The “Last Mile” of Consumer Sustainability Behavior可持续消费行为的“最后一英里”

These days， it’s hard to argue that sustainability is a niche1 consumer interest. A vast majority of consumers worldwide believe we need to consume less， according to research by Globe-Scan.

目前，很难说可持续性仅是少数消费者感兴趣的事情。民调机构“环球扫描”的研究表明，世界各地绝大多数的消费者都认为我们需要减少消费。

More to the point， 57 percent of consumers in that survey were willing to pay more for sustainable products. But only about a quarter of them actually made any sustainable changes to their lifestyle or consumption. So what gives？

更重要的是，在该调查中，57%的消费者愿意为可持续产品多花钱。然而，其中仅有大约四分之一的消费者真的朝着可持续方向改变了自己的生活方式或消费行为。那么这是怎么回事呢？

“There’s this really marked intention-action gap when we’re asking people to change their behaviors to be more sustainable，” said Katherine White， professor of marketing and behavioral science at the University of British Columbia.

“当我们要求人们改变自身行为，使其更有可持续性时，可以发现十分明显的‘意向—行为差距’。”不列颠哥伦比亚大学市场营销与行为科学教授凯瑟琳·怀特说道。

White shared her research on sustainable consumption during GreenBiz 21. She was among industry leaders from Amazon and Procter & Gamble， as well as nonprofit executives， who shared insights on the trends in sustainable consumption. Here are three takeaways2 from the session：

在2021年度“绿色商务”会议上，怀特分享了她对可持续消费的研究。与会者还有来自亚马逊公司和宝洁公司的行业领袖，以及非营利组织的高管，他们分享了对可持续消费趋势的见解。以下是会议的三个要点：

1. Attitude has shifted， but behavior lags

1. 态度已转变，但行为滞后

Across the board， indicators for consumer interest in sustainable products are up， according to the GlobeScan survey. The 2020 results， for example， showed that 73 percent of consumers wanted to reduce the impact they have on the environment by a large amount， up almost 10 percentage points from the year prior.

根据环球扫描的调查，整体而言，消费者对可持续产品的兴趣指数有所上升。例如，2020年的调查结果表明，73%的消费者希望大幅减少他们对环境的影响，该数字比上一年增加了近十个百分点。

During the session， Chris Coulter， CEO of GlobeScan， described it as a “remarkable shift” in consumer attitude that bodes well for the sustainable products market. But he was quick to underline the shortcomings of that progress.

会议期间，环球扫描首席执行官克里斯·库尔特将该现象描述为消费者态度的“显著转变”，认为这对可持续产品市场来说是个好兆头。但他马上强调了这一进展的不足之处。

“There is still a gap between our desire to change and what we’re actually doing， but we do see significant movements happening across the world，” he said.

库尔特说：“我们求变的愿望和实际的行为之间仍然存在着差距，但我们确实看到世界各地正在发生重大变化。”

White’s research in behavioral science looks into what levers3 could be most effective in convincing consumers to align their choices with their concern for the planet.

怀特的行为科学研究探讨了什么样的手段最能有效说服消费者，使他们的消费选择符合自身对地球的关切。

“This is a real challenge for market-ers， for organizations， for public pol-icymakers，” she said. “We really need to understand， what are the key drivers of behavior change in particular？”

怀特说：“这对市场营销人员、机构组织和公共政策制定者来说，是个十足的挑战。我们真的需要了解行为改变的关键驱动因素是什么。”

White identified a few factors that stakeholders can focus on to shift behavior—social influence （in other words， peer pressure）， habit formation， individual values， emotional buy-in and tangible outcomes.

怀特指出了利益相关者为改变行为可以关注的几个因素——社会影响（换句话说，同侪压力）、习惯养成、个人价值观、情感认同和有形成果。

But ultimately， no one should think about hitting consumers with all of those efforts at once， White said. The shifts are more likely to be gradual.

怀特表示，归根结底，任何人都不应指望一举采用所有措施来让消费者突然醒悟。改变更有可能是逐渐发生的。

2. Price and performance are still king

2. 价格和性能依然是最重要的因素

Todd Cline， as director for Procter & Gamble’s North America fabric care research and development， is trying to focus consumers on one tiny change that could drastically slash the climate impact of his company’s product： Wash their clothes in cold water.

宝洁公司北美区织物护理研发部总监托德·克莱因正试图使消费者关注一个微小改变——用冷水洗衣服，这可以大幅降低其公司产品对气候的影响。

Cline said what consumers do with Tide， one of the company’s sub-brands， once they take it off the shelf accounts for two-thirds of the product’s carbon footprint. The biggest chunk of that is the energy used to heat the water in the washing machine.

克莱因表示，宝洁公司子品牌“汰渍”三分之二的碳足迹是消费者购买使用留下的。其中占比最大的是用于加热洗衣机中的水的能量。

So his plan is simple： “Make pro-ducts that work great when consumers use them on cold，” he said.

所以克莱因的计划很简单，他说：“制造出消费者用冷水洗衣时效果很好的产品。”

This highlights a fundamental truth for sustainable products： Consumers’ top concerns are still performance and price. So sustainable products must tick those two boxes before showing off their climate bona fides4.

这强调了关于可持续产品的一个基本事实：消费者最关心的仍然是产品性能和价格。因此，在展示对气候的诚意前，可持续产品必须先做好这两方面。

Adam Werbach， global lead for sustainable shopping at Amazon， knows this well. He led the development of a “Climate Pledge Friendly” label on the site that uses external certifications to direct customers to the most sustainable products.

亚马逊公司可持续购物全球负责人亚当·韦巴赫深知这一点。他主导开发了亚马逊平台上的“气候承诺友好型”标签，通过外部认证引导消费者购买最有可持续性的产品。

The experience so far has shown Werbach that customers， even at Amazon’s eco-conscious Whole Foods， primarily seek out price and performance before considering sustainability.