Currently, there are no levies on carbon emissions, therefore no guaranteed financial benefit from reporting carbon footprint exists. However, there has been and will continue to be a rising consumer demand for environmental transparency and corporate social responsibility. This consumer demand and change in purchase behaviour is driving widespread marketplace change and competition when it comes to promoting sustainability credentials. With the rise in carbon footprint software providers, and the need to measure and report carbon emissions as a result of the UK Government’s Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, a potential taxation on carbon may well be imposed in the near future.
Consumers are the most aware they have ever been about brand sustainability credentials. Market research has shown that there is demand for the carbon labelling of products, enabling transparency between brands and consumers of their true environmental impact of production. The UK Government has also backed carbon labelling as a good initiative for consumers to make more informed, sustainable decisions when shopping.
Marketing in every industry now has a large focus on sustainability, eco labels are used as a marketing technique to gain competitive advantage over other businesses and products. Putting an eco-label, for example a carbon footprint, on pack is great, if and only if the label abides by the Green Claims Code and is accurate. If a business/brand are genuinely working hard to reduce their impact on the environment, this should be promoted and marketed to consumers, so that they can make sustainable in-store decisions. If the marketing efforts are an act of greenwashing, this is misleading for the consumer, and if the brand is exposed, potentially by an NGO or activist group, the results can be detrimental for the brand as consumers may boycott, resulting in loss of sales and damage to brand reputation.
In summary, if a business/brand are genuinely making an effort to reduce carbon emissions and impact on the environment, this should be communicated to consumers, and in doing so the brand will reap a financial benefit through competitive advantage, if they can visibly demonstrate that what they are marketing. is true!
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