Summary
Introduction
The volume of information available regarding ethical and environmental issues has manifested in a growing number of global consumers not only acknowledging the urgency of such problems, but accepting personal responsibility to address them. In turn, industry players have acknowledged that environmentalism is now a key battleground in the fight to win the hearts and minds of consumers
Features and benefits
• Identify the most important sustainability-aligned consumer developments, and understand how these affect household care choices in 20 countries
• Improve your marketing by following best-practice guidelines enabling more effective targeting with ‘on-trend’ products and relevant communications
• Better meet changing expectations across the value chain as companies adopt a sustainable stance across the household products sector
• Evidence-led insight helps users reduce risk and make high quality decisions about an industry defining, ‘game changing’ issue
Highlights
Globally, consumers have moved into a more reflective and concerned phase of consumption, even in spite of ongoing financial considerations. Individuals have adopted a stronger ethical/environmental stance (certainly attitudinally), and have slowly begun to adapt their consumption patterns to fall in line with their ethical beliefs
Comparing proprietary Datamonitor research waves from 2009 and 2010 reveals a 15 percentage point increase in respondents choosing household care products with ethical/environmental benefits ‘all’ or ‘most of the time’
Datamonitor’s Green Consumer Survey conducted in June 2010 found that a majority of respondents were either unsure about (24%) or simply did not know (31%) what a ‘carbon footprint’ is. Only a small minority (7%) report having had their carbon footprint calculated
Your key questions answered
• To what extent are consumers' concerned about sustainbility issues? How is this influencing actual behavior
• How important are issues relating to ethics and sustainability in the broader hierarchy of factors shaping product choices? What are the motivators?
• What are the core barriers limiting consumer adoption of more sustainable household cleaning and laundry products? How do they vary by country?
• How can my company and brands best capitalize on this industry defining trend?
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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Ethical consumerism is having a pervasive impact on the household products sector
Widespread, deep-rooted environmental concerns are driving the ethical and sustainability agenda
Household care consumers are acting on ethical beliefs, but a disconnect remains between pro sustainability attitudes and actual purchase behavior
In beginning to act on their sustainability concerns, consumers are influenced by a broad range of sustainability aligned product features and benefits
Packaging has emerged as a highly important issue in the sustainability debate, including in the household products industry
Ethical consumerism can have important implications for emotional wellbeing
Many factors impede the larger-scale adoption of ethical and sustainable household care products such as lack of perceived value, lack of trust, and limited choice
The household care industry must make a concerted effort to make products and operations more compliant with contemporary consumers’ changing expectations
OVERVIEW
Catalyst
Summary
THE FUTURE DECODED
Introduction: ethical consumerism is having a pervasive impact on the household products sector
This report focuses on the highly topical issue of ethicality and sustainability in consumer packaged goods (CPGs), with specific emphasis on household cleaning and laundry care products
Consumers’ changing preferences and expectations are pivotal to the growing influence of ethicality and sustainability in the household products sector
Ethical consumerism involves a mix of positive and negative behaviors, while sustainability is a more holistic term capturing a broader range of issues
Sustainability reflects wider global issues ranging from the natural environment to financial markets
Ethical consumerism is driven by a number of influences, which are covered in greater detail in the Trends and Insights in this report
Key takeouts and implications: expect ethics and sustainability to exert more influence in the household products industry going forward
Trend: widespread, deep-rooted environmental concerns are driving the ethical and sustainability agenda
Deep-rooted environmental values now influence majorities of global citizens
The extent to which individuals feel truly informed about environmental issues, including their own behavioral impact, is typically lower than expressed concern
Key takeouts and implications: with ethical and environmental issues remaining a top priority for global consumers in the coming years, the household care industry must act accordingly
Trend: household care consumers are acting on ethical beliefs, but a disconnect remains between pro sustainability attitudes and actual purchase behavior
Consumers are reflecting on their own behavior in light of escalating ethical consciousness
There remains a gap between the stated importance of ethical issues and actual purchase behavior
Ethicality-aligned product features are typically lower down the list of behavioral influencers for both store and in-store household care product purchases specifically
Consumer are, however, purchasing more sustainable household care products more frequently and expect to continue doing so
Key take-outs and implications: consumers are committed to ethical buying to varying degrees so there is no guarantee that consumers will consistently choose ‘good companies’
Insight: in beginning to act on their sustainability concerns, consumers are influenced by a broad range of sustainability aligned product features and benefits, especially naturals
A high and growing proportion of consumers express some level of concern about ingredients used in household care products
