Consumer Attitudes and

Perceptions on
Sustainability
March 2010
Contents
Summary
1: Methodology
2: Attitudes towards environmental topics
3: Major influencers
4: Government responsibilities
5: Business responsibilities
6: Brand perceptions
7: Impact on purchasing behaviour
8: Conclusions and recommendations

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 2

Summary
This paper reports on 922 responses from members of the Guardian News and Media consumer Brand
Aid Panel to a questionnaire on environmental issues and brand perceptions.

The respondents expressed a high level of concern over environmental matters, with 79% stating that
they considered the environment when buying a product or service, and 81% agreeing that they have to
make sacrifices to be greener. Developing customer insight into the nature of those sacrifices will be
important for businesses that want to expand their market share of environmentally aware consumers.

The biggest deterrents to buying green products or services are price, a suspicion of deceptive
marketing, and availability. Almost half the consumers (48%) indicated that brand loyalty is not a
deterrent, suggesting a willingness to switch brands for a greener alternative. Companies should be
tracking their competition carefully for evidence of increasing commitment to sustainability.

Government is perceived to play a major role in increasing awareness of climate change and providing
incentives to take action. The Liberal Democratic Party is thought by 73% of the consumers to be the
most supportive of the green agenda. In the near term, it will be critical for businesses to have an
understanding of the environmental policies of the various political parties, and the potential impact of
any changes in government.

Companies are perceived to be applying a lower priority to climate change than is desirable: 75% of the
consumers felt that it was given a low priority, whereas 73% said it should be a high priority. Effective
public communication about corporate environmental and sustainability initiatives is important for all
companies.

Industrials and transport are perceived to be the least environmentally friendly of the business sectors,
but perceptions are open to change because over one-third indicated that they have no opinion. There is
even more scope for changing perceptions in the technology and financial sectors; over two-thirds of the
consumers had no opinion when asked about the environmentally friendly level of leading brands. In the
retail sector, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, and John Lewis got the highest ratings, with just over half of the
consumers perceiving them to be very or somewhat environmentally friendly.

When asked to name the top three brands that are most trusted in relationship to sustainability, Ecover
was mentioned 280 times followed by the Co-op with 157 mentions. It is worth further investigation to
understand why these companies are doing well in relation to sustainability.

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 3

1: Methodology
Guardian News and Media (GNM) has established a Brand Aid Panel of over 3,000 GNM consumers,
people who use its print and online products. The panel is weighted by age, gender and frequency of
Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk usage to match the known consumer profile. During March
2010, the panel was sent a questionnaire to determine attitudes towards various environmental issues
and test some brand perceptions. This paper reports the results from that survey.

A total of 922 consumers responded to the questionnaire, fairly evenly split between male (54%) and
female (46%). Respondents are representative of the total GNM panel and tend to be well educated,
mature, and relatively affluent: 87% have college or university degrees, 54% are aged between 35 and
54, and 46% have a gross household income of more than £50,000.

Some differences between men and women are highlighted in this paper, but overall there were few
substantial variations in responses across the different demographic groups.

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 4

2: Attitudes towards environmental topics
When asked to rate their concern about climate change, the average score on a 1 to 5 scale was 3.93
with 73% indicating that they are concerned or very concerned.

Environmental concerns are also reflected in the indications that: 79% consider the environment when
buying a product or service; 88% take care to dispose of unwanted technology in an environmentally
friendly way, some or all of the time; and 71% are printing less as a result of improved environmental
awareness.

Consumers were also aware of the broad environmental impact of their activities. Over 85% recognise
the contribution of transport, food, housing and technology to their carbon footprint.

How much do you think the following factors contribute

to your overall carbon footprint?

Technology

Housing

Food (including waste and packaging)

Transport

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Very much contribute Slightly contribute

No opinion either way Do not contribute

As the consumers who responded are representative of GNM readership and usage, it might be expected
that they would be more concerned about environmental issues than the population in general.
Nevertheless, they also recognise that there is a price to pay for such responsibility – 81% believe that
they need to make sacrifices to be greener.

