NIQ: Price Outweighs Sustainability for Consumers

Sustainability continues to be a growing concern for a majority of consumers, but new data from NielsenIQ (NIQ) shows that price is still most important for consumers when choosing a brand.

Detailed in NIQ’s The Green Divide report, 70% of consumers say sustainability is more important to them than it was two years ago. However, when asked about the most important thing when choosing a brand, 18.1% said affordable/lower prices were the most important thing compared to 11.2% who said sustainability.

Nearly half (47%) of consumers say they are very likely to choose a brand with health benefits for them and the planet. More than a third (36%) of consumers say they are very likely to buy sustainable offerings for all products if available. 

NIQ found that consumers are burdened by cost and lack of choice when it comes to sustainable product options. 41% of consumers said sustainable options are too expensive, while 35% cited limited sustainable product availability and choice as their biggest barrier. 

Retailers and brands both play a key role in driving the sustainable consumption movement, although brands are held more responsible in the eyes of consumers. More than three quarters (77%) of consumers said they are likely to stop purchasing a brand if found guilty of greenwashing, or mislabeling sustainability attributes intentionally or unintentionally.

Nearly half (45%) of consumers said they are likely to purchase brands that have easily verified labels, and 46% of consumers indicated that they are very likely to choose brands who offer sustainable products at a comparable price to other products.

A large amount (45%) of consumers say that reduced plastic packaging by retailers would help them be more sustainable, and 40% say an increased range of cheaper sustainable options would help them be sustainable. Nearly four in 10 consumers (39%) say they are very likely to choose retailers who offer a wide assortment of sustainable products.