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Water On Tap? Online version
3. Population segmentations
Segmenting the population is an effective way of identifying target audiences based on their attitudes, behaviours, or other characteristics. Each of the three large-scale surveys developed population segmentations to identify and better understand target audiences for communications and policy interventions.
Two significant types of segments emerged from these segmentations: ‘environmentally minded’ segments; and ‘thrifty’ segments. The environmentally minded segments tend to have the highest levels of awareness and concern about water and other environmental issues, and express willingness to do more; but their current actions often fall short of their convictions. Thrifty segments are people with a strong element of conservation-mindedness and an aversion to waste in any form, which is not necessarily linked to environmental concerns, but is highly relevant to people’s beliefs about water use.
One particular thrifty segment, ‘Waste Watchers’ from the Ministry for the Environment’s Household Sustainability Survey 2008, was selected as the target audience for the new qualitative research on washing machine purchasing decisions and garden watering covered in sections 4.2 and 4.3. Waste Watchers were chosen on the basis that they are the largest population segment (from the Ministry for the Environment’s research), and they have greater scope for change. Information on the Waste Watchers segment can be found in section 3.3: Thrifty segments.
3.1 Overview of the segmentations
The approach used to segment the population differed in each survey. Therefore, the resulting segments and the distribution of the population through these segments also differ, but similarities can be found.
The Ministry for the Environment’s survey respondents were segmented along purely attitudinal lines. This was based on the approach used by the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours Toward the Environment 2007, the survey on which the Household Sustainability Survey 2008 was based. The segmentation was based on attitudes towards a range of environmental issues, not just water. This produced seven population segments, which are detailed in table 2.
Table 2: Population segments (Ministry for the Environment)
| Segment name | Proportion of population (%) |
|---|---|
| Positive Greens | 14 |
| Waste Watchers | 39 |
| Concerned Consumers | 18 |
| Sideline Supporters | 5 |
| Cautious Participants | 8 |
| Stalled Starters | 5 |
| Honestly Disengaged | 11 |
Watercare’s Auckland research identified three segments based on attitudes towards water use and conservation, which are detailed in table 3. The Greater Wellington qualitative research also identified three attitudinal and behavioural segments, which were then quantified through the quantitative research and are detailed in table 4.
Table 3: Population segments (Watercare)
| Segment name | Proportion of population (%) |
|---|---|
| Pale Green | 52 |
| Traditionalists | 36 |
| Do-nothings | 12 |
Table 4: Population segments (Greater Wellington)
| Segment name | Proportion of population (%) |
|---|---|
| Conservation Minded | 27 |
| Pragmatic | 47 |
| Ambivalent | 26 |
While each of the three segmentations works on a continuum from the most environmentally minded to the least, the different approaches used means that these continuums do not necessarily correlate to each other. This is because each approach is based on a different mix of attitudes and behaviours to both water and other environmental issues. For example, an individual might be classified as within Watercare’s most environmentally minded segment, Pale Green, which makes up 52 per cent of the population. But using the Ministry for the Environment’s segmentation, which has a greater number of smaller segments, the same individual might fit into Positive Greens, Waste Watchers, Concerned Consumers, or one of the other segments. However, general themes do emerge from comparisons between these segmentations.
3.2 Environmentally minded segments
The most environmentally minded segments were the Ministry for the Environment’s ‘Positive Greens’, Watercare’s ‘Pale Green’, and Greater Wellington’s ‘Conservation Minded’ segments. While the relative size of each of these segments differed significantly, most likely due to the different approaches to the segmentations, there were commonalities between these three most environmentally minded segments.
The Ministry for the Environment’s Positive Greens made up 14 per cent of the population, and 70 per cent of them were female. They had higher income and education levels than the population average, but were less likely than average to be home owners. They were moderately more likely than the population average to live in urban areas. Positive Greens have the highest levels of awareness and concern about environmental issues, including climate change, but given this, they were doing less than they could. The Positive Greens were significantly more likely to be willing to take action, but for various reasons their actions fell short of their intentions and beliefs.
