We wish to live sustainably but need affordability and convenience

The Sustainability Trends Report 2023 finds that three-quarters of consumers wish to live more sustainably, but view convenience and affordability as the main obstacles. The report, commissioned by Alibaba Group, polled more than 14,000 consumers from 14 countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and found that convenience (53%) and affordability (33%) were “critical for driving behavioural changes on consumer sustainability”, and that businesses should make it easier for consumers to make sustainably conscious choices.

“Making sustainable products more affordable (61%), making fewer products using single-use plastics and packaging (55%) and a wider selection of sustainable products and services (47%) are the top three ways consumers say businesses can promote consumer sustainability,” the report said.

However, it showed that businesses faced a challenge in earning consumers’ trust concerning sustainability claims, especially in Europe, where 23% of respondents said they did “not trust very much” the sustainability claims made by businesses.

A lack of information on how products are sustainable (48%) and the high price of sustainable products (45%) were cited as the main barriers for consumers to make more sustainable purchases.

The research found 76% would welcome more advice on how to be more sustainable, with the proportion highest in the Philippines (93%), Indonesia (91%) and the UAE (90%). However, over half of those surveyed said that they would only make sustainable choices if they were convenient, with a third saying that living sustainably was unaffordable.