Consumers demand sustainable alternatives
You might be forgiven for thinking that consumers had other things, like health or financial pressures on their minds in the last year, but statistics show that global consumer attitudes towards environmental issues have not waned. 90% of consumer respondents to the BCG survey carried out in 2020, showed they were equally or more concerned about sustainability issues. Leading insight provider, GlobalWebIndex, have been reporting the rising of green consumerism for some time now and confirm:
- Half of digital consumers say environmental concerns impact their purchasing decisions.
- Millennials are leading the way, with the highest propensity to choose (and pay more for) eco-friendly products.
- Household cleaning, personal care and food products are bearing the brunt of consumer research as they seek out environmentally-friendly alternatives.
- 51% of consumers want to see brands put more focus on being eco-friendly in 2021, secondly only to supporting COVID and ranked higher than offering more value for money and support social causes.
The good news is that many organisations have already been stepping up to sustainability for some time, actively working to reduce carbon emissions and increase their sustainability activity.
The challenge for 2021 maybe one of communication as well as action. If you’re already proactively driving the sustainability agenda here are some of our tips to make sure you’re making the most of communicating your commitment:
Communicate inside and out.
Your employees can be your best advocates, keeping them informed and onboard with the actions you’re taking is critical. Run an internal communications campaign to engage them in sustainability both as employees and as individuals so they can help champion your efforts.
Be clear and vocal on your long-term commitment as well as your short-term actions.
If sustainability is top of your agenda, make sure to communicate your commitment, in marketing materials, on your website, in your social media and in every opportunity you have. If sustainability is important to your business be clear that this isn’t a flash in the pan, and don’t shy away from being clear on what your long-term goal is.
Be honest about what you’re doing.
It’s easy to lose trust by talking more about sustainability than actually taking action – now known as ‘greenwashing’. Try to avoid putting a marketing spin on your activity and stick to the facts of your actions. Even if you feel you could or should be doing more, honesty is still the best policy.
Provide as much customer information as you can.
From how products and packaging can be recycled to their sources, the more information you can give customers the better-informed decisions they can make. As an example, 55% of consumers recognise the FSC logo and 65% claim they’re prefer to buy a product with an FSC logo than without.
In our next blog we’ll be take a hard look at sustainability in printed materials and will be guiding you in making sustainable decisions when sourcing paper and print. If you’re looking for help making sustainable choices with your communications, talk to us.
https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-week/green-consumerism/
