Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Project Charter 3 Deliverables 3.1 Not My Problem Norm 3.2 Ailing Alice 3.3 Family Fran 3.4 Brand-Loyal Barb 3.5 Penny Pincher Paul 3.6 Misinformed Mary + Informed Isaac 3.7 Convenience Carl 4 Survey Component

Executive Summary

This project focused on identifying the barriers for fifty-plus consumers to become more sustainable in the way they buy and use products. The challenge was to not only identify these barriers, but also to determine their interactions and means to overcome them.

Our Research process included, conducting expert interviews, a field trip to Rumpkee (waste management facility), store visits, and in-home interviews with consumers.

From this research we draw conclusions about the interaction of the different barriers determining two main categories with three sub-categories in each: extrinsic (Educational, Economical,Institutional) and intrinsic (Behavioral, Emotional, Physical). The sub-categories were dubbed the six{als}.

The result was the development of seven “personas” that represented the major barriers to sustainability for fifty-plus consumers expressed in an extreme way:

• Penny Pincher Paul (the economic barrier)
• Family Fran (the emotional attachment to the family as a barrier or motivation)
• Misinformed Mary and Informed Isaac (the relationship of the baby boomer consumers that have a lack of understanding and the influence of cross-generational relations)
• Convenient Carl (the attachment to practicality),
• Brand-loyal Barb (the emotional attachment and trust to certain brands),
• Ailing Alice (physical impediments),
• Not my-problem Norm (lack of engagement)
  

These personas could then be incorporated into a market research survey and the client would be able to determine what types of barriers their target market is facing, which can then be incorporated into the design process and business plan. As an example of the use of this tool we present Carol, a fictional character that represents some haracteristics of a real respondent. Then we create a package designed to overcome her specific barriers.

Project Charter

1. General Problem Statement
The sustainability Problem

• Sustainability has been a growing trend among companies and consumers due to a growing consciousness of an ecological imbalance that is threatening human existence.
• This trend has been communicated across different categories or products without a clear guideline “dissolving” the impact and importance of the message.
• There is a fraction of population that has been adopting sustainable behavior but there are still a lot of people that haven’t embraced this trend.

The baby-boomer component

• The current average age of the world population is continually increasing. Consumers age fifty plus are quickly becoming the largest consumer segment and will have a significant impact due to their high volume of consumption.
• It is important to understand how baby boomers are relating themselves to sustainability trends.
  

2. Goals for the Project
Produce a knowledge tool to help companies:

• Understand barriers and motivations to be sustainable for the 50 plus market
• To help Communicate sustainability to 50 plus market through products and services
• To help Engage the target in sustainable practices Sustainability meaning

1. What does sustainability mean to the fifty plus consumer? (language, lifestyle, value system)
2. What current things are fifty plus consumers doing to be sustainable?
3. What sustainable options are fifty plus consumers ignoring?
4. Through what channels of communication do fifty plus consumers learn about sustainability?
5. What institutional barriers exist that deters
6. What sustainable products do they see currently in the market?
7. How they differentiate sustainable product from not sustainable ones?
8. What marketing initiatives are companies currently employing to communicate sustainability to fifty plus consumers?
9. The impact and efficiency of these marketing initiatives

3. Scope and Boundaries

1. Consumers between ages 44 to 63
2. Focus on consumer package goods and food/beverages
3. We will center on Sustainability and not in other trends that may be related to the “green movement” like organic/natural food, fare-trade etc.
   
   

Deliverables

Character Component:
From our primary research and our six(als) chart we developed seven ways to group consumers’ behavior toward sustainability. From there, we developed personas based on the extremes of those barriers to better illustrate our information. With these seven characters, we will discuss their current sustainable behaviors as well as ways to reach each of them and consumers like them.

Survey Component:
We recognized that our characters represent the extremes of their specific barriers and that people are not just one persona but made up of a percentage of all of those personas together. The purpose of the survey is to utilize the personas to create a psychographic profile of a consumer, or a group of consumers. This will then enable companies to tailor sustainable business and design solutions to these particular consumer segments.

