18 days left until the release of Sustainable Brand Index™ 2015

With only 18 days left until the release of Sustainable Brand Index™ 2015 it is time for our second edition of Sustainable Throwback Thursday. Every Thursday until the 23rd of March we publish a blog post analyzing interesting facts from the previous four indexes. Will this year’s index be similar to last year’s? Find out on the 23rd!

Sustainable Throwback Thursday #2: Are Norwegian consumers more selfish?

Sustainable Brand Index™ divides consumers into four different groups depending on how they act in different situations and underlying structures in their attitudes. The different groups are Ego, Moderate, Smart and Dedicated.

The different groups have different priorities; the Ego group prioritizes price primarily but also considers functionality, perceived quality and longevity as important factors when making a purchase decision. The knowledge about sustainability in this group is quite low and the group is characterized by short-term thinking and caring only about what is best for themselves. The Ego group is often the most well off in financial terms.

The Moderate group prioritizes perceived quality and service in combination with price when making purchase decisions. This group shows slightly more interest in sustainability than the Ego group and could consider in when making a purchase decision if it is in line with other criteria.

The Smart group prioritizes safety, quality and service in combination with sustainability. This group is actively seeking information about sustainability and discusses it frequently. They often do research before making purchase decisions and give advice to others about sustainability.

The Dedicated group prioritizes sustainability. Sustainability is an important factor in every purchase decision and the group gives and receives information about sustainability. They also actively search for information by contacting companies.

As you can see in the diagram, the distribution into different groups varies between Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The distribution in Norway stands out the most with a slightly higher representation of consumers in the Ego group. Norway also has the highest BNP per capita out of the four countries. Is there a connection between the wealth in a country and the attitudes of consumers? Or could this be related to the importance of the oil industry in Norway? On the 23rd of March we will know whether this pattern has changed since 2014.

Stay tuned, the next Sustainable Throwback Thursday will be published next Thursday!