ASIA-PACIFIC – NOVEMBER 16, 2010 – Havas Media and MPG’s Brand Sustainable Futures analysis found that Chinese and Indian Consumers are among the most concerned about sustainability along with Brazilian consumers and ahead of European consumers. The research asked 30,000 consumers in nine countries: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, UK and the US.
The study, which explored 150 brands across 10 different industries, revealed that only one-third of brands are considered meaningful by consumers. There is also strong evidence that the more sustainable the brand is perceived, the more meaningful it becomes to consumers.
Brand Sustainable Futures has the unique ability to assess, track and compare how a company’s sustainable endeavours resonate with consumers and the contribution these, in turn, make to brand equity. This enables companies to take a ‘corporate temperature check’ to assess their brand’s sustainability health over time.
Consumer findings in China and India include:
-Environmental pollution remains the key issue of concern for Chinese consumers, with almost half (49%) saying that they are very concerned about it. In India the proportion of those ‘very concerned’ about it is well over half (57%), compared to just over a third (35%) of global respondents
-Sustainability remains a key issue for consumers worldwide. 20% of Indian consumers always consider environmental/social aspects when making purchasing decisions much higher percentage than Chinese consumers (15 %).
-The two main barriers to buying responsible products both in China and India are a lack of information about them and the limited availability of such products. Information is a key area since over half (62%) of Chinese consumers would choose responsible products/services more often if they were present.
-China is a country with highly engaged, enthusiastic and active consumers. Since 2009 it has shown an 11% increase in Devotees (active followers of sustainability issues), with fewer people feeling disengaged from the issue. In India Devotees make up the largest proportion of consumers (29%).
-However, this level of engagement does not come without a price, with one-fifth of Chinese consumers being engaged and critical of corporate motives, an increase of 10% since 2009. Indian consumers too appear to have slightly higher than average expectations of companies in terms of sustainable endeavour and there is a stronger feeling of empowerment.
In China and India both local brands are seen as more socially and environmentally responsible than international brands. The household appliance manufacturer Haier is the most frequent top-of-mind mention of a socially/environmentally responsible company, followed by IT companies IBM and Lenovo. In India, Tata, Reliance, ITC and Nokia are the top perceived socially and environmentally responsible companies.
Alfonso Rodés Vilà, CEO Havas Media commented: “Brand Sustainable Futures highlights that sustainability is no longer about responsibility; it’s about survival. Companies must embrace sustainability as part of their core business and start developing a fluid dialogue with shared thinking with consumers and other key networks in society so that their brands contribute to a meaningful purpose.”
Vishnu Mohan, CEO of MPG Asia Pacific, said: “As a strongly committed group, we believe we have the responsibility to use our expertise in communications to explore new ways of addressing some of today’s key challenges faced by CEOs, CMOs and brand managers. The most important challenge today is how to build a meaningful brand in this era of transparency, sustainability and mistrust.”
