94% of Consumers Say a More Sustainable Lifestyle is Important
Sustainability Significantly Impacts Purchasing Behavior and 47% Would Pay More for Sustainable Products
We all starting to recognize the need to be much more considered in the purchases we make in order to reduce waste and protect our planet for future generations. Today, brands are touting their sustainability practices and celebrating new environmentally-friendly initiatives. But, many people don’t know what sustainability actually means.
What does sustainability mean?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Similarly, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainability as the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” To put it in the simplest terms, sustainability is about our children and our grandchildren, and the world we will leave them.
How US consumers view sustainability
MaCher teamed up with fellow certified B Corp Compose[d], a digital creative services & strategy agency to try and understand US consumer attitudes to sustainability. The study surveyed 1,000 consumers (age 18–75) in the U.S. in March 2021 and found compelling overall opinions as well as fascinating differences between generations.
- 43% of consumers wish there was more information about living sustainably
- 84% say it’s important to buy sustainable products
- Boomers and Gen X are two times more likely to donate clothes for reuse and to actively reduce their use of single-use plastics, while millennials and Gen Z are two to three times more likely than older consumers to be vegetarian/vegan and to ride a bike instead of driving
- 60% of consumers say reusable products are more sustainable and 43% would pay more for reusable products with women being 23% more likely than men to pay more
- Baby Boomers & Gen Z are 20% more likely than any other age group to say they’d pay more for environmentally-friendly or reusable products.
Don’t forget values
The research also discovered that while consumers expect companies to be more active in finding ways for their products and services to be more sustainable, a company’s values are also an integral part of people’s purchasing decisions.
One in three US adults say that they have stopped buying one or more brands recently after learning that a company’s practices and values didn’t match their own.
Rochelle Turner, who looks after research and insight at MaCher believes that brands that ignore this call from consumers for greater social and environmental sustainability and transparency will increasingly be left behind. Jason Parkin, President and Chief Creative Officer, Compose[d] agrees. “Sustainability has proven to be more than a buzzword or passing fancy for consumers. The brands that practice sustainability have an opportunity to capture consumer loyalty and align with them on a commitment to safeguard the environment for the future”
