While political factions decry corporate efforts to operate more sustainably by protecting the environment, it’s surprising that most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, income level, geography, age or gender, want to buy sustainable products products.
Our research at NYU’s Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) found that sustainable marketing products not only grow twice as fast as traditional marketing products, but also sell at an average price 28% higher. We also found that certain sustainability messages drive significant increases in purchase intentions across political parties, age groups, income levels and locations.
Messages to Persuade American Consumers
CSB worked with Edelman and nine iconic brands to test core product attribute messages across industries as well as a range of environmental sustainability messages. We invite consumers to choose among these messages, highlighting which messages are more likely to drive purchase intent.
We found that information about “My Health, My Wealth, My World” received particularly high ratings. Consumers from all demographics responded most positively to statements that directly mentioned personal health benefits for themselves and their families, personal savings, and impact on the world and surrounding communities around them. Other high performance propositions include animal welfare, supporting local farmers and 100% sustainable sourcing.
These statements work best when they are aligned with core product attribute claims. No one wants to buy laundry detergent that doesn’t clean well, even if it’s sustainable. Consumers first want to know that the brand provides benefits for the category they are purchasing from (does it clean clothes well, does it smell good, does it moisturize the skin well, etc.).
While we found that articulating a core attribute alone attracted 44% of the potential target audience, adding two additional sustainability claims related to that core attribute increased appeal by 24 and 33 percentage points, respectively, to an average of 74% of nine brand. The most compelling claim might be “good for your skin and the planet,” or “it tastes great because we work with local farmers for 100% sustainable sourcing.”
In summary, consumers from all walks of life and political leanings are interested in products that improve their quality of life from a sustainable perspective, especially products that are relevant to themselves, their families and their communities.
Americans vote with their wallets
This is what consumers say they will buy, not what they actually buy. Is there a “green gap,” where consumers say they intend to buy green products but don’t actually do so?
We addressed this issue by working with Circana (formerly IRI) and reviewing the barcode data they had collected from all store purchases of consumer goods since 2013. We investigated the packaging claims of 250,000 products over 36 years. 40 consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories.
We found that although sustainable marketing products accounted for only 17.3% of total sales, they contributed 30% to the growth of the industry. In fact, by 2021, one of every two new CPG products sold will have one or more sustainability attributes. More than 60% of products sold in some categories, such as dairy products, yogurt and toilet paper, have sustainable attributes. The sustainable market share continues to grow, while traditional products have experienced deficit growth. For those categories that are widely used, we find that all demographics buy them, even at higher prices, although people with lower education and lower incomes tend to buy fewer sustainable products (due to cost and availability).
Purchases of sustainable marketing products have grown strongly during the pandemic and recent period of inflation. Since our first report in 2019, these categories have continued to grow in market share. We break down the 36 categories into low share (less developed, with a sustainable share below 5% of the respective category), medium share (5% to 15% sustainable share), and highly developed (more than 20% share). In 2018, 14 out of 36 categories were in the low category, now there are 9. Most categories moved to the medium category, and one category moved to the high category in just 4 years. In the original study, only 9 categories were considered highly developed), now there are 13, accounting for one-third of all categories we studied.
Younger consumers tend to have a higher sustainability purchasing index, as do consumers with higher incomes and education, and those in urban areas. Gen Xers and baby boomers, as well as middle-income, suburban and rural groups, also tend to buy sustainable products. Primarily retirees, people with only a high school education, and low-income consumers tend to have lower indexes, primarily due to availability and price. As we see these products become more available and premiums decrease, we may also see an increase in purchases by these groups.
Most Americans want to buy sustainable products that are healthier, save money (such as lower energy costs), protect their children’s futures, improve animal welfare, support local farmers, and are 100% sustainably sourced. Consumers don’t view it as a political stance—our research finds Americans are living up to this purchase intention.
Tensie Whelan is the founding director of the Stern Center for Sustainable Business at New York University.
Randi Kronthal-Sacco is a senior scholar at New York University’s Stern Center for Sustainable Business.
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