[eMarketer] Consumers to make sustainability a business imperative in 2022

Consumer concerns about climate change reached a tipping point in 2021, and eMarketer says it expect calls for action to grow louder in 2022.

Younger consumers lead the charge: The pandemic boosted global awareness of environmental issues and sparked a renewed commitment to finding solutions.

Climate change and protecting the environment ranked as the top personal concern among Gen Z adults worldwide in February, ahead of both unemployment and disease prevention even during the pandemic, per Deloitte.

Gen Z purchasers seem eager to hold the brands they buy from accountable—which is leading businesses to take sustainability more seriously.

Following widespread publicity about its large-scale destruction of returned and unsold goods, Amazon is cleaning up its act by letting third-party sellers list some returned products as “used” on its site. It also now offers customers the option of selecting their “Amazon Day” of the week (which consolidates the week’s orders into a single delivery, thereby reducing packaging waste) and is making big investments in solar panels and wind farms.

Microsoft pledged to share product schematics with providers outside of its authorized service network, after shareholders advocated for the customer’s right to repair their own devices.

These firms, along with Apple, Google, and Meta, have committed to carbon neutrality timelines, setting a bar for other corporations to meet or else risk retribution from consumers.

Read the full eMarketer article here

www.emarketer.com