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This seems to be a good time to launch sustainable offers, and most consumers seem to appreciate environmentally friendly products and services. However, according to White et al. (2020), “a recent survey shows that 65% of consumers of them say they want to buy brands committed to sustainable development, but only 26% actually do so”. This gap between intention and action needs to be reduced in order to achieve the sustainable development goals of companies, as well as sustainable development across the world as a whole. Unilever estimates that approximately 70% of its GHGs depend on the types of products sold, their use and the recycling of packaging in an environmentally responsible manner. In recent years, the authors have “conducted their own experiments and used the interventions of legislators, marketing, economic and psychological research to find ways to encourage sustainable consumption, thus matching consumer behavior with the principles they espouse”. They identified five actions that companies can use.

The first concerns the use of social pressure. White and Simpson advised the City of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, who wanted to improve the recycling of grass clippings from lawns, “to try to change people’s attitudes by using “social norms”, that is, tacit conventions that define acceptable behavior in a group and that people must respect if they want to fit in.” Social pressure is an extension of the theory of engagement. For example, White, Simpson and the city conducted a field study on messages that had been posted on the doors of residents’ homes (“Your neighbors recycle grass. You can do it too”) and observed that in two weeks, the grass recycling rate of residents was double that of a control group. Moreover, advocates of sustainable behavior are more convincing when they themselves have adopted such behavior. According to White et al. (2020), a study found that 63% more people invested in solar panels when a supporter of these products explained the reasons that they had installed them in their own home. On the other hand, “social norms may not appeal to some consumers, such as men who associate sustainability with femininity and reject it, unless a brand is already linked to masculinity and virility”. For example, Jack Daniel’s¹⁴ integrates sustainability into its brand strategy (sale of residual products and unused resources, no landfill) and links sustainability, quality and taste. In general, “social pressure can increase if sustainable behaviors are made more visible (no waste to be recycled or composted in a transparent garbage bag), more public (sticker on a car windshield indicating that the engine should be turned off while waiting for a child to leave school), or competitive (singling out students who compost to encourage others to do the same)”.

The second step is to promote good habits. People have routines for moving, buying, eating and recycling products and packaging. “Sustainable consumption behaviors require breaking bad habits, which are often due to signals in familiar contexts.” For example, using a disposable coffee cup (a habit repeated 500 billion times a year worldwide) can respond to signals such as a disposable cup offered by a bartender, or a trash can with a picture of a cup on it. “Companies need to improve the design of their products, but above all make sustainable behavior a default choice.” In Germany, researchers have found that 94% of people conserve clean electricity when it is supplied by default in residential buildings. This approach shows that this type of strategy can be generalized for other areas of activity. For example, making green alternatives such as reusable hand towels and electronic bank statements the default option can increase the rate of take-up. In California (United States), restaurants offer beverages without plastic straws as part of their dining service in order to limit customer demand for straws. White et al. (2020) propose three techniques for developing good habits. Incentives in the form of simple written messages can remind people of behaviors that they should develop in certain places, such as encouraging recycling near appropriate bins. Feedback can provide indications of repeated behaviors such as on fuel consumption and mileage when driving a vehicle. Sustainable motivation levers may be different for different companies. For example, in the UK, Coca-Cola and Merlin Entertainments have installed “reverse vending machines” to recycle plastic bottles and allow consumers to benefit from half-price entrance tickets to amusement parks. “Yet if these levers are removed, the desired behavior may disappear. They can also destroy consumers’ intrinsic desire to change behavior.” Researchers have found that external incentives (“Save money!”) combined with intrinsic motivations (“Protect the environment!”) lead to less desire for a sustainable product than intrinsic motivations alone. “An external incentive could therefore have a ‘crowding out effect’ on an intrinsic motivation. However, major changes in people’s lives, such as moving, changing jobs, etc., cause them to change their habits.” A study was carried out on 400 households that had recently moved, and another 400 households that had not moved. Half of the households in both groups attended an interview and received samples of environmentally friendly products and information on sustainable development. The adoption of green behaviors was more likely among households that had moved than others.

The third step is to take advantage of the domino effect. “If consumers are encouraged to develop environmentally responsible habits, positive effects can logically be brought about. By deciding to behave in an environmentally friendly manner, they are likely to make other changes that are beneficial to society.” White et al. (2020) report that Ikea launched a sustainability initiative, Live Lagom (lagom means “the right amount” in Swedish), and then studied the journey of a core group of its customers. The company found that although they started by reducing food waste, they often continued to work on other areas, such as energy conservation. In addition, Ikea observed a snowball effect, with customers taking small actions and then moving on to more significant projects. For example, the purchase of LED light bulbs could lead consumers to dress warmer and lower the temperature of their homes, change curtains and blinds to reduce heat loss, buy more energy-efficient appliances, etc. “While these actions help to make consumers more sustainable in their purchasing decisions, the effects can also be negative: a single environmental action can lead to less environmentally friendly behavior. This attitude, referred to as ‘licensing’ by researchers, occurs when a consumer feels that an initial ethical action allows him or her to behave less virtuously later on.” For example, according to these authors, researchers have found that people who made a virtual eco-responsible purchase displayed less socially beneficial behavior than people who made a traditional virtual purchase. “Businesses can address this problem by requiring that the first action for the environment requires a lot of effort, an obligation that leads to a commitment”. “If consumers are only encouraged to make smaller commitments, it is better not to mention these types of actions, as they will likely practice lazy activism or slacktivism.”

