Raise your hand if this challenge sounds familiar: You make sustainability in your packaging a priority; you drive green innovations in your packaging designs, and you roll out your new packaging to consumers. But the sales numbers don’t show an increase. For the majority of brands, where the primary consumer isn’t considered LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability), this is likely the reality.
The truth is green fatigue is very real. Consumers are confused by the proliferation of green messages and labels; they don’t know how to evaluate if something is “greener.” Some consumers still perceive green products to be lower performers and/or cost more. For some categories, the challenge may be that sustainability per se just isn’t top of mind. If price is customers’ main driver, sustainability will only resonate with them when the initiatives actually result in more competitive pricing, i.e., you get the “green” for free, or it costs less.