7 Barriers: How to group behaviors

• Responsibility
• Health
• Family
• Brand Loyalty
• Cost
• Misinformation
• Convenience
  

Not My Problem Norm

Norm's Story Not-My-Problem Norm goes to the store one day to buy laundry detergent for his machine. His last machine broke, so he and his wife had to buy a new one. They decided to buy the new front loader because they heard it would save them money on their water bill. His wife likes it because she can put more laundry in each load. So Norm was at the store to buy new detergent. He heard that he had to buy the HE Tide because that is all his machine would take. He is completely oblivious to the fact that his Tide is actually more concentrated, and therefore uses less energy to transport.

Norm’s Practices

• Buys the 2x Tide cause it’s the only thing available.
• Doesn’t care if his practices are sustainable, but buys products for quality, expense, or brand.
• Can have the sustainable characteristics of the other characters but does not do them because they are sustainable. For example, saving bottles.
  

How To Reach Not-My-Problem Norm

• Will buy a green product if it is offered and is his brand, it works well, or is cheap.
• Green products are not a main selling point for this user and they are skeptical
• Not-My-Problem Norm embodies the characteristic that it’s the company’s responsibility to make him green.
  

Consumer Behaviors that created Not-My-Problem Norm

• One consumer said that if companies had a greater ration of green products compared to non green products they would be forced to make the more sustainable choice.
• One consumer did not view it as her problem because she was not making that much of an impact driving her car places.
• Some consumers said they were skeptical of what “green” really means and they do not think it is really a problem.
• One consumer said marketers need stop using excessive packaging, but it is unavoidable for the consumer.
• One consumer said that the car manufacturers should make cars that pollute less.
• One consumer said if the companies made something in glass they would buy it instead of plastic but the companies are not currently doing that.
• Some consumers were stumped as to how they could help because they did not have the ability to make green decisions so they did not think it was their problem.
• One consumer used 2x Tide, but did not know it could be viewed as a sustainable solution, they just bought it because that’s what their washing machine takes.
• Some consumers said they were skeptical of green products and whether they would work or not.
  

      Consumer bought products to get the value out of them

     Consumers had sustainable behaviors because of other value

    Bought concentrated formulas because only they were available

Ailing Alice

Alice's Story When Alice finishes using a product and the package is empty, she is hesitant on whether or not to recycle it or just throw it away. It would be easier for her to just put it in the garbage can in her kitchen rather than to struggle down the stairs to get the recycling bin in her garage. Also, her recycling bin is starting to get a little too full this week and she knows that it will be difficult to carry to the curb because of her arthritis. Ultimately she decides simply to just toss the product in the trash.

Alice’s Practices

• Buys more concentrated formulas because the packages are easier for her to handle.
• She is open to using refills because it means she can buy in bulk and refill her smaller containers for everyday use, therefore only forcing her to struggle with the larger container once and not every time she wants to use the product.
• Saves and reuses smaller containers that she likes that are easier to use so that she can refill them later.
  

How To Reach Ailing Alice

• Continue to make more concentrated formulas so that she can keep using the smaller, easier to manage containers.
• Keep in mind the 50+ consumers with arthritis when designing packaging.
• Make sure the “green” products are the easiest to use, handle, and open so that consumers like Alice would be more likely to purchase them.
• Better recycling bin options
• Design a recycling bin with a lid that could be kept in the house in an easily accessible location, similar to current in-house garbage cans
• Design a recycling bin on wheels that could be easily transported to the end of the driveway despite consumer’s physical limitations
  

Consumer Behaviors that created Ailing Alice

• A consumer said that she had difficulty carrying her recycling bin out to the curb for pickup because it is too heavy and awkward. Her husband could not help her either because he got out of breath too easily due to a smoking related lung problem. As a result of this, the consumer simply recycled less so that the bin was not as heavy and she could actually get it to the curb.
• A consumer had difficulty going downstairs to get to her recycling bin, which was in her garage. Due to the hard to reach location, she tended not to recycle single items because it was too much of a hassle to make so many trips and she just did not recycle as much. She felt it was easier for her physically to just throw things in the trashcan in her kitchen.
• A consumer’s partner was going blind therefore they tried to save money by recycling cans so that they could use that money to see the world before he went completely blind.
• A consumer had arthritis in her hands and had trouble opening and handling larger packages/containers.As a result she would either buy products in smaller containers or buy products in bigger containers and then refill the smaller ones that she kept at home.
• This way she only had to deal with the large container once and not every time she wanted to use the product.
• A consumer had lower back problems.
• A consumer had had surgery on both of his hands and as a result had to learn how to do a lot of things with his left hand. Also as a result he had to wear clothes like sweat pants because he could no longer button up regular pants.
• A consumer was taking a lot of medication because of depression after the death of her husband.

