stores and
convenience stores rather than online. While Green Event is based online, there may be an opportunity
to advertise at local health food stores.

Types of Questions Asked
Our survey had 23 questions that encompassed ranking, rating, sorting, choice and category scale tools
to learn about consumer’s attitudes across the following categories:
● Green Values and Beliefs (affective)
● Green Product Awareness and Knowledge (cognitive)
● Consumer Behavior (behavioral)
● Demographic Questions

(Refer to Appendix D, for Survey Questions)

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Survey Findings:
Survey Respondent Demographics
Please refer to Appendix E for detail on all customer and non-customer survey respondents.

Product and Place Attributes

Product:
In order to understand the customers and noncustomers’ behavior towards compostable products, we
asked them to identify 3 of the most important attributes that they would consider important when
purchasing such products, amongst a list of various attributes. Below is a list of the attributes they had
to choose from:

● Brand
● Compostable
● Convenience/availability
● Ingredients
● Price
● Product Packaging
● Quality/Durability
● Style (color, size, shape)
● Source (where the products were made)

The results were as follows:
Non-
Attributes Customers
Customers
Brand 2 3
Convenience 6 16
Ingredients 9 4
Price 5 15
Product Packaging 3 9
Quality/ Durability 8 10
Style 4 2
Source 6 4
Other 2 0

Place:
When it came to place, we wanted to understand, the places that were the most common, when buying
compostable products. We gave our respondents a series of physical and virtual places where they had
to pick the top 3 most common places they shopped. Below is a list of places they had to choose from:

● Large Grocery Stores
● Big Box Retailers/Superstores
● Local Bodega/ Community store
● Membership Warehouse
● Convenience Store

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● Green or Health Food Grocery
● Online
● I Do Not Purchase
● Others

The results were as follows:
Locations Customers Non-Customers
Large Grocery Stores 14 32
Big Box Retailers/Superstores 4 22
Local Bodega/ Community store 5 9
Membership Warehouse 2 7
Convenience Store 0 11
Green or Health Food Grocery 16 17
Online 8 12
I Do Not Purchase 0 2
Others 1 4

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Survey Interpretations

Green Event Customer Profile

The following are the key findings from Green Event Customer respondents.

Respondents: Majority are female (65%).

Age: Majority are between 51 to 60 years. However, majority of female customers are younger than
male customers. Female customers are between 41 to 50 years old while most male customers are
between 51 to 60 years old. There were no customers below the age of 36.

Ethnicity: Almost all customers are Non-Hispanic White.

Education Level: All Green Event customers are highly educated and majority obtained at least an
undergraduate degree. Male customers are more highly educated than female customers.

Occupation: Majority of customers were split evenly between business, professional services and
retired. The dominant female occupation was in business or retired while professional services were the
dominant occupation for males. Females also held a wider range of occupations overall.

Income: Household income levels varied widely among customers. Majority of customers earned
between $50K to $99K followed by earners of income between $100K and $149K and over $200K.

The Typical Green Event Customer Profile: Based on survey respondents, a typical Green Event customer
is a Non-Hispanic/White female, between 41 to 50 years old, with an undergraduate degree and either
works in business or is retired. She also earns between $50K and $99K and is a Level 4 on the greenness
scale (see below).

Greenness level
See Appendix F for calculation methodology for greenness level. After calculating all the respondents’
results and matching their results to the four categories in order to determine each respondent’s level
of greenness, we found the following interesting results:

Green Event's customers have a high level of greenness since the majority of respondents (64%)
obtained a Level 4 in their environmental friendly attitude (Refer to graph below). As for the non-
customers we notice a slight decrease in the dominating level of greenness with Level 3 occupying the
majority of their respondent's level.

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Greenness Level
Non-Customer Customer

Total 46 20
LEVEL 4 8 14
LEVEL 3 26 6
LEVEL 2 12
Level 1 0 0

We can interpret from this data that Green Event's customers have a higher sense towards practicing a
green lifestyle than the non-customers. Yet, non-customers still obtained a considerably high level of
greenness overall, since the majority scored a level 3 in greenness.

We also notice that neither group had a level 1 oblivious consumer, which means that overall both
groups have a considerably high level of awareness and practice in environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Compostable Product Attributes

Attributes
We asked respondents to choose the top 3 attributes they consider when purchasing a compostable
product. The findings are:

Other

Source

Style

Quality/ Durability
Non Customers
Product Packaging
Customers
Price

Ingredients

Convenience

Brand

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Brand plays the least important role in influencing the purchasing behavior for both customers and non-
customers.

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Overall, ingredients, quality/durability, source and convenience are the top factors that influence
purchasing decisions for customers. For non-customers, the top factors that influence purchasing
decisions were convenience, price, quality/durability and product packaging.

Customers care most about ingredients while non-customers place little emphasis on ingredients.

Quality

Composting Product Quality
Perception
No Opinion

Well Below Average

Below Average

Average
Non Customers
Above Average Customers

Well Above Average

0% 20% 40% 60%

With respect to quality, responses are divided between non-customers and customers. Non-customers
do not perceive compostable products to be of high quality. 50% of respondents ranked quality as
average and 30% had no opinion about the quality. We can interpret from this that since non-customers
are not very familiar with compostable products, they might either have no response or rank it
according to their perception.

On the other hand, 65% of customers rated compostable product quality as above to well above
average. From this result we can interpret that that their positive perception may be from experience
with Green Event products.

