The UK government has set an ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by
80% before 2050. An interesting segment that could help to achieve this is older
consumers, due to their growing numbers. There seems to be a lack of attention, in the
research looking specifically at different age categories of older consumers’ green
behaviour, and whether their level of greenness can be explained by their personality.
Using Socioemotional Selectivity Theory and Time Perspective, the research presented
here was designed to provide an exploratory analysis of how the green behaviour of older
consumers is explained by their personality types. Based on the responses of 204 older
consumers in the UK, our results find the openness personality trait to be positively linked
to green behaviour, whilst the extraversion personality trait is negatively related to green
behaviour. Although the level of green behaviour increased with older consumers’ age, this
did not reach significance.