    Recycling Bin with less in it

      Concentrated formula in a smaller container is easier to handle

    A trash can in the kitchen is more accessible than the recycling bin in

    the garage

Family Fran

Fran's Story Fran’s oldest grandson was diagnosed with type-one diabetes when he was 5 years old, a disease that does not run in their family. Since then both she has become extremely careful with what she feeds her children. Every time Fran goes grocery shopping she takes time to read the labels of the products to make sure there are no unwanted chemicals being added. She even researches what ingredients to look out for and avoid on the internet. The whole family now eats nearly 80% organic.

Fran’s Practices
• Eats organic but not as concerned about non-consumable products yet.
• Uses re-usable bottles not plastic water bottles.
• Uses re-usable bags.
• Knowledgeable about the ingredients in her products.
• Wants to keep the world around for her grandchildren.
• Recycles most things but does not completely understand what can and cannot be recycled.

How To Reach Family Fran
• Show her the connection between sustainability and the future of her family.
• Educate her about the benefits of certain products to her family.
• Use emotionally impactful and family oriented marketing message to communicate with her.

Consumer Behaviors that created Family Fran

• A consumer had a son that was diagnosed with type one diabetes when he was four years old and the disease did not run in her family so she believed it was an environmental factor that caused it. She now feeds her family a nearly 80% organic diet to try to ensure that it does not happen to her daughter.
• Several people bought individually packaged products to put in their children’s lunches for school.
• Many consumers expressed a desire to take care of the environment to make sure that world is still around for their children or grandchildren.
• One woman opted to walk and ride bikes instead of driving to help keep her kids active and healthy.
• Even though many consumers were empty nesters they still bought large amounts of food so that when their family came over they could all eat.
• A consumer knew all about what ingredients to look for in products to make sure to keep her children safe.
• A consumer bought separate “cute” soap for the kids to try to make it more fun for them to use.
• A consumer saved boxes just in case anyone in thefamily ever needed some.
• Many mentioned that their children or grandchildren gave them a hard time about recycling so they tried to do it to look good in their grandchildren’s eyes and not let them down.
• Several babysat their grandchildren or great grandchildren on a regular basis.
• One consumer did not refill plastic water bottles because she was afraid it would spread germs and make her family sick.
  

     Individually packaged products

    Saved boxes for moving

     Bottle for grandchild

Brand-Loyal Barb

Barb's Story Barb gets ready for her weekly trip to the grocery store. Kroger is where she goes of course, it is the only place she ever shops, because she knows it carries all of her trusted brands. She has already made her shopping list, which is exactly the same as last week but with the addition of Crest toothpaste. She begins at the fruit aisle, same as every week, picks out the same fruit, the same brands, and the same amount. She then goes to the dish soap aisle and picks up her Dusk, not even noticing the new bottle of eco-friendly soap right next to it. She will not even consider a new brand because she is so emotionally attached to her Dusk.

Barb’s Practices

• Will use a sustainable product if her brand comes out with one
• Will trust things, such as concentrated forms of her brand, but must be her brand
• Will not waste any of her product, because she values it so much
• Occasionally recycles.
  

How To Reach Brand Loyal Barb

• Make a sustainable product in this characters brand, and make it stand out. She is not going to switch brands and use a different sustainable brand, but if her brand does something sustainable she would try it.
• Make the new addition to the brand stand out in order to attract Barb’s attention.
• Make the products she already buys sustainable.
  

Consumer Behaviors that created Brand Loyal Barb

• A consumer loved the brand Dawn, and would not consider ever using another brand.
• A conusumer trusted Dawn when it was in a concentrated from, but not Clorox.
• A consumer was brand loyal when it came tocleaning products. She had a specific product for eacharea that she would clean, and was convinced her products were the only ones that would work.
• A consumer looked for coupons for name brand products.
• A consumer used all P&G products because he was a former P&G employee.
• A consumer used specific brands because her mother used them when she was growing up and she trusted the brand because her mother trusted it.
• A consumer trusted Trader Joes for products for her family because she trusted if it was sold at Trader Joes it was not harmful for her family.
• Most of our consumers were aware of what brands they currently had in-home. They could name them and what they used them for. They did not shop around for new brands but stuck with what they knew worked for them.
  

