Global: Does a brand’s social and environmental stance influence consumers’ shopping choices?

The recent YouGov FMCG and Retail Report 2022 uncovers the consumer purchasing process associated with seasonal events like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Amazon Prime Day and Back-to-School, among others. As the report delves into the shifting dynamics in this post-pandemic world, we ask consumers across 43 locations whether they try to buy only from socially and environmentally responsible companies.

The latest data from YouGov Global Profiles – our global audience intelligence tool – reveals that over two in five overall consumers (44%) say they try to buy only from socially and environmentally responsible companies.

Individually, a few APAC markets outpace the global audience. Thailand takes the lead registering over three in five consumers (62%) who say they look for brands that promote responsible trade. On the other hand, consumers in Japan are least likely of all the markets studied in this survey to try to shop responsibly. Only 13% say they look for companies accountable for their activities, while nearly two in five disagree (38%) with the statement.

Markets in MENA are more likely than global respondents to agree with the statement, but they still register slightly less than half of consumers – UAE (48%), Saudia Arabia (48%) and Egypt (47%).

While Germans (46%) are the European consumers most likely to say they try to shop at companies that follow sustainable practices, they are also among the most likely to disagree (37%). Great Britain registers the same proportion of consumers who aren’t concerned about a brand’s choices (37%). Slightly fewer Britons (35%) agree with the statement, putting the country towards the bottom of our ranking.

In the Americas, urban Mexicans (46%) indicate that they are more conscious of the ethical practices of brands – that's more than in the rest of the continent. While nearly two in five US consumers (39%) agree, a similar share also disagree with the statement (37%). In Canada, 35% say they buy from socially and environmentally responsible companies, putting the market just above Great Briton.

For more on the purchasing process surrounding seasonal events, get YouGov’s full FMCG and retail report 2022. Inside the report brands can learn more about:

• Shopping nuances - by age and by region - in relation to seasonal events
• The sources consumers use to inspire their buying decisions
• The tug of war between brick-and-mortar and online shopping
• The types of goods purchased for each seasonal event
• Who consumers are shopping for and how long in advance they plan purchases
• Adjustment on spend leading up to each event

Methodology: YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 43 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 16+ years in China and 18+ years in other markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, which use online representative samples. Learn more about Global Profiles.

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