41% of consumers in YouGov’s multi-market poll say they only somewhat trust sustainability logos

For consumers looking to make more environmentally conscious purchase decisions, a logo that aims at conveying how sustainable the product is might be of some help. But how trusting are consumers of such logos in the first place?

A recent YouGov survey asked consumers across 17 international markets this very question. Data from this survey reveals that just over two in five consumers (41%) across all markets say they’re somewhat trusting of sustainability logos. A little over one in ten consumers (12%) say they trust such logos completely while an equal proportion of them say they don’t trust sustainability logos at all (12%). Fewer than a quarter of consumers (21%) across markets say they don’t trust such logos completely.

Demographic data shows that older consumers are less trusting of sustainability logos than their younger counterparts. For example, 18-to-24-year-olds are most likely to say they trust sustainability logos somewhat (48%). Further, 25-to-34-year-olds are most likely to say they trust these logos completely (17%).

The older you are, the less trust you place in sustainability logos, data shows. Consumers aged 55 years and above are most likely to say they either don’t trust sustainability logos completely (25%) or they don’t trust the logos at all (18%).

Middle aged consumers, i.e. 35-44-year-olds, are most likely to sit on the fence here. These consumers are most likely to say they don’t know whether they trust sustainability logos or not. 

Let’s now look at, by market, how trusting consumers are of sustainability logos.

Among those that say they trust sustainability logos completely, Indonesia is in the lead at 32% and closely followed by India (31%) and UAE (29%). On the other hand, Britons (4%) and Americans (5%) are the least likely across markets to agree.

As for those who trust sustainability logos somewhat, Singaporeans lead (50%), closely followed by Danes (48%). Americans are the least likely across markets to share this opinion (32%).

Now for those who aren’t entirely trusting of sustainability logos - Hong Kongers (30%) account for the largest proportion of consumers who say they don’t trust such logos completely. Italy (29%) and France (28%) closely follow Hong Kong.

Consumers in France are the most likely to proclaim their complete distrust in sustainability logos - a quarter (22%) of them say so. Germans (21%) and Americans (19%) follow the French. In Asia, Singaporeans are the most likely (9%) to say they distrust sustainability logos completely.

Finally, consumers in the US (29%), Great Britain (20%) and Poland (20%) lead in saying they don’t know whether or not they trust sustainability logos.

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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 501 and 2004 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in October 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

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