      Consumer trusted Tide

     Consumer trusted Clorox

     Consumer trusted Tide and Downy

Penny Pincher Paul

Paul's Story Paul is in his late 50’s living alone in a small studio apartment. Now retired Paul is on a fixed income and is very proud of his thrifty spending habits. Paul often starts the day thumbing through the daily newspaper collecting coupons and searching for good sales. Paul doesn’t just buy whatever is the cheapest, he always looks for what product will give him the best value for his money by researching future purchases on the internet.

Paul’s Practices
• Reuses bags, containers, foil, etc…
• Walks to do activities that are nearby.
• Takes aluminum cans to scrap yard for recycling.
• Buys in bulk to get a better deal.
• Uses CFL’s to save money.

How To Reach Penny Pincher Paul
• Offer incentives like coupons or rebates for sustainable products.
• Make sustainable products cheaper.
• Sustainable producs must offer a greater value than the alternative.

Consumer Behaviors that created Penny Pincher Paul

• A consumer took his own cans in to get money instead of just recycling them curbside.
• Many consumers bought in bulk because they viewed it as cheaper. One consumer had so much bulk food that she had a freezer in her bedroom so she was able to store it all.
• A consumer used consumer reports to look up generic store brands to make sure they had equal quality and then she would buy them because they were cheaper.
• A consumer used coupons for everything and went to the store on certain days because she knew that she could get better sales.
• Consumers used CFL light bulbs to save money on energy bills.
• A consumer used a high efficiency washer to save money on water bills.
• A consumer, who was a former P&G employee relied on getting all of his products for free at King’s island on P&G Day.
• Many consumers bought store brands because they were the cheaper option.
• A consumer drove to Kentucky and bought hundreds of gallons of gas when it was cheap and then stored it in a tank on their property in case gas prices rose.
• Many consumers had lost their jobs and were now on a budget.
• Many consumers talked about how bad the economy is right now.
  

     Consumer thought it was cheaper to buy in bulk

     Consumer saved coupons and kept them in box on microwave

     Saved money buying frozen food on sale and storing it in deep freezer

Misinformed Mary + Informed Isaac

Mary and Isaac's Story Mary is in the kitchen after dinner, sorting empty packages and containers of food that her family just consumed. She is thinking about what she is going to take to the garage to recycle and what is she going to put in the trash. She is about to throw an empty can of beans and a milk jug in the trash when Isaac comes into the kitchen and stops her. “Those go in the green bin mom! You just need to rinse them first! We learned it at school last week! Let me show you how.” He runs and takes the milk container, rinses it and removes the lid.

Mary’s Practices

• Recycles without a clear understanding of how to do it.
• Doesn’t understand the recycling numbers.
• Still thinks that recycling needs to be separated in Cincinnati and that she must pay extra for recycling material other than paper.
• Uses sustainable products but is unaware of it and does not know how to use them properly.

Isaac's Practices

• Isaac is knowledgeable about recycling and likes to correct his mother and teach her how to do it properly.
• He started reusing paper (using it on both sides ) and Mary has adopted that behavior as well.
  

How To Reach Misinformed Mary

• Start a widespread educational campaign.
• Dissipating myths about recycling, reusing and reducing.
• Providing clear and trustworthy information, which is easy to understand for both kids and adults.
• Explaining which products are sustainable and why and what she should look at to make her own judgment about sustainability in a product.
• Making sure that this campaign reach Isaac and its embraced by him so he can reinforce the change at home.
  

Consumer Behaviors that created Misinformed Mary

• Consumers were aware of recycling but most of them did not do it properly.
• One consumer did not rinse the containers before recycling them.
• Consumers did not fully understand the numbering system to recycle plastics.
• One consumer believed that recyclables still had to be separated and that she would have to pay more to recycle multiple materials. Therefore she only recycled paper.
• Many consumers believed that natural and organic were the same as sustainable.
• Many consumers believed that packaging that looked transparent or clean was sustainable.
• Many consumers used sustainable products without realizing they were sustainable.
• Consumers used concentrated cleaning products without realizing that they are a sustainable solution.
• Sustainability was not a factor in most consumers’ purchasing decisions.
• Many consumers had children or grandchildren who were informed about recycling becuase they learned about it at school. They would bring this knowledge home and then get angry at their parents/grandparents if they did not start to recycle.
  

