While conscious consumerism is a movement that has been around for decades, it has recently gained significant traction with increasing concerns over climate change and pollution. Conscious consumers are now a powerful force, and their purchasing behaviors and decisions have a major impact on industries across the world.
As a business owner, you should know all too well the importance of meeting consumer expectations. Your customers can make or break your business, so when their interests change, you must adapt and evolve with them to continue meeting demands and remain relevant.
What Is Conscious Consumerism?
Conscious consumerism, sometimes called ethical or green consumerism, is the practice of being more mindful about purchase decisions. These decisions are typically based on a set of values and beliefs that are tied to environmentalism and better supporting what’s good for society. For example, these mindful individuals go thrift shopping and strategically purchase products from the circular economy so as to use fewer resources without compromising their lifestyle. Many businesses tap into this trend by offering eco-conscious alternatives, making charitable donations, or even revamping their supply chain.
How Eco-Conscious Consumers Are Impacting Business
Conscious consumerism has had a powerful impact on businesses across industries in recent years as people increasingly adopt more ethical shopping habits. According to a recent global sustainability study, 71% of consumers are making changes to their buying decisions in an effort to live more sustainably.
After surveying more than 11,500 global consumers, 75% reported that environmental sustainability was important, and 66% said that sustainability is a top driver behind their purchase decisions. This trend points to a pivotal shift that will inevitably force businesses to rethink their strategies.
Brands will need to put more effort into understanding the importance of sustainability to modern consumers and use those insights to develop new strategies that put ethical and eco-conscious products, services, and practices at the forefront of operations.
Strategies to Appeal to Today’s Conscious Consumers
To attract and retain the modern consumer, your brand must go beyond words and put sustainability into action. In other words, consumers don’t just want to hear you tell them how eco-conscious you are in your content and advertising; they want transparency and to see you making impactful changes.
Greenwashing, for example, is a strategy that many companies have used to give the impression that their brand is sustainable by using certain buzzwords and imagery in content, ads, and even packaging. In reality, the company is doing the bare minimum, if anything at all, to adopt more sustainable practices and processes. This is why consumers demand transparency and proof that brands are doing more than simply “talking the talk.” You must also “walk the walk”.
Every company must do so by adopting the following policies.
1. Making More Sustainable Products
Consumers want products that are better for them and the environment, and they are willing to pay more money for them. You can make your products greener by using more recyclable and biodegradable materials, avoiding reliance on scarce resources when sourcing materials, sourcing locally when possible, and embracing minimalist packaging.
2. Being More Mindful of Shipping Practices
Shipping practices are often responsible for significant carbon emissions, so it’s important to rethink shipping strategies to appeal to your eco-conscious consumers. This not only means using minimal packaging and recycled packaging materials but also adopting automation technologies to help streamline order and shipping processes to reduce energy consumption.
You should also seek to partner with more ethical and sustainable carriers that are doing their part to reduce carbon emissions. Easy and convenient return options, such as package drop-offs, can help minimize the use of packaging and how many trucks are on the roads.
3. Supporting Social Causes
Consumers love to see brands supporting social causes and giving back to the community as well, which shows a dedication to creating a better world. You can do this by donating to environmental and social charities, volunteering time with socially responsible and sustainable organizations, and even hosting events to support good causes.
4. Reducing, Reuse, Recycle
In addition to making your products greener, consumers also want to see how your everyday operations are driving sustainable change. This means updating as many internal practices and processes as you can to help reduce energy and material consumption, investing in more reusable materials, such as doing away with single-use plastics in your break rooms, and implementing recycling programs to minimize waste.
Conclusion
Selling to conscious consumers is about more than creating green marketing campaigns. It requires a holistic approach that seeks to upgrade and change as many processes and practices as possible so that the whole of your business is one that supports positive change.
Understandably, this can take a lot of time and investment, so it’s essential to start now so you can make small changes over time instead of waiting to make big changes all at once. The more you invest now, the more success your business will have in the future as consumers become even more eco-conscious and mindful of their purchase behaviors.