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Sources of Information

Total Source of Environmental Info.
Others 9
No info sought 15
Retail (POP) 32
Friends or Family 36
Schools 3
Groups 7 Number of Responses
Websites 35
Subscriptions 20
Blogs 12

0 10 20 30 40

Source of Environmental Info.
(Customer/Non-Customers)
Others
No info sought
Retail (POP)
Friends or Family
Schools
Groups Non-Customers

Websites Customers
Subscriptions
Blogs

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

The primary source of information on environmentally friendly products is from personal sources
followed by public sources such as websites and commercial sources. The source that varied most
between customers and non-customers is subscription magazine/newsletter.

Based on the data, we can interpret that Green Event customers are more involved in seeking
information from publications (magazine/newsletter subscriptions). This indicates that Green Event’s
newsletters and other publications are a great source of information for customers and should be
continued.

Furthermore, friends or family are also an important source of information and potentially influence for
both customers and noncustomers.

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Place

Others

I Do Not Purchase

Online

Green or Health Food Grocery
Non-Customers
Convenience Store
Customers
Membership Warehouse

Local Bodega/ Community
store

Big Box Retailers/Superstores

Large Grocery Stores

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

The two primary sources for environmentally friendly products for customers are large grocery stores
(70%) and green or health food grocery stores (80%).

Customers are more willing to shop online than non-customers. From these results we can interpret
that online shopping is not a very familiar source to purchase compostable products because it may not
be as convenient. Compostable products are usually used for occasional events such as picnics, family
barbeques, etc. These events are usually planned haphazardly, so people tend to go to the nearest
physical place to purchase for convenience and to save time. Online purchasing usually takes more time
for delivery and requires prior planning in order to receive the products on time.

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Age and Greenness Level

Age Distribution by Greenness Level
50 + 40 - 49 30 - 39 Under 30

55%
Level 4 18%
14%
14%
9%
Level 3 16%
47%
28%
8%
Level 2 0%
50%
42%

We found a strong relationship between age and greenness level. We found that the median and
average ages of our respondents increased with the greenness level. Additionally, the vast majority of
the Level 4 respondents were over the age of 40. Our findings support our hypothesis that the mean and
average age increases in with the greenness level because with age and related life changes (family,
education, relationships, employment) comes a greater awareness and knowledge of environmental
concerns and exposure to various environmental or green trends over time.

Income and Greenness Level

Income Distribution by Greenness Level
45%
42%
< $50,000
$50,001 to $99,999
25%
22%22% 23%
19% 19% $100,000 to $149,999
17% 17%
13% 14% $150,000 to $199,999
9%
6% 5% 5% > $200,000
0% 0%
No Answer
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

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We initially hypothesized that people with greater incomes (and thus more resources) would be more
likely to fall into a higher greenness level. However, we did not find a strong relationship between
income and greenness level. Respondents were distributed across all income levels. Our findings
suggest that household income level does not relate to an individuals’ greenness level.

However, we cannot draw any significant conclusions about the relationship between greenness level
and income because there are other socio-economic factors that may influence the relationship. For
example, based on our Level 4 respondents, it appears that those with smaller incomes are more
“green”. But, without considering the respondents’ age and occupation, we do not know if these
individuals are retired and therefore have a fixed income and/or alternative income sources.
Alternatively, 42% of the Level 2 respondents reported high-income levels (above $100K) yet; we know
that some of those respondents are students. One may hypothesize that students are also more likely
to score higher on the greenness level.

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SECTION C – RECOMMENDATIONS:
Based on the focus group and survey findings, Green Event has a tremendous opportunity to grow the
business. The results show that the typical Green Event customer is a Non-Hispanic/White female,
between 41 to 50 years old, with an undergraduate degree and either works in business or is retired and
lives in the Bay Area. She also earns between $50K to $99K and is a Level 4 on the greenness scale.
There is tremendous opportunity for Green Event to expand its target market to Level 2 and Level 3
individuals. These markets are green-minded individuals who value quality, convenience, availability
and price. We believe Green Event can address each of these needs with slight modifications between
each segment.

In order to maximize web traffic, we recommend using appropriate keywords such as recyclable, non-
toxic and biodegradable to market the business (see complete list of phrases in Appendix H). In
addition, Green Event should advertise on blogs and other green websites to drive further traffic.

Providing educational information on the Green Event website as well as with each product shipment
can help Level 2 and Level 3 customers properly dispose products and well as increase their overall
awareness. Level 4 customers actively seek out this information and not providing adequate and easily
accessible information on ingredients and sourcing of product may deter them from purchasing.

Level 2 and Level 3 buyers value convenience and availability and visibly advertising the option for local
customer pick up may be a huge attractive feature for potential Bay Area customers. This may also
incentivize Level 4 customers who are concerned over the carbon footprint of shipping packages.
Another way to make Green Event products accessible is to advertise in local health food stores where
noncustomers are more likely to shop for environmentally friendly products.

We believe Green Event is losing out entirely on a target customer – businesses. Because Green Event
does sell bulk products through Go Mega Green, we recommend it actively pursue relationships with
businesses (wedding/event planners, non-profit organizations, catering companies, event venues,
municipalities,) which are likely to purchase in bulk and make repeat purchases.

Below are additional recommendations. They are grouped into category recommendations and rated
for level of effort and impact. They dots reference the recommendation number and the color
references the categories in the table following the chart.

