Summary
TrendSights Analysis: Environmental Responsibility - Meeting consumers’ environmentally conscious expectations
Summary
Strong focus on climate change, environmental deterioration, biodiversity loss, and resource shortages amid growing energy demands; consumers and brands/producers are all increasingly making decisions based on responsibility towards the natural environment, driving a need for continual improvement in genuinely responsible products and services.
Environmental Responsibility is a constituent trend within one of the eight mega-trends identified by GlobalData as being integral to shaping the FMCG landscape, Sustainability & Ethics. It reflects consumers’ broadening concern about the global environment and how that is influencing their attitude towards consumption and brands and producers.
Trend drivers
- The desire to fight climate change.
- Concern about product waste and pollution.
- Changing personal attitudes and behaviors regarding the environment.
- Demand for corporate change to reflect those concerns.
Consumer targets
- Young adults who have grown up in an era of environmental awareness, making it a normal expectation for them.
- Emerging market consumers who expect more from producers and often see the effects of serious environmental problems first-hand.
Consumers are becoming more educated about the environmental impact of their product choices and increasingly basing those choices, at least partially, on a more responsible ethos with respect to natural impact. Consequently, brands are responding through targeting "green" consumers mainly by using environmentally friendly claims on product packaging (e.g. "recyclable", "natural ingredients", "eco-friendly", "locally produced"). However, with consumers inclined to be critical of brands’ messages, the onus is on producers to convince beyond mere marketing copy and be demonstrably committed to mitigating the environmental impact of their products and businesses.
The report "TrendSights Analysis: Environmental Responsibility" covers what the trend is, why it is important, who is most influenced by it and how brands and manufacturers can capitalize. The research concludes by identifying where the trend is heading next and how long it will last.
Companies mentioned in this report: Trader Joe’s, Raw Food Central, Varni Brothers, Banrock Station, Grounded, Body Shop, Carrefour.
Scope
- Consumers are becoming more educated about the environmental impact of their product choices and increasingly basing those choices, at least partially, on a more responsible ethos with respect to natural impact.
- Brands are responding through targeting "green" consumers mainly by using environmentally friendly claims on product packaging (e.g. "recyclable," "natural ingredients," "eco-friendly," "locally produced").
- With consumers inclined to be critical of brands’ messages, the onus is on producers to convince beyond mere marketing copy and be committed to mitigating the environmental impact of their products and businesses.
Reasons to buy
- Understand the role of environmental responsibility in changing consumer attitudes and behaviors.
