Editor’s note: Steve Brockway is chief research officer at market research firm Maru/Matchbox, U.K. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared under the title, “Environmentally conscious brands are winning over shoppers.”
Is your brand socially and environmentally fit for the future?
Consumer attitudes toward the environment are changing.
Eighty-nine percent of the 722 U.K. shoppers we surveyed in November of 2019 are concerned about the environment, and a quarter of them feel that their level of concern will likely grow over the next 12 months.
In fact, Maru/Matchbox insight reveals that shoppers are already making choices based on environmental factors. Brands must ensure their offering is seen as contributing toward a greener future if they want to be successful.
But what is driving this shift toward the environmental consumer? And how do brands positively impact and influence decision-making to ensure success in the months and years ahead?
Pollution and plastics are driving environmental concern
Our consumer survey used a combination of System 1 and System 2 research approaches to uncover both the rational and emotional responses to environmental shopper issues.
We utilized implicit association testing (IAT) methodologies to help understand the subliminal drivers of decision-making relating to the environment. Our tests measure reaction time to interpret the implicit, subconscious response to a brand, product or experience. IAT utilizes System 1 thinking to capture the emotional response of consumers.
The results show that consumers are emotionally concerned with day-to-day environmental factors – such as plastic waste, deforestation and air pollution – rather than the wider impact of climate change as a whole. Brands that take direct action against these issues will resonate strongly with consumers.
Targeted environmental messaging has the greatest impact on behavior
Caring consumers want to feel that they are contributing to positive action on issues important to them. This means that brands that seem to be engaging positively with specific issues – such as air pollution, plastic waste and deforestation – will create a better connection with consumers than those that attempt to tackle sustainability under a much wider environmental banner.
Sixty-one percent of the consumers surveyed by Maru/Matchbox are keen to start actively buying from brands that are doing more for the environment, while another 58% want to buy products that are certified sustainable.
Strong, authentic environmental credentials are therefore key to the future success of brands. Brand owners must ensure sustainability is a part of their values and supply chain, from raw materials through to manufacturing and packaging. It is no longer enough to have an environmentally friendly tagline – instead, consumers want to see and feel a set of environmental values that influences a brand’s decision-making and ways of working.
Making brands environmentally fit for the future
Consumers struggle to make big changes to their lifestyles. Instead, they’re looking to brands to empower and enable them to make the right environmental choices.
Brands can no longer ignore the growing climate conversation – taking no action carries a significant risk to the future success of brands.
But brands that attempt to tackle sustainability issues under one environmental policy will fail. Consumers want direct, transparent action that demonstrates clear environmental benefits on specific issues – such as the removal of single-use plastic from Sainsbury’s fruit and vegetable aisles or Lush’s self-imposed carbon tax.
Brands that emotionally engage shoppers on environmental issues will be the ones that succeed in the months and years ahead. Clearly demonstrating how you are reducing plastic waste, cutting carbon emissions or preventing deforestation will be essential to winning the hearts and minds of consumers in 2020.