Is environmentally conscious shopping really eco-friendly?
In our new 500-respondent consumer survey, we were trying to learn about the latest consumer opinion and habits related to environmental consciousness and sustainability.
This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2023/6-7.
![](https://trademagazin.cdn.webgarden.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DorogiAdrienn_NMS_opt-238x300.jpeg)
Guest writer:
Adrienn Dorogi
senior researcher
NMS Hungary
The majority of respondents agreed that environmental protection isn’t only the task of governments, but also of the people. Still, one third of consumers expect it and 55% like it if a company pays attention to protecting the environment when developing and manufacturing a product.
People engage in fewer “green” acts
While consumers have high expectations from companies, it seems that the proportion of their own green acts has reduced. One of the possible reasons is that people have less money to spend. For instance when buying a product, packaging is only ranked 6th on the list of factors based on which shoppers decide which one to purchase. Compared with the results of a sustainability survey from 2019, the proportion of consumers who select their waste collectively decreased by 14%, but 66% still make an effort to produce less communal waste.
Own bag = environmentally conscious shopping
What differentiates a green shopper from the average shopper the most? The former tries to avoid waste – food ending up in the bin. However, even these conscious shoppers use typically those supposedly environmentally friendly solutions which require no sacrifices or drastic changes from them. For example 69% of them bring their own bag to the store, instead of buying a new one all the time; 43% buy fruit and vegetables in multi-use textile bags. What can retailers and food companies do? The first step should be educating consumers, so that they can better decide whether the packaging they use is recyclable or not, and if the answer is yes, how it can disposed of selectively. //
Related news
Cow-free cheese: German consumers increasingly open to precision fermentation-based products
Many German consumers are open to trying and buying precision…
Read more >EY: Private label products are in an explosive position
Persistent inflation burdens the budgets of households all over the…
Read more >The importance of corporate sustainability reports reaches that of financial reports
Investors all over the world are looking for the opportunity…
Read more >Related news
A new office responsible for food safety and retail trade can be established under the leadership of Márton Nagy
A new top organization called the National Trade Office could…
Read more >K&H: Almost two-thirds of businesses are planning development
The majority of domestic micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, 61…
Read more >KSH: industrial production fell by 8.2 percent in June
In June 2024, the volume of industrial production was 8.2…
Read more >