Do you think you have to make sacrifices to be

green?

Not sure
No 5%
14%

Yes
81%

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 5

3: Major Influencers
The recession appears to have had a limited impact on consumer’s attitudes towards climate change
with 77% reporting they feel no differently.

How influential are the following to your understanding

of climate change?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Friends
Family
Employer
Government
Advertising
Celebrities
News media
Entertainment media

Very influential Somewhat influential

No opinion either way Not influential

The news media is important to the understanding of climate change, with 84% reporting them to be
somewhat or very influential and 65% noting the influence of government.

But there is more trust in scientists (44%) or NGOs (31%) taking the lead on climate change issues than
government (13%) or the media (1%). Here there is some difference between the sexes, with women
being more trusting of NGOs (39% vs. 23%) and less trusting of government (8% vs. 16%) than men.

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 6

4: Government Responsbilities
A majority (84%) think that the government should provide incentives to act on climate change, with 72%
wanting the government to increase education and 67% to increase awareness. A further 61% agreed on
the need for further legislation, while 24% suggested that the government should let others, such as
NGOs or businesses, take the lead.

Which of the following measures do you think the

government should take to act on climate change?

Let others (NGOs, business etc) take the

24%
lead

Increase awareness 67%

Increase education 72%

Provide incentives 84%

Introduce further legislation 61%

In the light of the forthcoming election it is interesting to note that the Liberal Democratic Party is seen to
be the most supportive of the green agenda. Conservatives are widely believed to be very much less
supportive than the other parties.

In contrast to the consumers’ majority perception that the recession has not changed their attitudes to
climate change, they do perceive that the government has begun to pay less attention to the issue, with
68% believing that the recession has delayed or decreased government attention to climate change and
only 25% perceiving no change.

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 7

5: Business Responsibilities
Overall, consumers are not very impressed with corporate responsibilities on the prioritisation of climate
change. 75% per cent think companies assign a low priority to climate change, whereas 73% think it
should be a high priority.

80

70

60

50 How seriously do you

40 think most companies
take climate change?
30
How seriously should
20 companies take climate
change?
10

0
Top High Low Not Not sure
priority priority priority relevant

Industrials and transport are considered to be the least environmentally friendly business sectors, with
technology and health the most environmentally friendly. These perceptions are open to change as over
one-third of the respondents had no opinion either way.

How environmentally friendly do you think the

following business sectors are?

Financials
Telecoms
Media
Technology
Health
Retail and consumer
Transport
Industrials
Energy

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Very environmentally friendly Somewhat environmentally friendly

No opinion either way Not environmentally friendly

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 8

6: Brand Perceptions
In the retail sector, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, and John Lewis enjoy the most positive perceptions, with
over 50% rating them as very or somewhat environmentally friendly. Next got the lowest positive rating,
but 63% indicated that they had no opinion either way. Asda and Tesco had the strongest negative
perceptions.

Please rate how environmentally friendly you think the following

brands are:

Asda
Waitrose
Wm Morrison
Tesco
Sainsbury's
Next
Marks & Spencer
IKEA
John Lewis

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Very environmentally friendly Somewhat environmentally friendly

No opinion either way Not very environmentally friendly
Not at all environmentally friendly

In the technology sector, Apple is perceived to be the most environmentally friendly, but over half of the
respondents had no opinion either way.

Please rate how environmentally friendly you think the

following brands are:

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

IBM
HP
Microsoft
Apple
Dell
Panasonic
Fujitsu Siemens
Sony Ericsson

Very environmentally friendly Somewhat environmentally friendly

No opinion either way Not very environmentally friendly
Not at all environmentally friendly

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 9

In the financial sector, there is even more scope for increasing knowledge, with well over two-thirds
having no opinion either way on any of the brands. Barclays was the best known, but had the highest
negative perception.