Our team thanks Green Event for the opportunity to work with them, for their cooperation in providing
customer access and for providing goody bags. We wish them the best of luck in growing their business
with a deeper understanding of their consumers.

22

Ref. Level of
#& Description Effort Impact
color
Website
1 1. Use search engine optimization (SEO) keywords from focus M H
group and survey findings to improve hit ratio – (Refer to
Appendix G for more details)
In order to optimize the content of your website you need to
ensure you give your valuable content the best chance
possible of drawing traffic from the web through capitalizing
on the following:
- The main taglines linked to your website are the
following: Eco Friendly Party Supplies | Compostable
Plates | Eco Friendly Coffee Cups | Earth Friendly
Disposable Flatware | Green Garbage Bags |
Environmentally Responsible Products. Our
recommendation is to optimize on simpler terms such as
compostable, biodegradable, environmentally friendly,
which appeared in the survey as key words to describe

23

Ref. Level of
color
- Linking domain: Your website is currently not linked to
any other website. A way to create traffic is to link your
website into other high traffic green websites such as
greenpeace.org, earthhour.org, treehugger.com, etc.

2  Add product reviews or customer testimonials to the website M M
3  Improve presentation of product information on website - L M
ingredient list, sourcing and disposal (improve user experience,
streamline, easier to find and read, etc.)
4  Provide information about how products are packaged and sent L M
to people
5  Provide additional links to environmental sites for customers to L M
learn more – organize, consolidate and make more reader
friendly
6  Use blog to show ideas where products can be used, displayed or L-M M
disposed
7  Post videos demonstrating quality, compostability and disposal L-M M
of products
8  Create all-in-one website (GreenEventShop.com) combining M-H M-H
mega green site with green event reduce costs (hosting,
maintenance and advertising), improve website analytics, save
time, drive more traffic to one site, etc.)
o Do not advertise GreenEvent.biz - .biz sites are generally
perceived negatively because spammers have used .biz
extensions. Additionally, most consumers do not think to
use a .biz extension and people looking for you at
GreenEvent.com find a totally different site.
o Redirect traffic from GreenEvent.biz and GoMegaGreen.com
to GreenEventShop.com
o Cancel hosting for GreenEvent.biz and GoMegaGreen.com
and redirect traffic from those sites to GreenEventShop.com
Business
9  Advertise in local stores, bodegas, grocers and “green” shops – M M-H
flyers posted on windows or available on counters
o Examples: Haight Street Market, Rainbow Grocers, Cole
Hardware, Party Planning Stores, Stationery Stores, etc.
10  Sell smaller packages of product in locally owned H H
shops/bodegas/grocers
o Grocers (Haight Street Market, Rainbow Grocers, etc.)
o Hardware stores (Cole Hardware)
o Paper or party planning stores
o Shops/businesses that cater to pick-nickers (Cowgirl
Creamery, General Store Healdsburg, etc.)
11  Participate in trade shows and expos for weddings, green events, M H

24

Ref. Level of
color
etc.
12  Target food trucks to be an exclusive provider of compostable H H
products
13  Target small caterers to be an exclusive provider of compostable H H
products
14  Advertise on blogs and other green websites - current customers M M
are already engaged in these sites and advertising on them will
create brand awareness and drive traffic from non-customers
Branding
15  Introduce product labeling indicating products are compostable M-H L
(on the product itself – eg. Raised stamp)
16  Use branded label to increase product awareness and build L M
brand quality (on the product and packaging)
17  Offer option to customize product for special events (weddings, M-H L-M
birthdays, etc.) – e.g., hand stamping products
o Susty Party - http://www.sustyparty.com/pages/about-us
18  Create a catchy tag line for promotions – why? L L
o Green Event may be confused with other types of event
catering services
o Celebrate responsibly may be misconstrued with alcohol
consumption
19  Use branded label on packaging and products to increase L M
product awareness and build brand equity
20  Partner with green and/or party planning bloggers to have M-H M
product reviews or promote your product – may require free
product give-away in exchange for publicity
Customer Relationship Management
21  Implement customer relationship management initiatives such M H
as:
o Customer satisfaction surveys regarding on-line experience
(website design, navigation, and order placement, payment)
o Customer satisfaction regarding product (quality, durability,
satisfaction, receipt of product)
o Collect demographic information about customers more
frequently to better understand current customer and
monitor changes/shifts/trends over time
Note: strategies can be implemented with Social Media
22  Offer a percentage off on next purchase or referral code for L M-H
friends and family to expand market and customers
23  Leverage twitter to send out factoids on green habits, products, L L-M
party ideas, promotions, questions, etc.
24  Promote Green Event with Facebook Ads M M-H
o Build awareness: Reach a large audience with a widely

25

Ref. Level of
color
targeted ad campaign
o Drive sales: Offer special deals and giveaways in your ad
campaign to bring people to your website
o Grow you fan base: Encourage people to like your page by
offering valuable benefits for engaging
o http://www.facebook.com/business/ads/
o http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Optimization
_Guide_FINAL.pdf
25  Continue to leverage the Facebook site to host content (blogs, M L
articles, features

26

APPENDIX
Appendix A – Focus Group Questions
1. How do you define environmentally friendly products?
2. What types of environmentally friendly products do you purchase?
3. On average, how often do you purchase environmentally friendly products?
4. Who or what factors influence your decision to purchase environmentally friendly products?

