Millennials Are Driving Brands to Implement Sustainability Practices: 73% Would Pay Extra for Sustainable Products

Posted by: YijunW

America is embracing big changes. As our population ages, millennials, the largest generation in human history, are getting closer and closer to take over the major role in the economy from baby boomers (Sarah Landrum, Coupon Follow). The purchasing power of the over 80 million millennials in the United States (1) should not be overlooked: Simple heritage from their parents will endow millennials $16 to $29.7 trillion wealth in the United States along in the following decades, according to the Wealth-X and NFP Family Wealth Transfers Report. In 2017, millennials accounted for 28 percent of daily consumption per capita, which was expected to soar to 35 percent by 2030 (Coupon Follow).

How will millennials spend the nearly $30 trillion total wealth? We can't be sure of course, but we know that millennials have distinctive values, habits, and inclinations toward their spending. For instance, 60% of Millennials search for coupon codes before shopping (Coupon Follow). One of the key values millennials have, according to Sarah Landrum, a news reporter at Forbes, is the preference to work with enterprises and brands with sustainable objective, green manufacturing methods, and ethical business standards. Nielsen's Global Corporate Sustainability Report found that 66 percent of global consumers said they were willing to pay more for sustainable brands, up from 55 percent in 2014. Among the 66 percent of respondents, more than half are influenced by key sustainable factors, like a product being made from fresh, natural or organic ingredients (69%), a company that is environmentally friendly (58%), and a company which is known for its commitment to social value (56%) (Nielsen).

The Nielson report also found that 73 percent of the global millennials were willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings, up from 50% in 2014. A report by Horizon Media, Finger on the Pulse, found that “81 percent of Millennials expect companies to make a public commitment to good corporate citizenship (Larissa Faw).” Corporations are now not only expected to deliver economic value but is also expected commit to long-run ethical responsibility, which includes sustainability commitment.

Supporting the above research, the Cone Communications Millennial CSR Study noted that millennials were more passionate and supportive of corporate social and environmental efforts and were more likely to say they would participate in CSR initiatives. Millennials were more likely to purchase a product with a social or environmental benefit (87 percent) compared to the U.S. general public (83 percent). Noticeably, millennials were willing to sacrifice to support corporate social responsibility: they would take a salary cut to work for a responsible company (62 percent) comparing to the U.S. average (56 percent). In addition, 81% of millennials expect social governance transparency: companies should report on the progress of their social and environmental efforts (Cone Communication). 

Sustainability is a shopping priority for millennials (Nielsen). The Young folks have something different in mind: They are environmentally-oriented. Watch out for your green business' customers. They might be 95% millennials.

1) Millennials are those born between 1982 and 1996.

Image from Deloitte survey

To read more, please visit:

Forbes Sarah Landrum https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahlandrum/2017/03/17/millennials-driving-brands-to-practice-socially-responsible-marketing/#56c953a4990b CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/15/the-great-wealth-transfer-has-started.html https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/13/coming-soon-the-biggest-wealth-transfer-in-history.html Coupon follow The Millennial Shopping Report https://couponfollow.com/research/summer17 Nielsen Report http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2015/the-sustainability-imperative.html 2015 Cone Communications Millennial CSR Study http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2015-cone-communications-millennial-csr-study

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/green-generation-millennials-say-sustainability-is-a-shopping-priority.html