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Interrogare – Premium Partner succeet22 #Brandgoals: Sustainability
The term sustainability
According to Wikipedia, sustainability is "a principle of action for the use of resources in which a lasting satisfaction of needs is to be ensured by preserving the natural regenerative capacity of the systems involved". Sustainability is not a phenomenon or concept of our time. The term probably originated in forestry and is several hundred years old. In essence, it has always meant that only as many trees should be cut down in a forest as can grow back in that forest in the foreseeable future, which should ensure the long-term existence of the forest. The term sustainability became internationally known in the 1980s through the so-called Brundtland Commission of the United Nations. Its final report "Our Common Future" from 1987 contains the concept and a generally valid definition of sustainable development: "Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable - to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" as part of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, in which a total of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed, ranging from combating hunger and poverty, securing health and education to gender equality and climate protection. These 17 goals make it clear how broadly the concept of sustainable development is defined.
Sustainability has thus evolved over time from a relatively simple and one-dimensional theory of forest conservation, to a comprehensive and complex construct. Perhaps this is one reason why the general understanding of sustainability is diffuse and ambiguous, both on the part of companies and consumers.
Against this backdrop, the Bielefeld-based market researchers from Interrogare looked into this topic. As part of a large representative online study with a total of more than 2,600 respondents, a randomly selected part of the sample was asked questions about their understanding of sustainability.
The survey method
Since emotionally and morally charged terms in surveys often lead to result distortions such as social desirability or so-called 'positive bias', a so-called implicit method, reaction time measurement, was used in the study. In concrete terms, this means that about 40 words - from "climate protection" and "animal welfare" to "product quality" and "economic growth" to "healthy nutrition" and "consumption renunciation" - were displayed on the monitor and the respondents were asked to answer as quickly as possible whether these words fit the concept of sustainability or not. The response times are a very good indicator of whether there is a strong association between the two terms. Simply put: the faster someone answers, the stronger the implicit, unconscious associations.
The results: A semantic localisation of sustainability
First, it becomes apparent that consumers have a very broad understanding of sustainability. In fact, almost all 40 words tested have strong associations with the term sustainability.
Most respondents associate the words climate protection, clean air, ecological, clean water and environmentally conscious with sustainability. The lowest correlation is found for self-determination, partnership, economic growth, gender equality and diverse. Another 30 words are located in between.
In order to reduce the complexity a little, statistical methods were used to analyse the main dimensions behind the words. With the help of a so-called factor analysis, we discovered four dimensions of sustainability:
- Social and moral values: food security, health or even social commitment.
- Environmental aspects: Regional products, cleanliness of water and air to renewable energies.
- Consumption issues: In addition to product quality and animal welfare, consumption renunciation is also found here.
- Future: This is about the longevity of products and preservation.
This analysis reveals some exciting insights for brand and marketing managers in companies concerned with the relevance of sustainability.
On the one hand, sustainability is a construct with a very positive connotation overall, which opens up many possibilities in communication. The protection of the environment and the world's natural resources is a strong driver of sustainability. On the other hand, topics such as durability, product quality or waste avoidance are also topics that a sustainable brand can communicate about.
Sustainability and corporate success
In addition to determining the semantic meaning, we also looked at which brands are considered sustainable in the context of this study. For this part, too, we used the implicit procedure of measuring reaction time. This time, the respondents were asked to answer as quickly as possible whether they perceived the brand shown as sustainable or not. With this very efficient procedure, each respondent rated more than 30 brands after random selection. As a result, ratings are now available for around 100 selected brands from a wide range of sectors.
Finding 1: Sustainability has a positive effect on brand sympathy
We found that there is a high statistical correlation between the perceived sustainability of a brand and the measured emotional brand strength. In other words: Brands that are rated as sustainable by consumers are also rated more positively overall. And since strong branding is one of the prerequisites for the long-term success of a brand, a positioning as a sustainable brand can represent a competitive advantage - so it pays to be perceived as sustainable.
Finding 2: There are sector effects - but also exceptions
If you look at the sustainability values of certain sectors in comparison, you can see that there are massive differences. It is hardly surprising that brands from the organic or veggie segment such as Demeter, Alnatura or Alpro are perceived as significantly more sustainable than drinks such as Red Bull, Coca-Cola or even Capri Sun.
It is also interesting that drugstore brands such as Rossmann and dm, although a large part of the products sold are made of plastic or are packaged in plastic, are seen as very sustainable, while the streaming services Netflix and Spotify, although also very successful economically, are not perceived as sustainable. Only the frozen pizza brands Dr. Oetker Ristorante and Wagner Pizza as well as the sweets from Haribo and Kinder fare worse.
However, there are also categories in which consumers definitely differentiate. For example, the coffee brands Lavazza and Dallmayr Prodomo achieve very high sustainability scores, while Nespresso scores comparatively poorly. Consumers are therefore aware that the production and distribution of coffee in aluminium capsules is harmful to the environment.
Finally, perhaps a look at the tested car brands. Opel leads here, presumably because it offers many small cars with low fuel consumption, followed by Tesla - because it is electric. Dacia, a brand that is not known for its durability and quality, and Porsche, which is virtually synonymous with high-powered gas guzzlers with a lot of horsepower, are in the lower ranks. This example shows very well how diverse sustainability can be.
Sustainability as a brand goal
Sustainability has become a mainstream issue for consumers and is no longer just something for idealists or environmentalists. However, it is also a very diverse and complex construct that we also have to deal with research-wise. Brands that manage to occupy the topic and position themselves as sustainable will have a competitive advantage in the long run. Therefore, every marketing and brand manager should deal with it intensively.
At this year's succeet, we will also deal with the topic of sustainability in a lecture, but not with the definition of the term, but rather with the gap between actual (purchasing) behaviour and response behaviour in survey situations. How to overcome this do/say gap and which methods are helpful for this will be presented by Sören Scholz on the first day of the fair, 20.10.22, at 11:40 am. We look forward to seeing you there!
About Walter Freese
Walter Freese has been Director Business Development at Interrogare since April 2018 and is responsible for new and further development of client relationships as well as sales of established and innovative projects. Prior to this, the social science graduate worked for 23 years in global market research groups such as GfK and Kantar TNS.