Scenario
You are planning a picnic for friends and family, you must provide dinnerware and flatware.
Describe your process to provide dinnerware and flatware?
● Where would you purchase these products?
● What kinds of products are these? (Paper, plastic, compostable, recyclable, name brand,
whatever is on sale?)
● What would influence your decision to purchase these products?
● Would you purchase these products on-line? Why or why not?
● How did you learn about these products?
● What attributes would be important to you? (Color, size, customization)

5. What do you know about composting?
6. Do you compost?
7. What do you know about compostable dinnerware and flatware?
8. Assume now you have a choice between purchasing compostable or recyclable dinnerware and
flatware for your picnic– which would you choose and why?
9. Assume you have a choice between purchasing compostable or recyclable dinnerware and
flatware for your picnic, but can only purchase these products on-line – which would you choose
and why? (Is it “less green”, increased cost, convenience?)
10. What would make purchasing compostable dinnerware and flatware more attractive?
11. Is there anything else you would like to add or share about your purchasing behaviors or
attitude toward environmentally friendly products and companies?

27

Appendix B – Focus Group Key Quotes

Question # Participant Quotes

Q1 ● “Non-Toxic materials that create less waste”
● “Any product with an Eco mark”
● “Something that makes as low of an impact as possible on the environment...sulfate
free items or something that has a minimal amount of packaging”

Q2 ● “If the prices are the same or close I would prefer to buy the greener product
because it makes me feel good”
● “ If the price is the same I would buy a biodegradable product, because it will make
me feel better”

Q3 ● “The products are becoming more and more available but I do not consciously buy
them”
● “ The product are readily available, the more they are available the more I am
willing to buy”
● “ I buy two or three times a month”
● “Whenever possible ... it’s something I personally believe in so whenever there’s an
option for an environmentally friendly product, even if it’s a little more expensive,
that will be something that I get”

Q4 ● “It benefits my health and gives me other private benefits... I care”
● “When I purchase eco-friendly products I feel like I have done something to help
the green movement”
● “I feel better about myself when I buy environmentally friendly products”
● “It benefits my health because when I buy something that is non-toxic, it is
healthier for me”
● “For efficiency reasons and because I care about the environment”
● “If I buy eco-friendly products I feel less guilty”
● “ I don’t buy to many environmentally friendly products but I recycle”
● “It’s something I personally believe...”
● “I’m willing to pay a higher price for something that’s more environmentally
conscious especially if it’s something that focuses on the chain of the product”
● “When I buy something online if I don’t know how it’s going to be packaged,
sometimes I will bother calling them and asking them how this stuff comes”

Scenario ● “ I will see what is being served and accordingly I will base what is served with I will
need to buy”
● “It depends on how many people coming, if there are allot of people I would go to

28

Costco”
● “If there is a small number 5-6 I would get my own but if larger I would buy it”
● “ I would buy from the closest place”
● “Matching quantities is important when I make my decision”
● “Maybe for the glass, I would care about the color and shape, but others it’s not
really important”
● “I tell them to bring their own cups, bring your own mugs, bring your own bottled
water”

Q5 ● “I have always been concerned about trash and volume of trash that is created. It
was probably when San Francisco as a municipality started encouraging composting
– individual residential composing…and public places – individual bins and
restaurants.”
● “It’s really confusing to me”
● “I know the definition but I don’t know what to but there”
● “ It is a green bin”
● “Starbucks has a composting bin that I use”
● “My mom used to compost to grow vegetable at home”
● “Oh yeah….even if I have to pick apart something so I can put some of it in compost
and some of it in recycle or if I see someone else not compost correctly I will fish
stuff out of the compost”

Q6 ● “Well I know it takes a long time for it to compost…it does take a while to compost
because it does have a high environmental impact…but most of the compostable
stuff is made out of starch and it’s something that’s fairly unusable anyway …unlike
corn which is an actual viable food source some of the starch stuff uses other
byproducts that aren’t edible or usable so it also helps on that environmental
impact.”

Q7 ● “Ultimate criterion – it can be disposed in such a way that it is not around forever
in a landfill.”
● “I would choose compostable because what matters most to me, what I am
concerned most with is the end result – something that is not around forever.”
● “ I will prefer compostable because when you recycle you use other resources to
treat it but compostable products have only one cycle to treat”
● “ I would do recycle based on the principle of reusing the product”
● “ I have no idea which one to choose”
● “ Recycled needs to be sorted then collected then treated so it involves more
process”
● “ Compostable requires allot of research to come up with the product”
● “I think it’s better than buying something like plastic forks but at the same time, if
you do think about it, you can do something like buy metal flatware that’s just your

29

picnic flatware”

Q8 ● “Instinct is that it will be difficult to find these products in stores so I go online first.
Basically what I do is research it online and find out where to buy it.”

