What motivates consumers to make ethically conscious decisions?

Society, Sustainability
  • Only 47% of UK adults believe that individual efforts to limit their own impact on climate change are worthwhile, although this rises to 70% of readers and users of the Guardian and Observer, who tend to be more eco-conscious.
  • The research further shows that 40% of UK adults think that pollution from other countries makes our efforts irrelevant, falling to 17% among the GNM audience.
  • The study mirrors other recent research that shows that consumers are not prepared to pay a premium for more ethical goods and services.
  • Quality remains the main influencer of choice regardless of whether a product or service is ethical.
  • Also key is the availability of ethical choices, with 69% of UK adults 93% of GNMs audience keen to buy ethical clothing if it was more widely stocked.
  • There is also increased demand for more transparency and accountability from companies. For example, 86% of the GNM audience like buying products from companies that give something back to society and 84% think that companies should be penalised for failing to care for the environment.
  • 41% of GNM audience:  Strong sense of personal responsibility in dealing with climate change, do everything they can to live ethically, have a strong sense of urgency, highly aware and understand environmental and ethical concepts, influence others

via What motivates consumers to make ethically conscious decisions? on Guardian Sustainable Business


Ed Dowding

Ed Dowding

Founder, strategist, writer, gadfly, TED talker, world-record holder, and (foolishly) reality-TV farmer. DOES: Innovation, Product, Advocacy THINKS: Regenerative Systems, Institution design, 300 year horizons

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