The condition of the planet is worsening by the day, and consumers are now becoming more aware and concerned of their own individual efforts to live a more sustainable lifestyle. New research by FMCG Gurus shows that 63% of consumers are concerned about the state of the environment and 54% of consumer believe it has become worse over the last two years
The threats of global warming and other environmental issues have led to consumers changing their diets and lifestyle to better the planet. The study looked into whether helping the planet is a core reason to why consumers are now reducing their meat intake.
The research demonstrated that 63% of consumers are concerned about the state of the environment and 54% of consumer believe it has become worse over the last two years. There are many reasons why consumers are now more concerned about the environment. Some of the key issues people are worried about are global warming, animal welfare, deforestation, and air pollution. These issues have created a surge in consumers looking to improve the wellbeing of the planet by individually changing the way they act in everyday life.
In the last two years, 32% of global consumers have actively made a greater effort to reduce their carbon footprint. One way in which people are reducing their carbon footprint is by changing their dietary habits. Over half of global consumers state that they currently research the environmental pledges of brands. Specifically, they are looking for brands to show information on carbon footprint initiatives (40%) and global warming initiatives (44%). Although consumers are now starting to research brand initiatives surrounding sustainability issues, 20% of global consumers are still untrusting of food brands.
Consumers are noticing that their diet can impact the planet. This has led to 45% of global consumer changing their diet to support lowering their carbon footprint and bettering the environment. One key movement consumers are moving towards is reducing their meat intake or eliminating meat completely. FMCG Gurus research shows that 33% of consumers have reduced or eliminated meat from their diet and 33% are now following a vegetarian or vegan diet. By reducing meat consumers believe that they are living a healthier lifestyle which supports helping environmental issues.
Overall, consumers believe the state of the environment is at a tipping point and changes need to be made to their everyday life to prevent issues such as global warming going to far. This means consumers are now taking it into their own hands as well as believing that brands need to be doing more to support these issues. By leading a vegetarian or vegan diet, consumers associate this with not just being healthier but as a way of improving their carbon footprint and having their own impact on saving the planet.
This article is based on a Global Sustainability survey Q3 2019 with 26000 respondent. For more info please contact FMCG Gurus at [email protected]