Q9 ● “ Functionality it should work the same as the normal product”
● “Just if I knew that it was not coming from food sources, that would be the only
thing for me it’s not even about price”

Q10 ● “ It’s not very easy to convince my wife to compost because its time consuming”
● “Because I enjoy nature and I have seen what harm toxic products do. It is a
minimal gesture I can do to contribute to help the environment”

Product ● “They break easily”
feedback ● “ Its low quality paper so its compostable”
● “ It’s not white that’s why its not recycled”
● “ The plate and cup are ok but the fork and knife are not good”

30

Appendix C – Focus Group and Survey Limitations
In conducting the focus groups and survey, we faced several limitations as respect to participants and
questions.
Participants:
Focus Group:
● In order to reach a minimum number of participants, we had to fall back on a couple of
convenient participants due to last minute cancellations.
● Additional participants may have added more perspective or support to our findings.
● Only two Green Event customers able to participate in the focus group. This is too small of a
representation to make conclusive recommendations.
● We may have gained additional insight if we could have conducted separate focus groups with
customers of Green Event and non-customers
● There were no Level 1 participants in any of our focus groups so the perspective of this
consumer is not accounted for in our findings. This may have been a result of our initial
screening.
● A few participants’ contradicted themselves throughout the focus group discussion and may
have been a result of the differing levels of environmental knowledge, awareness and behavior
of other participants in the focus group.
● Participants in the individual interviews may have given different responses if they were part of
the focus group.
● Not all participants were fully engaged in the focus group conversation.
Survey:
 Survey respondents comprised of our personal network of family, friends and colleagues.
 Respondents may not be a representative sample of the target population.
Questions:
Focus Group:
● Not all questions were consistently asked during every focus group or interview. This may have
contributed to gaps in our findings and biased our interpretations.
● Only one focus group had participants provide feedback on Green Event products. Since
physical attributes of the products were not explored with all participants, this may have limited
our findings regarding quality and durability of compostable products.
● The inexperience of interviewer(s) and affirmative reactions to participant responses may have
influenced responses by participants.
● Some questions were not very clear to participants and needed further illustration or
clarification through examples from the moderator.
Survey:
 Response errors by respondents are possible due to simple errors or misunderstanding or
misinterpreting survey questions.

31

Appendix D – Survey Questions
1. How do you define environmentally friendly products? Please provide a few words or attributes
that define or describe environmentally friendly products.

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

2. Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following:

ATTITUDES TOWARD Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
NATURAL RESOURCES Disagree Agree

I'd be willing to ride a bicycle or use
public transportation to go to work/school
to reduce air pollution.

I would purchase an environmentally
friendly car in my budget.

I try hard to conserve energy (use less
heat in the winter and use less air
conditioning in the summer.)

I strive to conserve water in my home.

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

3. Please indicate the frequency to which you participate in the following:

PRODUCTS Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never

I buy products in refillable or reusable
containers.

I read labels to see if contents are
environmentally safe.

I often buy products just because they
were safer for the environment.

I make a special effort to buy products
with environmentally friendly packaging.

I change my choice of product for
ecological reasons.

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------


32

KNOWLEDGE/AWARENESS Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree

I am aware of recycling programs in my
area.

I am aware of composting programs in my
area.

I understand the environmental phrases and
symbols on product packages.

I feel that I am very knowledgeable about
environmental issues.

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------


VALUES/BELIEFS Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Disagree Agree

I become upset when I think about the
harm being done to the environment.

Recycling is important to save natural
resources.

I believe composting will reduce pollution.

Recycling is too much trouble for me.

It is trendy to be environmentally friendly.

Keeping separate piles of garbage for
recycling and or composting is too much
trouble for me.

I think environmentalists exaggerate the
seriousness of environmental problems.

Most of the environmentally safe products
I use are too hard to find.

Composting is too much trouble for me.

I am very concerned about how climate
change will affect future generations.

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

33

6. Where do you get your information about environmentally friendly products? Please select your
top three (3) sources of information
○ blogs
○ subscription magazines/newsletter
○ websites
○ groups
○ school
○ friends or family
○ retail (at the point of purchase)
○ I don’t actively seek information on environmentally friendly products
○ other: ________________

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

7. Where do you primarily shop for environmentally friendly products? Please select your top three
(3) sources
○ large grocery store
○ local bodega/community store
○ convenience store
○ big box retailer/superstore
○ membership warehouse
○ green or health food grocery
○ online
○ I do not purchase environmentally friendly products
○ other:_________________

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

8. Of the following, which factors are most likely to influence your decision to purchase
environmentally friendly products? Please select your top three (3) or more factors.
○ Biodegradable
○ Brand
○ Compostable
○ Convenience/availability
○ Ingredients
○ Price
○ Product Packaging
○ Quality/Durability
○ Recyclable
○ Style (color, size, shape)
○ Source (where the products were made)
○ Other: _________________

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

9. Do you purchase environmentally friendly products online?
○ Yes
○ No
If respondent answered “no” skips to question 12

34

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------
10. How often do you purchase environmentally friendly products online?
○ Always
○ Usually
○ Sometimes
○ Rarely
○ Never

11. When searching on-line for environmentally friendly products, what search terms or key words
do you use? (open ended)

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

12. Do you know what composting is?
○ Yes
○ No


KNOWLEDGE/AWARENESS Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
COMPOSTABLE PRODUCTS disagree Agree

I feel that I am very knowledgeable about

I understand how to dispose of

I know where I can purchase compostable
products.

