Economic Downturn Creates Additional Hurdle for Purchasing Sustainable Products
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Consumer Attitudes About Sustainability

Economic Downturn Creates Additional Hurdle for Purchasing Sustainable Products

22 November 2022 / Report

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According to our survey of more than 2,000 US respondents conducted jointly with The Harris Poll, 60 percent of respondents—and 58 percent of people with $100,000+ incomes—report a declining propensity to buy sustainable products because of inflation. An even larger share (75 percent) believe people’s interest in buying sustainable products will wane in an economic decline. 

 

According to our survey of more than 2,000 US respondents conducted jointly with The Harris Poll, 60 percent of respondents—and 58 percent of people with $100,000+ incomes—report a declining propensity to buy sustainable products because of inflation. An even larger share (75 percent) believe people’s interest in buying sustainable products will wane in an economic decline. 

 

Insights for What’s Ahead

  • Record inflation—especially in the energy and food categories—is shifting consumer preference toward less pricey alternatives and away from more expensive sustainable products. Products with environmental or social sustainability benefits are usually priced higher than traditional versions—by almost 30 percent in 2021 and the first half of 2022. Although this substitution effect—as a product’s price rises, its sales fall as people switch to cheaper alternatives—is not unique to the current downturn, it does pose marketing and pricing challenges for sustainable goods and services.
  • The segments of the population that tend to be most enthusiastic about sustainability (such as consumers who are millennial, urban, or Hispanic) are also very

Author

Denise Dahlhoff, PhD

Denise Dahlhoff, PhD Denise Dahlhoff, PhD

Director, Marketing & Communications Research
The Conference Board

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