A new survey by Smurfit Kappa has provided insights into how Conscious Consumerism is continuing to drive the need for U.K. organizations to embed sustainability into business operations. Will the U.S. follow?
With a growing demand for higher transparency of companies’ sustainability practices among a new generation of consumers, the survey also highlights how two-thirds of U.K. businesses struggled to measure the bottom-line impact of their sustainability strategies. The Balancing Sustainability and Profitability Survey, conducted among 200 senior executives and 1.500 consumers in the U.K., examines the business community’s and consumers’ views on sustainability and how they are adapting to create a more sustainable future.
The survey found that 61% of consumers expect the brands they buy from to have clear sustainability practices. While 65% of consumers say price is still a key factor in their purchasing decision, in the past six months more than half say they have purchased a product specifically because it had reusable or biodegradable packaging, and 56% have paid more for a product or service that was sustainably sourced.