Please rate how environmentally friendly you think the following

brands are:

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Admiral Group

Alliance Trust

Aviva

Barclays

HSBC group

Lloyds Group

Royal Bank of Scotland Group

Standard Chartered Group

Very environmentally friendly Somewhat environmentally friendly

No opinion either way Not very environmentally friendly
Not at all environmentally friendly

In unaided responses to a question on the top three brands that are most trusted in relation to
sustainability, Ecover was mentioned 280 times, followed by the Co-op with 157 mentions. It is
interesting to note that 177 respondents could not name any brands and their comments suggested a
general level of mistrust of brands in the context of the environment.

Which 3 company brands do you trust the most in

relation to sustainability?

Soil Association 26
John Lewis 28
Body Shop 41
Marks & Spencer 79
Waitrose 93
Fairtrade 97
Co-op 157
Ecover 280
None 177

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 10

7: Impact on Purchasing Behaviour
Despite noting the need for sacrifices, the majority of the consumer respondents are keen to buy green
products or services. Only 14% noted that they are very much or slightly deterred by lack of interest, with
65% indicating that lack of interest does not deter them.

Do what extent do the following factors deter you from

buying green products or services?

Lack of interest
Lack of information
Time pressure
Brand loyalty
Price
Greenwash
Availability

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Very much deters me Slightly deters me

No opinion either way Does not deter me

Price, a suspicion of deceptive marketing practices (greenwash), and availability are the top three
deterrents to green purchasing behaviour, with 73% very much or slightly deterred by price.

Brand loyalty is not a clear deterrent; nearly half of the consumers (48%) indicated that brand loyalty did
not deter them, suggesting the possibility that they would be willing to switch brands for something that
is ‘greener’.

If companies emphasise their green credentials, 61% would consider changing their purchasing
behaviour and 27% indicated that they were not sure. Women are slightly more positive (68% yes and
7% no) than men (55% yes and 16% no) about their behaviour change.

Would you consider changing your purchasing habits if a

company emphasised their green credentials in their
advertising ?

Not sure
27%

Yes
No 61%
12%

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 11

When asked specifically about ICT purchases, 58% indicated that green credentials influence their
purchase decisions, whilst 11% were not sure.

In addition, over half gave some or a lot of attention to ethical considerations when purchasing IT
products, 29% not very much and 12% not at all.

How much attention do you give to ethical

considerations when you are purchasing IT products?
Don't know
A lot of
No attention 3%
attention
12% 9%

Some
Not very much
attention
attention
47%
29%

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 12

8: Conclusions and Recommendations
Businesses should note the importance of environmental credentials in making purchasing decisions, but
should also be aware of perceptions around price and deceptive marketing even among the most
committed and environmentally aware purchasers. Established brands could be at risk if they are
perceived to be less green than alternatives. Companies should be tracking their competition carefully for
evidence of increasing commitment to a green agenda or sustainability.

The news media has an important role to play in education on environmental issues. The government
also has a role to play in education and raising awareness, but the more important role is seen to be in
providing incentives to be greener. The nature of such incentives warrants further investigation.

In the near term, it will be critical for businesses to have an understanding of the green agenda of the
various parties and the potential impact of a change in government.

There seems to be a lack of trust and awareness about the realities of corporate environmental
commitment and more in-depth research is needed to understand some of the specific concerns. In
particular, there is a discrepancy between the level of priority that companies are perceived to be
assigning to environmental issues and the desired level of prioritisation. Effective communication on
environmental and sustainability initiatives will be important.

It is also imperative that companies understand the nature of the sacrifices that are perceived to be
necessary to be greener in their particular sector. Such detailed customer insight should help
organisations to position product or service value that provides benefits in exchange for the ‘sacrifice’,
and increase their market share of environmentally aware consumers.

If you require further information, please contact:

Philippe Martin

Tel: +44 (0)20 3353 2445

Email: Philippe.martin@guardian.co.uk

Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions on Sustainability 13