Stay ahead of the curve with Mintel’s UK Everyday Sustainability Market Report 2023. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest sustainability market research, trends and consumer behaviours affecting your business.Â
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
Topics Analysed in this Report
- Economic, social and legal factors impacting brands’ and everyday consumers’ sustainability efforts.
- Consumer perception of own environmentally friendly lifestyle.
- Changes to an environmentally friendly lifestyle compared to a year ago.
- Barriers to leading a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.
- Cost-saving sustainable behaviours adopted by consumers over the past 12 months.
- Consumer attitudes towards sustainability, including brands’ sustainability efforts and greenwashing.
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Everyday Consumer Sustainability: Current Outlook
Despite the cost of living crisis and price being at the forefront of consumer decisions, an overwhelming majority of adults perceive their lifestyles to be environmentally friendly. Young consumers are least likely to adopt traditional or cost-saving eco behaviours, however, with many embarking on new areas in their lives, brands can be pivotal in informing and guiding them to lead a sustainable lifestyle.
- Sustainability market research analysis: 25% of consumers say their lifestyle is more environmentally friendly compared to a year ago.
Everyday Consumer Sustainability: Market Trends and Opportunities
Communicate savings potential of sustainable living
There are a number of financial benefits to sustainable living that brands can highlight to encourage consumers to be more environmentally friendly. This will especially appeal to those who see cost as a barrier to leading a sustainable lifestyle, and is essential now and for the coming years as household finances recover from the cost of living crisis.
- Sustainability market research analysis: 57% of adults have reduced their energy usage at home in the past year.Â
Tap into social media’s potential
Educating and providing information to younger generations – like Generation Z – will be key to developing them into sustainable consumers. Openness to new ideas, interest in social media and engaging with brands through technological advancements such as AI can open up opportunities for brands to build connections with young, conscious consumers.
- Sustainability market research analysis: 27% of Gen Z agree that the environment has become a higher priority to them since the cost of living crisis.
Leading Brands Featured in this Report
E.ON, Sainsbury’s, Oddbox, Patagonia, Nobody’s Child, The Little Loop, John Lewis, Zara, Coop.
Expert Insights from a Finance Analyst
This report, written by Yogita Burke, a leading finance analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight everyday consumer sustainability trends and add expert context to the numbers.
As incomes continue to be squeezed, brands can guide consumers towards everyday sustainable behaviours by communicating the cost-saving benefits.
Yogita Burke
Cross-category Research Analyst
Collapse All
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- Key issues covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities
- Market dynamics and outlook
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 1: consumer perception of own environmentally friendly lifestyle compared to a year ago, 2023
- Graph 2: consideration of sustainability when shopping across selected categories, 2023
- Graph 3: attitudes towards sustainability and greenwashing, 2023
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 4: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 5: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Graph 6: Annual mean of maximum air temperature, 2010-22
- Graph 7: estimated territorial greenhouse gas emissions, 2012-22
- Graph 8: carbon dioxide emissions, by sector, 2022 (p)
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Consumer perception of own environmentally friendly lifestyle
- Graph 9: consumer perception of own environmentally friendly lifestyle, 2023
- Graph 10: consumers who claim to lead a somewhat or very environmentally friendly lifestyle (NET), by financial situation, 2023
- Graph 11: consumers who perceive their lifestyle to be very environmentally friendly, by area, 2023
- Changes in sustainable living
- Graph 12: changes in sustainable living compared to a year ago, 2023
- Graph 13: consumer perception of own environmentally friendly lifestyle compared to a year ago, by generation, 2023
- Barriers to sustainable living
- Graph 14: barriers to leading a more sustainable lifestyle, 2023
- Graph 15: ‘Buying environmentally friendly products is too expensive’, by gender and age, 2023
- Graph 16: ‘Buying environmentally friendly products is too expensive’, by financial situation, 2023
- Sustainability considerations when shopping
- Graph 17: consideration of sustainability when shopping across selected categories, 2023
- Graph 18: consideration of sustainability when shopping for food and drink, by age, 2023
- Graph 19: proportion of launches carrying ethical/environmental claims, by sector, 2019-23
- Graph 20: consumers who consider sustainability a high priority across selected categories, by age, 2023
- Cost-saving sustainable behaviours
- Graph 21: cost-saving sustainable behaviours consumers have done in the last 12 months, 2023
- Graph 22: proportion of consumers who have reduced their energy usage at home in the last 12 months, by age, 2023
- Graph 23: consumers who have bought an item second-hand or repaired an item in the last 12 months, by how much they consider sustainability a priority when shopping for clothing, 2023
- Graph 24: proportion of consumers who have rented an item instead of buying a new one in the last 12 months, by generation, 2023
- Graph 25: proportion of consumers who have rented an item instead of buying a new one in the last 12 months, by lifestage and age, 2023
- Graph 26: ‘Being sustainable saves people money in the long term’, by consumer perception of own environmentally friendly lifestyle, 2023
- Attitudes towards sustainability
- Graph 27: attitudes towards sustainability and greenwashing, 2023
- Graph 28: attitudes towards sustainability and transparency, 2023
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology
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