Watercare’s Pale Greens represented 52 per cent of the population, and were demographically very similar to the population average, although gender information is not available. They were Watercare’s segment most likely to think about water and other environmental issues, and had a high consideration of their water use around the home. The Pale Greens were more likely to see themselves as low users of water, and were the most likely to say they were willing to conserve water. They were motivated more by a sense of responsibility and a desire to protect the planet, rather than any special knowledge of water issues in Auckland. Although this was Watercare’s segment that was most responsive to the issue of water conservation, and Pale Greens are more likely to accept responsibility, they still wanted to enjoy water and consider using water to be part of their lifestyle. Like the Positive Greens, the Pale Greens’ level of action did not fully match their convictions, with some even admitting that they were only undertaking token actions.
Greater Wellington’s Conservation Minded segment made up 27 per cent of the population. They were, of all Greater Wellington’s segments, making the most effort, and displayed conservation traits across a variety of issues, not just water. They were the most receptive segment to conservation messages, but have limited potential for change as they claim to be already doing a lot. As with the other surveys, Greater Wellington’s findings included a general point that the discussion of ways to save water was generally some way ahead of actual take-up and consistent application of those behaviours.
3.3 Thrifty segments
Each of the three segmentations involves a segment (Waste Watchers, Pragmatic, and Traditionalists) that had a strong element of conservation-mindedness and waste avoidance, which was not necessarily linked to environmental concerns, but rather a natural thriftiness and frugality. In each case this was the second most environmentally minded population segment, and in each of the three segmentations, this frugal group made up a similar and significant proportion of the population.
Greater Wellington’s Pragmatic segment was described as being “averse to wastage and [they] make savings in other aspects of their lives”. One of Watercare’s Traditionalists summed up the tendency to be conservation minded, saying “that’s just the way I was brought up – I was raised by a generation who felt waste in any form is bad”; the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Watchers have similar attitudes.
The remainder of this section focuses specifically on what is known about the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Watchers segment, as they are the key target audience for the new qualitative research on purchasing a washing machine and watering the garden covered in sections 4.2 and 4.3.
Waste Watchers
Waste Watchers were the largest population segment in the Household Sustainability Survey 2008, and in general they represented the social norms and values of New Zealand as a whole. Waste Watchers as a group were slightly older than the population on average (55 per cent were aged 40 years or older), and females were slightly over-represented in the segment (59 per cent). The majority of Waste Watchers were home owners with gardens, and they were earning roughly average incomes.
Waste Watchers are the segment most strongly opposed to waste: both in terms of creating rubbish, and wasting resources such as water and energy. Of the Ministry for the Environment’s seven segments, Waste Watchers were the most likely to disagree with the statements “I don’t pay much attention to the amount of water I use at home” (94 per cent), and “I don’t really give much thought to saving energy in my home” (96 per cent).
In relation to their attitudes to the environment, Waste Watchers had the second highest levels (after Positive Greens) of disagreement with the following attitudinal statements:
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The effects of climate change are too far in the future to really worry me. (98 per cent)
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It’s not worth me doing things to help the environment if others don’t do the same. (96 per cent)
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It’s only worth doing environmentally friendly things if they save you money. (96 per cent)
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It’s not worth New Zealand trying to combat climate change because other countries will cancel out what we do. (85 per cent)
Waste Watchers also had higher than average willingness to engage in the water-saving behaviours that they didn’t already do.
There were notable differences in the relative size of the Waste Watchers segment in New Zealand, compared to the United Kingdom equivalent identified in Defra’s survey. In New Zealand, Waste Watchers made up 39 per cent of the population, whereas in the United Kingdom Waste Watchers accounted for only 12 per cent. It appears that this aversion to waste is particularly strong in New Zealand.
Waste Watchers are the target audience for the new qualitative research on washing machine purchasing decisions and garden watering covered in sections 4.2 and 4.3. This is because they were the largest population segment in the Household Sustainability Survey 2008, and they have a distinctive anti-waste mindset, which has strong similarities with the Pragmatic and Traditionalists segments (from Greater Wellington’s and Watercare’s research respectively). Any information or interventions targeted at Waste Watchers would be expected to also reach the more environmentally minded segments such as Positive Greens, without directly targeting them, due to their strong pro-environmental attitudes.