     Consumer only recycled paper

     Consumers had sustainable products without realizing it

     Consumers were misinformed about what was sustainable

Convenience Carl

Carl's Story When Carl goes shopping he looks for products that fit well into his fast pace lifestyle. If it requires extra effort such as cooking, or portioning, then Carl will not consider buying it. Small graband- go products are a staple of Carl’s consumption habits. He knows that the individual packaging is excessive, but it is also convenient, and disposal is as easy as the nearest trashcan. Carl is not extremely price sensitive, and he will pay more for these types of products.

Carl’s Practices
• He does not research many of the products he buys.
• Will not consider changing unless it is more convenient.
• He drives everywhere.
• He shops online because it is quicker.
• He buys a new product instead of repairing an old one.
• Produces large amounts of garbage.
• He enjoys grab-and-go products.
• He is willing to pay more for the convenient option.

How To Reach Convenience Carl
• Make the convenient option the more sustainable option.
• Put recycling on the same convenience level as trash.

Consumer Behaviors that created Convenience Carl

• Consumers bought bottled water because it was easier to grab-and-go.
• A consumer did not recycle paper and cardboard because it was inconvenient to walk out to the bin.
• Consumers bought individually packaged items because it was easier for their kids.
• A consumer did not recycle singleton items because it was not convenient. She only recycled when she had a lot of items to recycle at once.
• A consumer did not recycle because she did not have recycling in her apartment and she would have to drive to the recycling plant.
• A consumer had a washer and dryer in their bathroom upstairs because it was more convenient than having to take their laundry downstairs.
• A consumer washed dishes by hand becuase it was inconvenient to wait for the dishwasher to fill up.
• Many consumers thought it was more convenient to just throw things away instead of going out to the garage to recycle.
  

     Throwing recyclables away was more convenient for the consumer

     Grab-and-go water bottles

    

Consumer did not feel like going to the garage to recycle. Instead used their bin as storage space.

Survey Component

How can companies use these characters to reach consumers like Carol?

Carol Moerlein is a typical baby boomer consumer in her late fifties. She is married, though both she and her husband have been married previously. She has two grown children in their thirties, neither of whom are married.Her son and his girlfriend recently had a baby. Four days a week, Carol works as a nanny, going to other people’s houses to take care of their children. Her husband was a salesman, but recently lost his job due to a smoking related illness, which has put a little bit of strain on them financially. She also suffers from arthritis. When Carol is not working, she enjoys reading, baking, and gardening although she often gets sore from working out in the yard. As she ages, everyday tasks become more difficult for her, so she values things that are easy and convenient as well as dependable.

Purpose
To utilize the personas created by the team to create a psychographic profile of a consumer, or group of consumers. This will then enable companies to tailor sustainable business and design solutions to these particular consumer segments.

Note: This is a precursory version this tool, and it is meant to serve as a jump-off point for further research, and refinement.

Survey Structure
The survey will consist of 80 – 100 psychographic questions related to the different personas that were identified from our research. These questions will be answered on a qualitative scale ranging from “Mostly Disagree” to “Mostly Agree”. Repetitive and re-worded questions will be utilized in order to judge the consistency of the respondent’s answers.

Utilization
Determine the target market for the brand in question. Administer the survey to a sufficient amount of consumers that are part of this market.

Results
After the survey has been administered total the results from all questions. Determine what characteristics that the target
market exhibits based on the personas that were developed. The results will be in a percentage format. Then determine
which personas are the most prevalent in the respondent sample. Exam the entire sample and look for consistencies and patterns within the results. Note: The process for determining the percentages of each persona has not been developed yet, however we feel that this would be a feasible research problem for a company to pursue in order to utilize this tool.

Action
After determining which personas or “barriers” play the largest role in the consumer’s day-to-day life, use this information to create a business or design solution that will be most effective in reaching them based on the suggestions in the persona handbook.

Knowledge Tool in Practice:Introducing a sustainable Tide for Carol

Tide Cold Water Tablets Tablets feature integrated fabric softener Smaller package is to handle Packaging constructed from 100% recyclable paper No mess Convenient dispenser

Package Graphics Can help to better understand the consumers of your brand Prioritizes communication on package Appealing to the users survey characteristics Can help to determine key advertising messages