Ingredient concerns are driving the growing momentum behind natural household cleaning products, even if concerns about efficacy persist
Eco-minded household care consumers are conscious of saving energy and, in doing so, saving money
There is some evidence that consumers are prone to a so-called “rebound effect”
Key take-outs and implications: the environmental segment looks set to become more embedded in the laundry and cleaning segments, but the industry needs to exercise some caution
Insight: packaging has emerged as a highly important issue in the sustainability debate, including in the household products industry
Intensifying pressure exists for the packaging industry to develop more sustainable solutions across the supply chain
Packaging and associated waste is an important ‘green’ issue for household care consumers
Sustainable packaging grows in importance as consumer awareness increases
Household/laundry care packaging suffers less than most other consumer packaged good formats from the perception of excess packaging
Consumers are slowly beginning to put their ideals to practice when it comes to choosing household care products based on sustainable packaging credentials
Household care product packaging has an important role as a vehicle for communicating aspects of company/brand ethicality
Key take-outs and implications: consumers feel that grocery packaging is excessive and are making consumption adjustments accordingly; producers must react to ensure that packaging is more sustainable
Insight: ethical consumerism can have important implications for emotional wellbeing which creates an opportunity for ‘win-win’ scenarios through social marketing
Living an ethical or sustainable lifestyle is an important part of creating a feeling of wellbeing
Global warming is directly associated with negative personal health effects
One ‘ethical wellbeing’ related theme is the growing attention has been directed towards biodiversity, particularly the use of palm oil in products
Key take-outs and implications: environmentalism and health are more inter-related than many realize
Insight: many factors impede the larger-scale adoption of ethical and sustainable household care products such as lack of perceived value, lack of trust, and limited choice
A lack of specific knowledge is one important consideration impeding ethical household care consumerism
A perception of ‘efficacy compromise’ can inhibits a larger scale adoption of more environmentally friendly products, particularly
The price premiums often accompanying ethically aligned household care products are an ongoing obstacle to larger scale adoption
The ‘greenwashed’ consumer has become more discerning and less trusting about declarations of ethicality and sustainability
Lack of regulation for organic and Fairtrade products can create confusion and disengagement
Ethical shopping will sometimes be perceived as a hassle for time poor shoppers, which is why ‘choice editing’ has emerged as a credible retailing tactic
Key take-outs and implications: household care players need to be proactive in addressing the obstacles impeding ethical and environmental consumerism
ACTION POINTS
Action: embrace a stronger sustainability stance but not at the expense of more pertinent household care product attributes that consumers demand
Ensure ethicality and sustainability remains a secondary message, but does resonate in the overall branding effort, particularly for mass market brands
But if a real ethical/sustainability advantage exists, companies must use it to inspire customers and end consumers
Reinforce the personal benefit of a product by clearly communicating ‘win-win’ scenarios when marketing ethicality and sustainability credentials in household care
Develop ‘less harsh’ products and ingredients: proactively substitute synthetic ingredients with certified organic and natural ingredients when feasible
Allow packaging to take center stage in wider sustainability pledges
Be prepared for private labelers to actively minimize the marketing advantage that adopting more sustainability aligned principles potentially facilitates
Action: market more ethically aligned household products as a positive lifestyle choice
Stress individual choice along with environmental benefits and focus on the positive aspects of sustainability
Recruit passionate advocates to leverage the ‘viral effect’ that is possible with compelling sustainability-led product and marketing concepts
Communicate the positive and ‘cool’ aspects of ethical consumerism
Use ethicality and environmentalism to leverage brand authenticity
Action: ensure that ethically aligned household care claims deliver on their promises and thus serve to engender consumer trust
Adopt a longer term dedication to a particular cause to reinforce the integrity of a commitment
Be particularly attentive to brand trust indicators because it will influence the credibility (and effectiveness) associated with sustainability claims
Ensure that all sustainability claims are transparent, well-documented and measurable
Companies should be prepared to validate the scientific case behind each environmental and ethical claim
Ensure that ethical claims provide a complete picture of the environmental impact of a given product across the entire lifecycle
Action: bring ethical household care to the mass market, but be wary of over-commercialization
From the top-down, develop strong corporate brands and ensure that their values are reinforced by individuals throughout the company
Use leading/flagship brands to demonstrate a wider commitment to ethicality and sustainability but also recognize that they will be held to higher scrutiny
Ensure that principles of ethicality are an important component of emerging market strategies
Consider acquisition as a more credible route to the ethical/sustainability market
APPENDIX
Definitions
Supplementary data
Consumer survey data
Methodology
Further reading and references
Ask the analyst
Datamonitor consulting
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