Sustainability increasingly important for consumers, survey finds

Compared to 2019, 22% more consumers said environmental responsibility is very or extremely important when deciding on a brand, according to a recent survey carried out by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBM).

IBM, a BRC climate action roadmap partner, surveyed more than 14,000 adults around the world about their views of sustainability, and 1,900 executives globally about their plans for the next year.

Adding to the escalated importance of environmental responsibility, 84% of consumers now indicate environmental sustainability is at least moderately important.

Meanwhile, IBM reports an increase in consumers factoring in sustainability to their financial decisions. About 40% of consumers say environmental impact factors are more important than cost, comfort, and convenience.

Some 50% believe the climate change exposure of a company affects its financial risk, with 92% of this group expect to invest, divest, or lobby fund managers to change investment mixes based on environmental factors and/or social responsibility in the next 12 months.

However, only 10% of companies in the consumer industry have defined unique metrics to measure sustainability progress. Just under 20% have aligned organisational performance metrics to measure progress.