From a quality standpoint, do you Well Above Average Below Well No opinion
consider compostable products to be: above average average below
average average

14. Have you purchased compostable products?
○ Yes
○ No
○ I don’t know
If respondent answers “no or I don’t know, please skip to question 17

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

15. What kind of compostable products have you purchased?
○ compostable dinnerware (cups, plates, bowls, utensils/cutlery)
○ compostable bags (garbage, waste or shopping bags)
○ compostable paper (toilet paper, tissue paper, wrapping paper, paper towels)
○ compostable take-out containers
○ compostable other:________________

35

16. Of the following, what are the factors that influenced your decision to purchase compostable
products?
Please select your top three (3) factors.
○ Brand
○ Convenience/availability
○ Ingredients
○ Price
○ Product Packaging
○ Quality/Durability
○ Style (color, size, shape)
○ Source (where the products were made)
○ Other

---------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

17. What is your zip code

18. What is your gender?
○ male
○ female
19. What is your age? ________

20. What is your ethnic identity?
○ American Indian/Alaska Native
○ Asian
○ Black/African American
○ Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
○ Non-Hispanic White
○ Hispanic/Latino
○ Middle Eastern
○ I prefer not to answer
○ other: __________________

--------------------------------------PAGE BREAK --------------------------------------------

21. What is the highest level of education you have completed
○ some high school
○ high school diploma
○ some college/university
○ undergraduate degree
○ graduate or higher degree

22. What is your household income?
○ less than $50,000
○ $51,000 to 99,999
○ $100,000 to $149,999
○ $150,000 to $199,999

36

○ above $200,000

23. What is your occupation? (Select One)
○ Business
○ Education
○ Government
○ Nonprofit (community and social services)
○ IT
○ Professional Services (healthcare, engineering, etc.)
○ Agriculture (farming, fishing, forestry, etc.)
○ Service Industry (restaurant, hospitality, etc.)
○ Military
○ Arts, design, entertainment, sports
○ Student
○ Stay at home parent
○ Other: _____________________

37

Appendix E – Survey Respondent Demographics

Customer Demographics

Respondents: There were a total of 20 customer respondents that completed the online survey. Six
additional respondents only partially completed the survey and their results are not included. Of the 20
customer respondents, 65% are female with the remaining 35% are male.

Gender

35% Male
Female
65%

Age:

Green Event Customer Age
10
9
8
7
6
5 Female
4 Male
3
2
1
0
under 30 31 - 40 41 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 over 80

● Customer respondents’ ages ranged from 36 to over 80 years with female customers ranging 36
to over 80 years old while the age range of male customers is 49 to 70 years old.

38

● The average age of all customer respondents is 55.5 years. The average age of female customer
respondents is 54.2 years while the average age of male customer respondents is 58 years.
● The median age of all customer respondents is 56.5 years. The median age of female customer
respondents is 52 years and the median age of male customer respondents is 57 years.
● Majority of customers were between 51 to 60 years but majority of female customers were
younger than male customers, between the ages of 41 to 50 years compared to most male
customers where they ranged between 51 to 60 years old.

Ethnicity:

Ethnic Identity
5%

White
Hispanic/Latino

95%

● Almost all customers, 95%, identified themselves as Non-Hispanic/White. Five percent
identified as Hispanic/Latino.
● Sixty-five percent are female Non-Hispanic/White and 5% is Hispanic/Latino.
● All male customers are Non-Hispanic/White.
● Note, two customer respondents who specified their ethnic identity, as Caucasian were included
as Non-Hispanic/White in our results. An additional customer responded as European and they
too were included in our results as Non-Hispanic/White.

Education level:

Educational Level

50% 15%
Female
Male
25%
0%
5% 5%
Some Undergraduate Graduate degree or
college/university degree higher

39

● All customer respondents have at least a high school diploma.
● Five percent of customers attended some college and comprised only male customers
● Fifty-five percent of customers have obtained an undergraduate degree. Fifty percent of female
customers obtained an undergraduate degree compared to five percent of male customers.
● Forty percent of customers have a graduate or higher degree. Fifteen percent of female
customers obtained a graduate degree or higher compared to 25% of male customer
respondents.

Occupation:

Customer Occupations
30%
25%
20%
15%
10% Female
5% Male
0%

● Customer respondents were evenly split between their occupations in business, professional
services or retirement with 25% in each.
● The remaining occupational categories each had 1 customer respondent and were in education,
information technology, arts/sports/entertainment and stay at home parent.
● Female customers had a wider range of occupations where 15% each were in business or retired
and another 10% were in professional services. The remaining occupations noted by female
customers had 5% each in education; information technology, arts/sports/entertainment and
stay at home parent.
● Male customers were mainly in professional service, which accounted for 15%. The remaining
male customer respondents were evenly distributed between business and retirement with 10%
in each.

40

Income:

Income Levels
11%
less than $50,000
22% $50,001 to $99,999

34% $100,000 to $149,999
11%
$150,000 to $199,999
22%
above $200,000

● Two customer respondents (1 female and 1 male) did not disclose their income level. This
means only 18 out of 20 responses were recorded.
● Thirty-three percent made between $50K and $99K in household income.
● Twenty-two percent each who had incomes between $100K and $149K and over $200K.
● Eleven percent had incomes of less than $50K and $150K to $199K.
● Twenty-two percent of female customers had an income level of $50K to $99K followed by 17%
making over $200K. Eleven percent in each made incomes of $100K to $149K and $150K to
$199K. Only 6% of females made less than $50K per year.
● Eleven percent each of male customer respondents made incomes of between $50K to $99K
and $100K to $149K. Six percent each had incomes of less than $50K and over $200K.

Residence:
● Two customer residences could not be identified.
● Thirteen customer respondents live in the Bay Area and the remaining live in Washington or
Southern California.

41

Non-customer Demographics

Respondents: There were a total of 46 non-customer respondents that completed the online survey.
Partially completed survey results are not included. Of the 46 non-customer respondents, 57% are
female and 43% are male.

