Cult Research and GRF+, in partnership with EFdeN, launch the Barometer of Responsible Romania, BARES, or “Study of the 4 Romanias”.

The study introduces for the first time in Romania the LOHAS methodology, Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, to offer a segmentation of Romanians according to lifestyle and social responsibility criteria, exploring 6 key dimensions. Three of these – Physical Health, Mental Balance, Emotional Balance – are centered on the individual’s attitude towards their own life and well-being. The other three – Spirituality, Social Consciousness, Ecology – focus on attitude towards environment and community.

“The BARES study offers a fresh perspective of our self-knowledge, as Romanians and citizens – at a much finer and scientifically verified resolution. In addition, it also comes with a much more applied approach and is a very useful contribution for institutional partners, such as authorities, educational institutions, civil society. This is also true for business partners, in terms of education, the promotion of ESG standards and the promotion of products and services that benefit the environment and the community”, said Paul Kasprovschi, Research & Evaluation Director GRF+.

Emotional balance, ecology, and physical health, at the top of our interests

● Areas of interest at national level: Emotional Balance (7.70) in the top priority, followed by Ecology (average 7.27), in second place, then Physical Health (7.25), Mental Balance (6.94) ), Social Consciousness (6.53), and Spirituality – the level of interest in connecting with a force greater than oneself (5.94).

● Regarding the interest in ecology, the highest level is represented by Romanians’ expectation that large companies will really get involved in environmental responsibility by creating sustainable and affordable products and services (average 8.39).

● At the opposite pole is the interest of Romanians that their own purchase decisions are based on the effect of products on the environment (6.50).

Who are they, what interests do they have and what do the “4 Romanias” look like

The BARES segmentation identified four distinct groups according to significant differences in respondents’ reporting on the 6 dimensions investigated:

1. Vanguards of sustainability. They are the category most concerned with social and ecological good and the most inclined to contribute to positive changes in the community. They represent 36 percent of the total population.

2. Self-centeredness. They are satisfied with their current lifestyle, take care of their health (physical and emotional), but emphasize individualism. They are not interested in spirituality, ecology or social consciousness, but they have a relatively high interest in ecology. This group comprises 22 percent of the total population.

3. Social spectators. They have average satisfaction with their lifestyle, do not want to get involved civically or make changes. This segment has average to low ratings on all dimensions analyzed. Social viewers represent 26 percent of the total population.

4. Social disconnections. They are not satisfied with aspects related to nutrition, mental and emotional health, nor the spiritual side. They are not interested in ecology or civic engagement and social consciousness. This segment covers 16 percent of the total population.

When we talk about the results by generation, we see that 50 percent of Gen Z fall into the category of Social Spectators, while 0 percent of them are Self-Centered. On the other hand, Gen X is the most represented segment among the Vanguardists of Sustainability – 41 percent, followed by Gen Y – 36 percent.

“In our study we observed a more prominent trend of older generations towards a more sustainable life. In order to have a more applied perspective, we investigated from the BARES perspective the attitudes and behaviors of Romanians towards responsible energy and equipment based on greener energy, together with our partners from EFdeN”, added Paul Acatrini, Managing Partner & Research Director Cult Research .

“To better understand the behaviors of Romanians who have already adopted a sustainable lifestyle, we analyzed the segment of prosumers and potential ones (those who want to become prosumers). Thus, among the current Romanian prosumers (100 thousand in Romania), 44 percent are Avant-Gardists, 22 percent are Self-Centered, 23 percent are Social Spectators, and 13 percent are Socially Disconnected. The main motivators relate to the achievement of financial savings, energy independence, but also the interest in reducing the carbon footprint”, said Claudiu Butacu, EFdeN Co-founder.

Intention to purchase electric vehicles was another “green” behavior of interest analyzed in the study. Thus, 25 percent of Romanians declared that they want to buy electric vehicles. The distribution of these intentions, from the perspective of BARES, shows as follows: 33 percent of Sustainability Vanguards, 28 percent of Self-Centered, 23 percent of Social Spectators and 15 percent of Socially Disconnected would like an electric vehicle.