LIGHTING MARKET OPPORTUNITIES - RECONCILING CONSUMERS PURCHASING BEHAVIORS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES

This paper examines recent studies of the general public's values and beliefs regarding the environment and energy-efficient lighting, and c ompares them to the purchasing behavior of residential lighting consum ers. The public's desire to preserve the environment is very strong bu t this desire is not translated into action nor satisfied by product o fferings when consumers shop for home lighting products. By; documenti ng the gap between values and products that would satisfy those values , and describing in detail typical purchasing behaviors for lamps and portable luminaires, the authors identify new opportunities for produc ts and marketing. Value and belief results are drawn both from origina l research of the author's project teams and fr-om several other resea rch organizations' published studies. Market data on purchasing behavi ors, demographic profiles, and projected numbers of purchasers come fr om the syndicated Simmons Survey of the American Household, for the ye ars 1990 to 1996. This is a statistically significant resource (N= 20, 000 per annum) not known to these authors to be analyzed or cited by a ny other lighting researchers. This information is also compared to U. S. census and commerce reports.