Sustainability 2025: Do Consumers Care?
While the term ‘sustainability’ lacks resonance consumers still care about the issues, but for many, their priorities have shifted. Economic pressures and the prioritization of personal benefits, health and convenience in particular, are shaping their outlook, alongside declining trust in performative claims and ongoing confusion about what is truly sustainable. At the same time, interest in products that authentically support consumer values continues to rise.
The Sustainability 2025 syndicated research report explains that proof points connecting to personal benefits create stronger engagement pathways than abstract issues such as climate change or carbon offsets. Furthermore, companies are being charged with finding a balance between transparency, profitability, and true sustainability.
Published September 2025 | U.S. market coverage | 81 slides
- Executive summary
- General report (PowerPoint and PDF)
- Demographic data tables (Excel)
- Primary quantitative research: Online national survey fielded July 31—August 11, 2025, n=2,007 U.S. adults aged 18-79. Margin of Error (MOE) ±2.2% at 95% confidence level.
- Primary qualitative research: Digital ethnographies: n=13 participants. Week-long immersive engagement (journaling, prompts, photos and videos) via asynchronous virtual platform. Follow-up in-depth interviews: n=7 selected from digital ethnography participants for 60-minute 1-on-1 interviews.
- Methodology
- Executive Summary
- Sustainability in a shifting context
- Key priorities in sustainability
- Purchasing considerations
- The new role of companies
- Takeaways and recommendations
- Appendix
- Cultural shifts. What are consumers’ societal concerns? What are their life priorities? Where do sustainability issues fit?
- Engagement in sustainability. Do consumers still care about sustainability? What do they care about and why?
- World of Sustainability segments. Who is outside the World of Sustainability? How do the segments participate in sustainability differently? What do the segments care about most? How should they be communicated with?
- Purchase intent. What attributes compel consumers to buy sustainable products? What is worth paying more for? What gets in the way of more sustainable purchases? How does convenience affect sustainable purchasing? What is the role of packaging?
- Role of companies. What do consumers expect from companies today? What impact do sustainability initiative rollbacks have on purchase intentions? Where do consumers most want companies to have an impact?
