An international study carried out by Unilever has found that a third of consumers prefer 'sustainable' brands from companies that they believe are doing social or environmental good.
The study, performed by Europanel and Flamingo, surveyed 20,000 adults from five countries, and asked how important sustainability concerns were to their shopping choices.
It also compared these results to actual purchase data. More than 1 in 5 people (21%) said they would opt for brands with visible sustainability credentials.
Unilever said that this preference represented €966 billion out of a €2.5 trillion market for sustainable goods. It said that some of its own products which have incorporated sustainable practices, such as Dove, Hellmann's, and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, made up nearly half of the company's global growth last year. Together, these products are growing 30% faster than the rest of the business.
The study also saw a higher number of respondents from developing economies, such as India (88%) and Turkey (85%), said that they felt better buying sustainably-sourced products. Only 53% of consumers in the UK and 78% in the US felt the same way.
The study pointed to two possible reasons for consumers' increased concern about sustainable purchasing in emerging compared to developed markets, including first-hand experience of unsustainable business practices, such as water and energy shortages, lack of food and poor air-quality.
Secondly, it suggested that peer pressure exerted by family and friends to buy socially responsible products in Brazil, India and Turkey was higher compared to the US and the UK.
Keith Weed, Unilever’s chief marketing and communications officer, commented: "This research confirms that sustainability isn’t a nice-to-have for businesses. In fact, it has become an imperative. To succeed globally, and especially in emerging economies across Asia, Africa and Latin America, brands should go beyond traditional focus areas like product performance and affordability. Instead, they must act quickly to prove their social and environmental credentials and show consumers they can be trusted with the future of the planet and communities, as well as their own bottom lines."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