Gender:

43%
Male
57% Female

Age:
100%
90%
80%
70% 46%
50%
60%
50% Female
40% Male
30%
50%
20% 40%
0% 0%
10% 0% 4%
10% 0% 0% 0%
0%
30 and 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 80 over 81
under

Non-customer respondents’ ages ranged from 19 to 64 years old. The age range of female non-
customers is 21 to 64 years while the age range of male non-customers is 19 to 50 years old. The
average age of all non-customer survey respondents is 32 years. The average age of female non-
customer respondents is 32 years while the average age of male customer respondents is 33 years.
Majority of non-customers were under 40 years old for both female and male.

42

Ethnicity:

Ethnic Identity
4% 2%

18% Non-Hispanic/White
Asian
50% Middle Eastern
Did not answer

26% Hispanic/Latino

There was one non-customer respondent who specified their ethnic identity as Hispanic/White and was
included as Hispanic/Latino in our results. Taking this into account, non-customers were more ethnically
diverse than customers. Non-customers are mainly Non-Hispanic/White followed by Middle Eastern,
followed by Asian then Middle Eastern.

Education Level:

38%
46%

Female
Male
55%
45%
15%
0%
Some college Undergraduate degree Graduate degree or
higher

All non-customer respondents have at least attended some college and majority has an undergraduate
or higher degree. Similar to the customer respondents, more male customers had obtained a graduate
or higher degree than females.

43

Occupation:
100%
90%
80%
70% 50%
60%
50%
40%
30% Female
45% 12% 19%
20%
8% 4% 4% Male
10% 20% 4%
10% 10% 10% 5%
0% 0%

Majority of non-customers worked in business. This was followed by professional services, students,
and the service industry. A few non-customers each worked in information technology, the
government or were a stay at home parent. Female non-customer respondents were mostly in business.
This was followed by students and working in professional services. This compares to the customers
where majority of females either worked in business or were retired. Male non-customer worked in
business, service industry or were students.

Income Levels:

22%
27%
less than $50,000
$50,001 to $99,999
$100,000 to $149,999
$150,000 to $199,999
9%
22% above $200,000

20%

Twenty-seven percent of non-customers had household incomes over $200K. This was followed by 22%
in non-customers earning less than $50,000 and between $50K and $99K.

44

Residence:

Residence
2%
2%
4% 2%
California
5%
unknown/foreign
Colorado
8%
Maryland
51% DC
Illinois
26%
Michigan
New York

Twenty-six percent of non-customer residences could not be identified. Fifty-one percent of non-
customers respondents live in California (mostly in the Bay Area) and the remaining live in Colorado,
Maryland, DC, Illinois, Michigan and New York.

45

Appendix F –Greenness Level Calculation Methodology
In order to determine the level of greenness for each of our survey respondent customers and non-
customers, we used the definitions identified in our focus group results, and assigned a set of scores for
each level:

Level 1 - Oblivious Consumer (5 - 10)
Level 2 - Conceptually Aware Environmental Consumer (11 - 15)
Level 3 - Occasional Environmental Consumer (16 - 20)
Level 4 - Environmental Activist (21 - 25)

We then assembled all the questions in the survey that evaluated our respondents according to 5 areas
of environmentally friendly behavior: 1) Attitude towards natural resources (question 2) 2) Purchasing
behavior of environmentally friendly greenness level (question 3) 3) Knowledge and awareness about
environmentally friendly products (question 4) 4) Values and beliefs (question 5) Knowledge and
awareness regarding compostable products (question 13).

Each of the above questions were to be rated from 1 to 5, 1 having the least knowledge or usage rate
and 5 having the most knowledge or usage rate. Each question was also broken down into several
statements pertaining to the category being evaluated, and it was as follows:

● Question 2 had 4 statements with a maximum possible score of 20.

After calculating the total for each question, the result of that total would then be divided by the
number of statements in that question, which then resulted in a score from 1 to 5 for each question.
From this, the maximum amount a respondent would get from this greenness scale would be 25.
Each respondent’s score was calculated, and then evaluated according to the categories mentioned
above in order to identify their greenness level.

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Appendix G – Website Technical Analysis and
Recommendations:
A. Technical Analysis:
- Number of Objects: The total number of objects on this page is 26, which by their number
will dominate web page delay. Consider reducing this to a more reasonable number. Above
20 objects per page the overhead from dealing with the actual objects (description time and
wait time) accounts for more than 80% of whole page latency. See Figure II-3: Relative
distribution of latency components showing that object overhead dominates web page
latency in Website Optimization Secrets for more details on how object overhead dominates
web page latency. Combine, refine, and optimize your external objects. Replace graphic
rollovers with CSS rollovers to speed display and minimize HTTP requests. Consider
using CSS sprites to help consolidate decorative images. Using CSS techniques such as
colored backgrounds, borders, or spacing instead of graphic techniques can reduce HTTP
requests. Replace graphic text headers with CSS text headers to further reduce HTTP
requests. Finally, consider optimizing parallel downloads by using different hostnames or a
CDN to reduce object overhead.
- Total Number of Images: The total number of images on this page is 24; consider reducing
this to a more reasonable number. Recommend combining, replacing, and optimizing your
graphics. Replace graphic rollover menus with CSS rollover menus to speed display and
minimize HTTP requests. Consider using CSS sprites to help consolidate decorative images.
Use CSS techniques such as colored backgrounds, borders, or spacing instead of graphic
techniques to reduce HTTP requests. Replace graphic text headers with CSS text headers to
further reduce HTTP requests. Finally, consider optimizing parallel downloads by using
different hostnames to reduce object overhead.
- Total Website Size: The total size of this page is 113260 bytes, which will load in over 20
seconds on a 56Kbps modem - or 27.77 seconds on a 56Kbps modem. Consider reducing
total page size to less than 100K to achieve sub 20-second response times on 56K
connections. Be sure to provide feedback for pages over 100K by layering your design to
display useful content within the first two seconds. Consider optimizing your site.
- Image Size: The total size of all your images is 97377 bytes, which exceeds 50K.
Consider optimizing and creatively cropping your images, and combining them where
appropriate. Even better, replace graphic text and form controls with styled text to
eliminate unnecessary HTTP requests. Ideally each image should be less than 1160 bytes, to
easily fit into one TCP-IP packet.

