With frustration at the lack of progress on sustainability being expressed from many quarters, who should we be expecting to drive change? Experts in sustainability tend to believe the impetus has to come from consumers: when asked about sustainability supply and demand dynamics earlier this year, only around one in four (23%) thought that society required a greater supply of regulations and options for consumers from companies and governments, while 41 percent thought that more consumer demand is required. Experts … “Governments, Businesses, and Consumers Look to Each Other to Drive Increased Sustainability”
Traditional company communications are least trusted sources of information on sustainability NEW YORK CITY – 21 May 2013 – Trust is no longer in your hands. According to a study by GlobeScan, SustainAbility, and BBMG, social sources of trust like consumer reviews, blogs and message boards (28%) as well as friends, family and co-workers (27%) now rival traditional sources like certifications (40%) and media reports (31%) as consumers’ most trusted sources for determining whether a product is socially and environmentally responsible. Barely one … “Global Study Finds Peers, Consumer Reviews Now Rival Certifications As Top Sources of Trust on Product Sustainability Claims”
NEW YORK CITY – 25 April 2013 – A study by The Regeneration Roadmap – a joint project by GlobeScan, SustainAbility, and BBMG – finds that nearly 9 in 10 consumers globally (86%) say “ingredient transparency is extremely important or very important” for companies to address as part of their products, services, or operations, including 88% of consumers in emerging markets and 84% of consumers in developed markets. However, only 57% regularly “check the list of ingredients before purchasing” products, highlighting the gap between interest and action … “Consumers Rank Ingredient Transparency Among Most Important Issues For Brands”
This article by Eric Whan originally appeared on GreenBiz.com, as part of our Proof Points blog series. 7 March 2013 – What have the turbulent past few years done for consumers’ behaviors around the environment? With political leadership on the issue notable only by its absence, the issue of whether consumers will ever embrace the sort of behavioral change most experts say is needed to avoid future environmental disaster is becoming ever more pressing. Leadership companies will be those that get into … “How Can Businesses Nudge ‘Stuck’ Consumers to be Greener?”
Click to read the full study On Thursday, February 7, 2013, BBMG, GlobeScan and SustainAbility hosted a special webinar featuring highlights from a new global Regeneration Roadmap study on how consumers are balancing environmentalism and materialism to shape the future of sustainability. A full recording of the webinar is available here Can we shop our way to sustainability? What actually motivates behavior change? What is the role of consumers in shaping a more sustainable economy? Based on the views of 6,224 consumers across … “Webinar on Consumers and the Future of Sustainability”
GlobeScan’s four practice leaders sat down to identify key trends to watch out for in 2013 in the areas of reputation, brand, sustainability and engagement. See the top three trends each have identified across GlobeScan’s core areas of expertise. Corporate reputation management, while constantly evolving, is set to undergo even greater changes in the next few years. The following trends are likely to drive this accelerated evolution. Femke de Man Director, Reputation Practice Lead Read Bio | Email Femke … “2013 GlobeScan Practice Area Trends”
NEW YORK CITY – 30 January 2013 – Is there such a thing as sustainable consumption? A new study by The Regeneration Roadmap – a joint project by GlobeScan, SustainAbility, and BBMG – finds that a majority of consumers across six international markets are seeking to reconcile their desire for shopping and style with responsibility to the environment and society through their purchases. According to the report, Rethinking Consumption: Consumers and the Future of Sustainability, nearly two-thirds of consumers globally equate shopping … “Aspirational Consumers Unite Style, Sustainability to Shape Market Trends”
Greendex 2012: Consumer Choice and the Environment – A Worldwide Tracking Survey | Highlights Report
National Geographic has partnered with GlobeScan to develop the 2012 Greendex: an international research approach to measure and monitor consumer progress towards environmentally sustainable consumption.
National Geographic has partnered with GlobeScan to develop the 2012 Greendex: an international research approach to measure and monitor consumer progress towards environmentally sustainable consumption.
GlobeScan’s public attitudes tracking shows that the corporate world as a whole continues to suffer from a lack of trust in the eyes of consumers. Companies, and global ones in particular, are far less trusted than NGOs, and nearly half of citizens when polled this year were unable to call to mind a socially or environmentally responsible company when asked to do so.
However, the latest analysis of our findings reveals that the companies that are named as socially or environmentally responsible tend to cluster in a number of key sectors – with food companies the most frequently mentioned as socially responsible, and accounting for 13 percent of the total. As our chart this week shows – and as befits a highly consumer-facing sector, personal experience of a food company’s products or services is highly influential in making people feel that it is socially responsible, with advertising not far behind as a key information channel for communicating a sense of social responsibility.
Interestingly, though, it appears that a controversial sector does not have to be a bar to a positive reputation for responsibility for a company. Despite being rated as one of the least responsible sectors overall, oil companies are third most likely to be cited as examples of environmentally responsible companies (by 5%, same as electronic equipment / electrical appliances companies). Here, however, the consumer experience is far less significant in driving this perception, and news reports are the most significant channel by some distance – well ahead of the experience people have when filling up their cars. This highlights the need for companies seeking to engage consumers around issues of corporate responsibility to adapt the information channels they prioritize carefully according to their sector, or risk wasting precious time and budget.
Finding from the GlobeScan Radar, Wave 1, 2012
For more information on this finding, please contact Sam Mountford (Read Bio)