Seven in ten consumers are willing to make changes to tackle environmental issues

    A vast majority (73 per cent) of consumers want to live more sustainable lifestyles, particularly among those living in emerging Asian markets (87 per cent), but inconvenience and high costs are cited as main stumbling blocks to the adoption of sustainable lifestyles, finds the latest independent research commissioned by Alibaba Group.


    The research, titled “The Sustainability Trends Report 2023”, polled more than 14,000 consumers from 14 markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It finds that convenience (53 per cent) and affordability (33 per cent) are critical for driving behavioural changes on consumer sustainability and businesses can make it easier for consumers to make sustainably conscious choices.

    But consumers are cynical (38 per cent) towards the underlying motivation of businesses’ “sustainable” products, with only 15 per cent saying that they completely trust claims around sustainability of products. Businesses need to work harder to build trust among those consumers, especially among people living in European markets.

    “As a digital platform company, Alibaba is uniquely positioned and committed to addressing the ‘say-do’ gap challenge; by reducing the inconvenience obstacle, adding more sustainable choices, and optimising supply chains to keep costs reasonable for consumers. Sustainable consumption is crucial for the environment, and in the meantime it provides a great opportunity for businesses, as well as the digital economy as a whole, to have a long-lasting development into a sustainable future for all,” said Liu Wei, Alibaba Group ESG Strategy Lead. 

    Alibaba published its latest Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report in late July where for the first time it disclosed its Scope 3+ decarbonisation progress since it pioneered the concept in 2021 for a wider pledge of carbon emission reduction across its ecosystem.

    Photo by Alibaba/NHA File Photo

    Alibaba’s carbon ledger platform has seen a total number of 187 million consumers participating in carbon emission reduction activities in the 12 months leading to 31 March, 2023 with 1.91 million products from 409 brands offered on Tmall and Taobao through its low-carbon friendly products program as of March 2023, its latest ESG report revealed. 

    Consumers from the emerging Asian markets are the most willing to learn how to make more sustainable purchase online

    Consumers globally are embracing more sustainable lifestyles, but there are variations across regions in the level of engagement and how they want to live and shop more sustainably. 

    The research finds around three in four consumers (76 per cent) would welcome more information about how to be more sustainable. The proportion is highest in the Philippines (93 per cent), Indonesia (91 per cent), and UAE (90 per cent). 

    Over half (58 per cent) of consumers say they’ve already engaged with sustainable practices and they feel they are already personally doing a great deal. There’s also a general openness towards learning about sustainable online practices, with an average of 73 per cent saying that they would welcome more information about how to make purchases online that are more sustainable. 

    Respondents from emerging Asian markets (88 per cent) show higher willingness to learn how they can make purchases online that are more sustainable compared with developed Asian markets (66 per cent) and Europe (66 per cent). The sustainable online shopping behaviours also differ across regions, with emerging Asian markets (47 per cent) more inclined to choosing sustainable packaging whereas those in Europe (47 per cent) tend to recycle more. 

    Half of the consumers would only go sustainable if it’s convenient; with a third believing sustainability is not affordable 

    Lack of information on how products are sustainable (48 per cent) and the prices of sustainable products being too high (45 per cent) are cited as the main barriers for consumers to make more sustainable purchases. 

    Over half of the consumers (53 per cent) surveyed say they would only make sustainable choices if they were convenient, which is especially the case in Asian markets (61 per cent) compared to European markets (36 per cent). A third (33 per cent) say living sustainably is not affordable, with Thailand (84 per cent) leading the pack, followed by UAE (41 per cent) and Spain (37 per cent).

    Amid the shifting consumer sentiments, businesses can play a significant role in making it easier for consumers to make sustainable conscious choices, the report finds. Making sustainable products more affordable (61 per cent), making fewer products using single-use plastics and packaging (55 per cent) and a wider selection of sustainable products and services (47 per cent) are the top three ways consumers say businesses can do to promote consumer sustainability. 

    But businesses need to work harder to build trust among consumers on their sustainability claims, especially among those living in European markets, said the research. 23 per cent of consumers say they “do not trust very much” the claims around sustainability of products from businesses, with the highest proportion in France (31 per cent), Spain (31 per cent) Germany (30 per cent) and the U.K. (30 per cent).

    Nearly two in five consumers (38 per cent) are cynical towards the underlying motivations of businesses’ sustainable products, with Thailand (56 per cent), France (48 per cent) and Singapore (47 per cent) as the top three markets where consumers say sustainable products are just a way for companies to sell their products at a higher price. 

    “We believe companies can better earn trust from consumers by addressing their own ‘say-do’ gap, such as being more transparent and committed with their sustainability claims, and backing their sustainable practices with data. This will also lead to greater empathy towards consumers along our common journey of sustainability,” Liu Wei added.

    Source: Alibaba Group