The fourth step is to speak from the head or heart. According to White et al. (2020), corporate communication influences the adoption of responsible behavior by consumers. Launching and/or promoting a product, a service or a campaign requires marketers to choose between emotional levers and rational arguments, two strategies that are effective if certain conditions are met. The first plays on the fact that “consumers are more likely to be eco-responsible when they derive positive emotions, such as hope and pride”. Bacardi, a spirits company, and the NGO Lonely Whale have collaborated to try and eliminate a billion single-use plastic straws, using the hashtag #thefuturedoesntsuck to promote events and call on consumers to take action. The pride felt by participants in a study who were publicly praised each week for their energy efforts led them to step up these efforts. On the other hand, these authors point out that “a negative emotion, such as guilt, is an effective motivator only if it is used carefully”. During one experiment, responsibility was subtly emphasized (choosing a product publicly) and 84% of consumers bought Fair Trade products because they were so afraid of feeling guilty if they did not. Conversely, when their guilt was explicitly solicited (“How can you enjoy a cup of tea knowing that the people who produce this tea are not being treated fairly?”), they reacted very badly and only 40% of them chose environmentally friendly products. The second strategy “appeals to reason”. In 2010, Unilever took into account results which concluded that “people change their habits if they are sure that their actions will have a real impact, that is, if they have an individual impact”. The company therefore launched a campaign on its ecologically produced palm oil, with a photograph of an unspoiled rainforest and the slogan “What you buy at the supermarket can change the world… Small actions, big difference”. Thus, “the marketing of a sustainable product depends on communication of the potential effects of its use on the environment. The provision of information on sustainable behavior and its consequences is of decisive importance”, especially for products with high prices and deferred profits. A study by Hardisty (2020) has shown that when purchasing household appliances or electronics, consumers think little about their energy efficiency or care less about it than about their price. On the other hand, White et al. found that “a message geared towards the potential losses to the community in the event of insufficient household recycling is most effective if there is information on when the bins are taken out, what materials to recycle, etc.”. This method reassures people who are afraid of losing something and therefore have an “aversion to loss”.

The fifth step proposes favoring experience over materialism. Some companies have set up business models to make consumers more receptive to ecological alternatives. “In the experience economy, they offer experience-based solutions that are an alternative to material goods.” For example, Honeyfund might suggest financing a honeymoon trip rather than the household items on a wedding list. This makes the buyers and the bride and groom seem happier, with more meaningful memories. “With the sharing economy, companies specialize in sharing and renting products or services rather than selling them, which reduces their environmental footprint. Others offer recycling after the products have been used.” For example, Eileen Fisher and Patagonia encourage their customers to buy high-quality clothing that they can wear for a long time, and then send it back to the company to be refurbished and resold to perpetuate a sustainable circular economy.

Businesses are increasingly communicating with consumers about the sustainability of their brands to increase their market share and contribute to the development of a sustainable lifestyle. The authors of this study recommend that companies should better understand the wants and needs of their target markets, as well as the obstacles and benefits of behavioral change, and adapt their market strategies. “Applying the fundamentals of marketing to engage consumers with a brand’s raison d’être and successfully promoting sustainable consumption are the key challenges for companies in the future. The more companies overcome them, the more the sustainable business will emerge as a ‘smart’ business.”

1 1 Producers, experts, consumer associations, etc.

2 2 Excerpt from interview: Ignatius, A. (2015). Lars Rebien Sorensen voted best manager of the year 2015. Harvard Business Review, December–January, 98.

3 3 Excerpt from Donald Trump’s speech on the withdrawal of the United States on June 1, 2017.

4 4 Le Monde, June 3, 2017.

5 5 These agencies assess and rate responsible business practices on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

6 6 American documentary film by Michael Moore released in 1998. The film denounces the practices of multinationals that lay off their staff while they make a profit, such as Nike, whose subcontractors use child labor.

7 7 Le Monde, Économie & Entreprise supplement, Thursday September 24, 2015.

8 8 Le Monde, Économie & Entreprise supplement, Wednesday June 20, 2018.

9 9 This credibility stems from their independence, their activism in relation to companies and the fact that the actions they defend are not in their own interests.

10 10 A product is classified as “conventional” if it does not contain tangible or intangible “environmental and/or social” attributes.

11 11 The author of this study drew on United Nations sources: Business & Sustainable Development Commission (2017). Better Business, Better World. Report, United Nations.

12 12 Search attributes are properties of products that consumers can check and evaluate before making a purchase (Nelson 1970; Darby and Karni 1973).

13 13 The core is the fundamental element of the representation: it determines both the meaning and the organization of the representation.

14 14 American distillery company of Tennessee whiskey, founded by Jack Daniel.