Consumer research argues that consumers are willing to pay a higher price for sustainable fast-selling products. But the reality is that consumers' spending decisions don't exactly follow this theory.
In this article, SLD Brand Experience Design will use behavioral cognitive theory to explore why consumers don't necessarily buy sustainable fast-selling products. In the meantime, we'll review the corresponding behavioral tools to help sustainable fast-selling brands grow.
Consumers have the will to buy sustainable products, why not buy them?
In fact, consumers' purchasing decisions are complex. There is often a large deviation between consumers' willingness to spend and their consumption behavior, so research predictions are not always successful. At the same time, consumer research can give us some insight into consumer attitudes and preferences, but it is by no means very beautiful.
Behaviorists have named this diagram the "willing-action divide" diagram. Just as we often make up our minds to lose weight, but never get to know how to live up to our diet and exercise, so do consumers with sustainable products — we're willing to go after the good, but we can't stick to it.
Behavioral insights can help us understand what's happening. Once we understand why these gaps exist, we can use certain behaviour-focused interventions to help, ultimately bridging the gap between willingness and action.
Some common reasons why consumers end up not buying sustainable products:
habit
Humans are the most comfortable creatures. When dealing with choices, people often prefer to choose things that they are familiar with. The same is true for consumption, consumers are more dependent on habits to choose consumption.
Psychological distance
For the average consumer, while climate change is certainly one of the most important threats to humanity, it still feels remote enough to influence consumers' current purchasing decisions. Only when consumers experience the effects of climate change first-hand will they be more likely to make choices that have a positive impact on the environment.
Social norms
As the "broken window effect" argues, if undesirable phenomena in the environment are left unchecked, they will induce people to imitate them, or even intensify them. These barriers can be removed if society encourages sustainable development.
Cultural identity
If sustainable choices are associated with the group body, they may alienate this part of the consumer. For example, if labeled "vegetarian," it may alienate meat eaters.
Information overload
There is a sea of information about sustainability, a wide variety of factors influencing climate change, and endless claims that make it difficult for consumers to understand.
These reasons more or less influence consumers' purchasing decisions. However, the decision-making factors and weights of some categories often have more detailed common problems, and there is no one way to solve them once and for all.
Behavioral tools to facilitate consumer purchases of sustainable products
Understanding the obstacles is the first step. Through an understanding of the barriers, we can develop interventions to bridge the gap. Here are examples of what can help drive sustainable consumption:
frame
When mixed with water, ordinary white vinegar is an efficient, non-toxic, and sterile cleaner, but when it is sold as an environmentally friendly cleaner, it does not show the expected performance, because consumers regard vinegar as food rather than detergent. As a result, the merchant increased the acidity of white vinegar by 1% and renamed it "clean vinegar". The new name redefines the concept of the product to show that it has a stronger cleaning effect than ordinary vinegar and is a product specifically designed for cleaning. This strategy of moving beyond the category framework, redefining the product, and generating new perceptions in the consumer's mind is often easy to succeed.
specification
Many supermarkets place sustainable products in the "Healthy Food" section. However, we recommend that supermarkets treat them in a conventional manner to emphasize that they are normal rather than special. For example, plant-based meat should be placed in the fresh and slaughter area. Try to show consumers as much as possible – this is a common product.
It is not advisable to overemphasize altruism
In fact, too much emphasis on altruism is contrary to human nature. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, altruism is a top-level demand, not a trade-off factor for ordinary consumers when making purchase decisions. For example, coffee lovers may preach a preference for fair-trade coffee, but use flavor as a core decision factor when making purchase decisions. Therefore, merchants must pay attention to the value of the product itself, rather than blindly emphasizing sustainability, so as not to give up the end.
simplification
Simplification can make people's lives easier. But when it comes to introducing sustainability, there are often messages in places like packaging that make consumers nervous. For example, large statements and icons printed on packaging are one of the common mistakes. Therefore, we must store some complex and infrequently used information on the website in the form of two-dimensional codes, etc., so that consumers can understand it by scanning the code, and shift the design focus to considering how to simplify product packaging, improve convenience and customer experience.
Behavioral informed research
Understanding how consumers make purchasing decisions requires research techniques that go beyond the capabilities of ordinary market research. For example, experiments and randomized controlled trials can effectively and accurately test how consumers respond to a given product. Sustainable brands should use such technologies as early as possible.
FMCG brands are actively encouraging sustainable products and packaging. Through careful design, the gap between consumers' willingness and behavior to buy sustainable products will gradually be filled, and people's expectations for a better world in the future will eventually be realized.