Pitching it right - how to place a sustainable product that customers want to buy

The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.’

Gaylord Nelson

Climate change is the biggest threat to our existence. To address this menace, we require unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. It is extremely important to embed sustainability into our lifestyle. One such intervention is the uptake of sustainable products by consumers. Sustainable products are those products that are developed while keeping the environment at the forefront and also have zero to minimal impact during use and disposal. With time, there is a spate of sustainable products in the market. Also, the uptake of these products has increased over time. However, the crippling issue is the rate of growth. Through our survey, we realized that even the people who are capable of buying sustainable products are not opting for them for several reasons. There exist a torrent of concerns that are inhibiting consumers to be responsible towards the environment. To hold global warming to 1.5-degree celsius, we require imminent interventions and changes in habits and lifestyle. This research paper highlights the key concerns of customers and provides recommendations to manufacturers and sellers to ‘Pitch It Right’.

Statement of Intended Contribution

1. There exists an inclination amongst consumers to buy sustainable products. However, the intention to action gap is widely evident.

2. Our survey identifies that though people have the capacity and knowledge to buy sustainable products, the uptake is well below the noise level.

3. Using a logistic regression model, we identify the categorical response of the customer in buying a product based on several independent variables.

4. Finally, we provide key recommendations to the stakeholders on the supply side to invigorate the need for sustainable products in the demand side.