Front cover of report: “The Better Consumer in Europe”, published March 2013.The “Better Consumer” report aims to be a source of reliable information to those executive saying “Show me there is demand, and we'll be happy to cater to it” when asked why their fashion brand is not producing better, more sustainable products.
Consumers have never historically trusted business much. At present, over 75% of consumers are suspicious of corporate sustainability pledges and do not trust businesses fully; peer feedback and word of mouth has become more important than ever. An equal percentage is of the opinion that large companies do not care about the environment. Additionally, 82% of all consumers have noticed a form of “environmental friendly” claim from companies. However, among these, 54% state that they do not trust any advertised ‘eco’, ‘green’ or ‘sustainability’ claims.
This brand new report shows that, the opposite trend is surfacing with regards to brands: consumers increasingly place their trust in the value of individual product brands. Brands, more than corporations, have the power to build relations with customers and promote more sustainable lifestyles. How does this happen? And, possibly more importantly still, what is important to these ‘better consumers’?
Consumers are heavily influenced by certifications when making purchases. Approximately 80% of consumers state that labelling helps them make better choices when shopping. This data is consistent across all major European markets. Importantly, the level of knowledge about a specific label and certification correlates with the level of trust consumers have in a specific label. In other words, those that know a specific label well, tend to trust it more than those whose knowledge about it is limited.
A key outcome of the research is also that consumers are generally neither purposely ethical nor unethical. However, given choice, sufficient information and comparable price/quality ratios of products, they often prefer the most ethical product among all the products available to them. But: convenience remains an important factor in the equation. If chain retailers and department stores were willing to offer a larger range of better products, the market will be ready for them. And the price/quality ratio is of high importance to consumers. People are willing to pay extra for better products, up to 20%. However, this is only the case when such products perform at least on the same level as their conventional equivalents.
Global brands should also be aware that terminology varies from country to country, as do the nuances of what is considered a better, more sustainable, product. This evidently affects consumer-based communications: if in the UK the concept of sustainability is very broad and encompasses environmental and social concepts, in Germany it is strongly associated with environmental issues. This is clearly a challenge for global brands that aim to sell and communicate coherently in different markets. In Europe we have found that the further north and west a market is, the more aware and demanding consumers are about resource optimisation and consequently better production. Accordingly, this is less often the case in markets further south and east. As a consequence, northern and western European countries are where better products are most in demand, and where consumers are the most aware.
The full ‘Better Consumer’ report can be downloaded at:
https://shirahime.ch/2013/03/the-better-consumer-in-europe-the-trends-fashion-companies-should-watch-to-make-good-decisions/.
