77% of consumers describe themselves as "Green," actively living their lives conscious of their health and environment, and 57% have made a Green purchase in the past 6 months. The fact that not all green consumers are the same creates a great opportunity for advertisers to better understand the purchasing motivations of mainstream green consumers, one of the largest and fastest growing markets nationwide, according to a new study by Yahoo.

The study segments green consumers into four main groups:

Two of the segments present the biggest opportunity for advertisers, the "trendy" consumers who go green to be cool, and the "deeply committed". These segments buy more green products, discuss green issues often, and convince others to make the same green purchases.

* 80% of the "deeply committed" and 69% of the "trendy" consumers have made a green purchase in the past 6 months

* 79% of "deeply committed" and "trendy" consumers say that if they like a product they will always tell their friends

* 70% of the "trendy" and 66% of "deeply committed" consumers who have recently purchased a green alternative product have convinced a family/friend to buy the same product

The study reports that Online is an important source for green information:

* More than two-thirds (68%) of survey respondents cite online as a source of green information, on par with traditional media (72%)

* In the online space, people look most to portal websites (Yahoo!, MSN, etc.) for more information on green products (51%), likely due to the richness of content offered by such sites.

* Second is online search (44%)

* Reading online reviews by users also high (40%). People look to user reviews more than professional reviews (24%)

* Lowest is a company website (20%) and blogs (21%)

* A large percent of people still look to TV ads for more info on green products (47%), especially in the household cleaning product category (37%)