Why Your Sustainable Product is Failing
One-line takeaway: Positioning sustainable products as the default, standard option rather than the unusual alternative can help close the gap between consumers’ green intentions and real action.
The grocery store is bustling with people on a busy weekend afternoon, yet the natural food aisle sits quiet. Shoppers pass over organic oatmeal, sustainable soaps, and eco-friendly cleaning products, flocking to familiar packaged goods and single-use plastic bottles.
Consumer demand for sustainable products is at an all-time high, so why aren’t eco-friendly items flying off the shelves? In theory, sustainability sells, but in practice, the “green consumer” is surprisingly elusive. Companies shifting toward sustainability are all too familiar with this paradox. According to one recent survey, 65% of consumers want to buy from sustainable brands, while only 26% actually do so.1
It’s easy to think sustainable products fail because they’re hard to find or cost too much, but the data says otherwise. The percentage of sustainable products on the market is steadily increasing, and most consumers are willing to pay a premium for them.2,3 Could it be that consumers simply don’t care enough? When three-quarters of people are concerned about how their purchases impact the environment, the issue isn’t apathy, either.4
What if the problem isn’t about cost, access, or motivation, but about design? Behavioral science suggests that choice context—the circumstances surrounding a shopping decision—can have a subtle yet powerful influence on what people buy. Think about the context surrounding sustainable products. Often, these items are positioned as an alternative option or a diversion from the norm. They’re relegated to “eco-friendly” grocery store aisles, separate product listing pages, or niche brand lines, while traditional products take center-stage as the default choice in checkout lines, shipping forms, and shopping apps.
Would green products perform better if they weren’t being sidelined to specialty aisles and shopping categories? Are consumers more likely to make sustainable choices if they’re integrated into everyday choice environments and positioned as the new standard?
This article explores why narrowing the intention-action gap in green consumption is less of a marketing issue and more of a design problem, where presenting sustainability as the status quo can make green products feel more normal, natural, and convenient.
References
- White, K., Hardisty, D. J., & Habib, R. (2019, July 1). The Elusive Green Consumer. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/07/the-elusive-green-consumer
- Kronthal-Sacco, R., & Whelan, T. (2024, April). Sustainable Market Share Index. NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. https://www.stern.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2024-05/2024%20CSB%20Report%20for%20website.pdf
- PwC. (2024, May 15). Consumers willing to pay 9.7% sustainability premium, even as cost-of-living and inflationary concerns weigh: PwC 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2024/pwc-2024-voice-of-consumer-survey.html
- PDI Technologies, Inc. (2023, April 26). Report Shows Consumers Want Sustainable Products. https://pditechnologies.com/resources/report/2023-business-sustainability-index/
- Jachimowicz, J. M., Duncan, S., Weber, E. U., & Johnson, E. J. (2019). When and why defaults influence decisions: A meta-analysis of default effects. Behavioural Public Policy, 3(2), 159-186. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2018.43
- Ortmann, A., Ryvkin, D., Wilkening, T., & Zhang, J. (2023). Defaults and cognitive effort. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 212, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.05.020
- Meier, J., Andor, M. A., Doebbe, F. C., Haddaway, N. R., & Reisch, L. A. (2022). Review: Do green defaults reduce meat consumption? Food Policy, 110, 102298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2022.102298
- Ytreberg, N. S., Alfnes, F., & Van Oort, B. (2023). Mapping of the digital climate nudges in Nordic online grocery stores. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 37, 202-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2023.02.018
- Nijssen, S. R., Pijs, M., Van Ewijk, A., & Müller, B. C. (2023). Towards more sustainable online consumption: The impact of default and informational nudging on consumers’ choice of delivery mode. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 11, 100135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100135
- Pichert, D., & Katsikopoulos, K. V. (2008). Green defaults: Information presentation and pro-environmental behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28(1), 63-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2007.09.004
- Ólafsson, B. (2024, July 31). Tactics In Practice: The Science of Plant-Based Defaults And Nudges. Faunalytics. https://faunalytics.org/tactics-in-practice-the-science-of-plant-based-defaults-and-nudges/
- Krpan, D., & Houtsma, N. (2020). To veg or not to veg? The impact of framing on vegetarian food choice. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 67, 101391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101391
About the Author
Kira Warje
Kira holds a degree in Psychology with an extended minor in Anthropology. Fascinated by all things human, she has written extensively on cognition and mental health, often leveraging insights about the human mind to craft actionable marketing content for brands. She loves talking about human quirks and motivations, driven by the belief that behavioural science can help us all lead healthier, happier, and more sustainable lives. Occasionally, Kira dabbles in web development and enjoys learning about the synergy between psychology and UX design.
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