Want to connect to the green consumer? Help them stand out.

I recently listened to the Freakonomics podcast “Hey Baby, Is That a Prius You’re Driving?” and it got me thinking about consumption, specifically conspicuous nonconsumption, or conspicuous conservation. Call it what you want, the green consumer wants you to know they’re a good person–and that’s an insight that businesses can leverage to help change consumer behavior for the better.

Sustainable brands often try to blend into the marketplace by making their products fit into the mold of what a consumer already expects. Do sustainable products need to perform just as well as unsustainable products? Yes (maybe even more so). Do sustainable products need to maintain a level of established product or service consistency? Yes. But do the product or service and the marketing message need to be the same? No. It’s okay to be different. In fact, I’ll argue that it’s better to be different.

The Freakonomics podcast showcases the findings of why the Prius is dominating the market of hybrid cars. Quite simply, the Prius looks different than the conventional car. It has a noticeable design, whereas the Honda and Ford hybrids look the same as their nonhybrid counterparts. Since each of the competing hybrids have the same features and benefits as the Prius (for the most part), it’s no surprise that we now know that the Prius was designed with “looking different” as one of its main, unadvertised benefits. Clearly, Toyota understands their consumer in a way that Honda and Ford don’t.

Quite frankly, today’s sustainable consumer wants other people to know that they’re being more sustainable. The unique shape of the Prius itself helps the consumer connect with a desire to “show off their sustainability.” And it’s working.

We want people to notice the type of shoes we wear (do you wonder why Tom’s are so distinct? They get it, too), we want people to notice when we lose weight and we want people to see that we are good people. And that’s okay.

Sustainable brands have been working so hard to fit in. Perhaps now, it’s time to work on standing out. This doesn’t mean sustainable brands don’t have the cost of entry into the marketplace anymore; they do. They still have to meet quality, price, safety, packaging, size, color, taste needs, etc. But these brands can stand out, should stand out and will enable the consumer to show off their purchase decision if they do.

Sustainable business leaders and the society they serve tend to hold the green consumer up on a pedestal of admiration. “They” are perfect in our eyes because they care about the planet (all 7 billion people on the planet) and they care about the future too. Fortunately, all of this is true. But, the green consumer is still one of those 7 billion humans. They’re still a person with rational (or irrational) buying habits. They’re still someone who wants to be recognized for their efforts and someone who appreciates a pat on the back. How can you better connect with the green consumer? Give them an opportunity to get that pat on the back by standing out, and do it often.