One in three British consumers is willing to pay up to 10% more for a sustainable product, compared to the non-sustainable equivalent, even within the cost-of-living crisis.
This is according to a study of 2,000 consumers within in Britain carried out by Clear Channel UK, which shows that the demand for sustainable products is higher than ever.
The study indicates that brands could lose money if they do not heed the call towards sustainability, with nearly one in ten (9%) consumers boycotting his/her/their go-to brands in the past year because of sustainability-related concerns, and now only buying products from sustainable brands as a result.
Twenty per cent (20%) of consumers are now aiming to prioritise sustainable brands for their future purchases. Clear Channel UK noted that this means that there is huge potential for brands to improve their sustainability and garner the attention of a huge segment of Britain.
“Our study has shown that while there is a high demand for sustainable products, one in five Brits rarely believe[s] brand sustainability claims, and around half only sometimes trust them,” said Ben Hope, a marketing director at Clear Channel. “The data would suggest brands are not communicating their messaging effectively.”
Sustainable Shopping
The most popular category for sustainable shopping is food, with 38% of respondents saying that they are likely to buy from sustainable brands within the food industry. The report suggests that concerns about sustainability and food often go hand in hand, as food production utilises huge amounts of water and energy and is the cause of lots of waste.
The report indicates that it can be tricky balancing price with sustainability, and in many cases, sustainable products are often far more expensive than their conventional counterparts, which could be why 62% of people cite the high cost of sustainable products as a reason not to buy them.
Clear Channel UK noted that, for truly sustainable brands, their impact on the planet is considered at every point in the production line – from sourcing materials and manufacturing to workers’ wages – often resulting in higher costs.
Additionally, as many as one in five (20%) people says that the perceived low quality of sustainable brands puts him/her/them off buying these products. Clear Channel UK believes that this perception is inaccurate, but the ‘simplified and understated way’ in which sustainable brands and products are presented might contribute to this feeling.
Lack Of Awareness
There also seems to be a lack of awareness about sustainable brands (10%), due to ineffective messaging.
“We hope that our study will educate brands about sustainability-related expectations and how important it is for retailers to be aligned with consumers, and encourage brands to embrace more effective communication strategies,” said Clear Channel’s Hope.
Not surprisingly, there are different views according to different generations when it comes to sustainability. For example, Gen Z and millenials are the consumers most likely to buy from sustainable brands. Ten per cent (10%) of older Gen Z and younger millennials are willing to pay up to 50% extra for a sustainable product, while 6% would be willing to pay as much as 51-60% extra.
For the older age groups – 45- to 54-year-olds, 55- to 64-year-olds, and 65 and over – at least a third are more likely to buy food from sustainable brands (32-38%).
In general, the study suggests that the older a person gets, the less interested he/she/they are in shopping sustainably on the whole.
