ARF Town Hall: Resuming the Sustainability Agenda: Market Research’s Role

Most people say they want to live more sustainably, but are they actually making purchasing decisions based on sustainability? Has the pandemic upended some consumer tradeoffs?

The drive toward more sustainable buying hasn’t just been stalled, it’s been set back by carbon footprint and wasteful purchases. The economy shut down, decreasing carbon emissions temporarily, but we have developed other habits, including consuming more packaging. Delivery, packaging and germophobic behavior during the pandemic made single-use throwaways okay again. How can we resume the sustainability agenda and how should the market research industry play a role?

In this one-hour Town Hall that took place on July 27, consumer insights leaders shared initiatives they are working on to help people make decisions that are good for the planet.

The discussion illustrated a deep expertise in sustainability practices, marketing, advertising and consumer insights.

Key takeaways were:

• How the pandemic year might have set back the consumers’ sustainability tendencies.
• How consumer brands can create more impactful product sustainability claims and on-pack messaging.
• Current trends, sustainable purchasing practices and the “whys” from custom IRI research.
• How to take a data-driven approach to creating more effective product communications that helps brands grow and consumers make more sustainable choices.