B. Website Score Summary
Website Grade 80

Moz Rank 4.2
52
Indexed Pages
This number is the approximate number of pages
on www.greenevent.biz that are stored by search

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engines. Web crawlers for the major search engines
will visit the website periodically and look for new
content to index. Generally, the more pages found on
your site by search engines, the better.

Traffic Rank 11,224,242
Your website has an Alexa rank of 11,224,242 which is
in the top 36.09 % of all websites.

Blog Grade 73
Based on a measurement of the traffic levels to your
blog and the number and quality of links pointing at it.

Linking Domains Not Available

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Appendix H – Non-customer Survey Definitions of
Environmentally Friendly Products
recyclable
biodegradable
non-toxic
less paper, plastic, no chemicals, natural ingredients
All the products which don’t use tree as raw materials and are degradable and do not omit poisonous
gases are environment friendly products.
products that inflict minimal or no harm on the environment

Recyclable
Natural
Organic
No Toxin
Healthy
No pollution
Nontoxic, biodegradable
Company name, green brand, reputation
recyclable
recycled
no harm when disposed of
non-toxic
Natural ingredients, bio-degradable, re-fill or recycle packaging
don't make pollution, easy in recycling, help other products to be green
Products whose side effects do not have unintended environmental impacts.
Minimal impact to the environment during development, production and transportation. Manufactured of
components that are safe, biodegradable or recyclable using energy-efficient processes.
Products that do not harm the environment, reduce waste

Recyclable
Compostable
Organic
Non-toxic
Low carbon footprint
Evidence of low emissions, waste reduction, low water pollutants (or efforts to treat water) in the
product's production processes
Sustainable materials
Recyclable
Low quality
It can help the earth, save energy and with the solar system, and the pollution and the air we breathe.
help us live longer and stay healthier

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Environmental friendly for me is as follows:
a) recyclable
b) reusable
c) does not harm trees
d) does not pollute oceans/seas or air when manufacturing
e) Does not affect the natural habitat where animals live
(1) Sustainably produced
(2) Recyclable content (where applicable)
(3) Uses alternate (when applicable) components and ingredients to toxic or environmentally dangerous,
or environmentally scarce items.
Source: sustainable/renewable resources, non-toxic materials
Disposal: biodegradable
Minimal impact on the environment
Natural ingredients that won't cause harm to the environment either by their usage or disposal; also
ideally biodegradable packaging
clean, green, easy on environment
Green, clean, biodegradable, recyclable...usually don't work as well.
Products that do not harm the environment during production or use.
In my experience, eco-friendly products tend to have an unfortunate pairing of being simultaneously more
expensive and less effective. Per the latter point, recycled paper towels are less absorbent.
toxin-free, biodegradable, compostable, recycled
Recycled, biodegradable, green, multi-purpose
natural, organic, biodegradable, non-toxic
Non-toxic, safe for use around people & pets.
green
clean
earth-friendly
non-toxic
Products that are bio degradable. Without chemicals.
biodegradable packaging, organic, pesticide free, no hormones, recyclable,
anything that will not cause unnecessary waste causing pollution of any sort and made from natural
resources and not harmful chemicals would qualify as environmentally friendly to me
Products that reduce waste and are manufactured with consciousness.
Products like eggs that are sold in 100% recycled cartons. Eggs from farms grown on organic farms.
SAFE, NON-TOXIC, ODORLESS, GREEN, LOW CARBON IMPACT, LONG LASTING, LIMITED PACKAGING
Green... non-chemical. Natural. Anything that won't hurt the environment if I pour it on the lawn.
They are products that do not harm the environment or the person using them. They are free of toxins
and things that pollute the air or water.
Clean, pure, something that can go back into the environment post-consumer without having an impact
on the environment.
Low waste, minimum packaging, produced locally, nonhazardous to environment, production has low
impact to environment, natural ingredients

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Environmentally friendly products are those that do not hinder your health when you use them and are
made from natural sources. They are made in an efficient way and can be disposed of in an equally
efficient way.
Using recycled or reclyable materials. Using products that have lower emissions, energy usage or a smaller
carbon footprint than other alternative products
Products that take a minimal toll on the environment from sourcing materials, to how the product is
assembled, to how it is shipped, to its usage and disposal.
free of chemicals, dyes, other harsh additives
natural, naturally from the earth
doesn't take a lot of energy to make
minimal or no harm on the environment
- Comprised of recycle material
- doesn't harm environment with its waste (e.g., use of detergent doesn't harm the sewers, water...)
- reduces carbon footprint
Products that do not use harsh chemicals and where no damage has been done to the environment or the
people involved in the production of the product.

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