Making a meaningful impact

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Sustainability is shifting. What were once viewed as niche behaviours and beliefs are becoming mainstream – the adoption of veganism and ‘flexitarian’ lifestyles, and growing unease about single-use plastics, are just two examples of heightened awareness of the damage human habits are doing to the planet.

These attitudes are far from universal, however – nor does a shift in awareness necessarily translate into meaningful impact. A recent survey of adults in the UK, US, Australia and China, by advertising agency J. Walter Thompson (JWT), has highlighted some paradoxical attitudes to sustainability and made some recommendations for brands.

While 92% of the survey respondents claim to be living more responsibly, the research showed gaps between attitude and behaviour. What people believe is good for the planet and what changes they are willing to accept can look very different. For instance:

• 64% of respondents globally are in favour of car-free cities, but only 15% said they would definitely be willing to forego their vehicle to help the environment
• 73% think everyone should have to switch to renewable energy, but 67% don’t know if their supplier is good or bad for the environment, and 61% say they don’t use renewable energy because it’s too expensive

• 86% agree that people buy too many clothes, but 40% admit they often buy new clothes to keep up with fashion.

The discrepancy between reported and actual behaviour was a key consideration for the researchers, who expected “a certain amount of over-reporting”, according to Marie Stafford, European director of the Innovation Group at JWT. For example, while 70% of UK respondents claim to always recycle, the official data indicates that less than 50% of household waste is recycled.

“We believe there’s a small skew attributable to those wanting to feel as if they are saying the right thing – but, equally, there are gaps in knowledge too,” says Stafford. “People probably think they are recycling properly but aren’t aware that they need to rinse plastic or avoid food contamination and so on.”

Changing behaviour is an important part of sustainability. “Ultimately, though,” says Stafford, “people can only do so much. Even with the best intentions, sometimes the options just aren’t there in the marketplace. Many environmentalists say climate change can’t be solved at an individual level.”

A new face of sustainability 

The main motivations for sustainable living are intrinsic, not extrinsic – suggesting consumers are driven more by how sustainability makes them feel, or a desire to do the right thing, than by social proof associated with the opinion or judgement of others. When people were asked to choose their main motivation, the top selections were: ‘I know it’s important to preserve the planet for future generations’; ‘It’s the right thing to do’; and ‘I want to be able to make a difference’.

Stafford attributes these individualistic responses to issues, such as climate change and plastic pollution, capturing the consumer zeitgeist of late. “People seem to be taking this seriously in a way that has not happened before.”

However, sustainability hasn’t quite shaken off its beatnik connotations: 58% of respondents think sustainable products are less luxurious and more ‘hippy’. The terms most commonly associated are ‘responsible’ (in the US, the UK and China) and ‘quality’ (China), suggesting there’s a need for sustainable living to get a new image. Indeed, only 17% associated sustainability with ‘cool’ (increasing to 21% for Gen Z respondents).

“Brands can help drive more sustainable consumption by making it feel like something covetable or aspirational,” says Stafford, citing Adidas’s partnership with Parley for the Oceans and streetwear brand CHNGE. JWT’s theory on this is supported by recent research from Germany and Switzerland, which found that people were more likely to try eating edible insects if they were described as ‘delicious’ and ‘trendy’ rather than good for them and the environment.

There is an appetite for companies to be more transparent and forward-thinking in this arena – 89% of respondents think brands should do more to educate consumers about the sustainability of their products, and 83% say that, all else being equal, they’d always pick the brand with the better sustainability record.

For Stafford, the most compelling insight from the research is that claims about sustainability now outweigh quality across most product categories. “We analysed what motivates purchase across 21 sectors and found that sustainability claims had a stronger impact on people’s likelihood to purchase in all but three of them. For this to outweigh quality – in categories such as luxury, hotels, fashion or beauty – really underlines how important this issue has become to consumers.”

Stafford believes the answer to sustainability lies in a collaborative effort. “Governments should put in place incentives and penalties, and businesses must get serious about their impact, and about providing the right choices for consumers. There’s no silver bullet solution to this; it will take a patchwork of efforts.”

The quantitative survey of 2,001 adults in the UK, the US, Australia and China took place in June 2018, using JWT’s online Sonar tool.

Attitudes to sustainability

• UK – 60% of British consumers strongly believe there is ‘far too much plastic packaging these days’, versus a global average of 51%

• US – 20% feel climate change is not an important issue, compared with 13% globally. Forty-four per cent do not want to see petrol cars phased out

• Australia – 85% say they should not have to pay more for sustainable products/services, but 90% agree that, if sustainable living could save them money, they would adopt it

• China – among those who say they could be doing more to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, one third say they are not doing so because it’s too much effort.

This article was first published in Impact magazine.