2024 Highlights Report
Healthy & Sustainable Living Report 2024
Empowering consumers to live healthier and more sustainable lives is vital for our shared future and presents a significant opportunity for brands to build trust and engagement.
Our new Healthy & Sustainable Living report reveals critical trends and opportunities in the evolving consumer landscape. Based on over 30,000 interviews across 31 markets, the report highlights the shifting attitudes and behaviors towards sustainability and healthy living and identifies opportunities for brands and organizations to help enable sustainable lifestyles. It presents five key insights to help organizations navigate these challenges, connect with consumers, and foster progress as they prepare for 2025 and beyond.
The impacts of greenhushing are beginning to materialize and shape the sustainability landscape
Interest, engagement, and behaviors related to sustainable living are declining in some parts of the world as brands pull back on sustainability communications due to anti-greenwashing regulations while the cost- of-living crisis continues.
There is a growing opportunity for brands, governments, and NGOs to support people as they increasingly feel the effects of climate change
Climate impacts and their implications are changing the way we live our daily lives, presenting opportunities to respond to emerging expectations around adaptation.
Feeling Greatly Affected by Climate Change
Average of 26 Markets (%),* 2020–2024
People with young families are driving the sustainable living agenda while younger consumers are showing signs of disengagement
People with children at home are the most receptive to sustainability communications and are most likely to drive the sustainability agenda, whereas young people are increasingly becoming disconnected.
Distinct expressions of sustainable living are emerging, reflecting varied motivations and behaviors
Segmentation shows that there are two well-defined demonstrations of sustainable living – the Enthusiasts and the Minimalists – that require different types of engagement for optimal impact.
Segmentation Based on Environmental Attitudes
Average of 31 Markets (%), 2024
Anxious Inactives are environmentally conscious and feel a significant amount of guilt and anxiety about their negative impact on the environment but believe that individual actions have limited impact and are relatively disengaged. This segment has the highest percentage of Gen Z. Emphasizing easy steps to make progress feel achievable is how to best engage Anxious Inactives, helping them break free from the anxiety-inaction cycle.
Enthusiasts are the most environmentally conscious and empowered segment and are highly engaged in sustainable behaviors and sustainable purchasing. This segment tends to be slightly overrepresented in emerging markets, particularly in Africa. The unlock for Enthusiasts involves the excitement of new sustainable products and services, showcasing how sustainability can offer better and different experiences.
Indifferents are the least environmentally conscious segment and engagement is lower compared to other segments. To reach Indifferents, providing general communications to show personal benefits such as saving money without overemphasizing sustainability is the most effective method.
Minimalists, who are slightly overrepresented in Europe and North America, tend to be less active and express their environmentalism in a different way that is more associated with the degrowth movement – focusing on decreased personal consumption and reducing their footprint in ways that are also saving money for those under inflationary pressure. The key to engaging Minimalists is to focus on products, services, and behaviors that help reduce their footprint in an affordable way.
Anxious
Inactives
Indifferents
Enthusiasts
Minimalists
Many individuals are finding joy in embracing healthy and sustainable living
Despite the current decline in sustainable consumer behaviors, people remain largely receptive to healthy and sustainable offerings as most associate these with highly desirable and positive lifestyles.
About the research program
Launched in 2019, the goal of the Healthy & Sustainable Living Research Program is to help organizations better understand the mindsets and behaviors of consumers across the world and help facilitate more healthy and sustainable lifestyles.
This sixth wave of our research program was developed with the support of dedicated partners, including Akatú Institute, BBMG, Consumer International, IKEA, Levi Strauss & Co., Logitech, Mondelez International, NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, P&G, PepsiCo, SC Johnson, Target, Visa, and WWF International, among others.
