To join the membership rights, please fill in the name and email of the contact person. We will provide new product information and market news on a regular basis. We hope to increase the opportunities for cooperation between the two parties and ensure the security of all member information.
Text = Kantar Kantar Insights into Taiwan • Ashley Chen
With the launch of the "United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" by the United Nations in 2015, and in recent years discussions on various social issues such as environmental issues, race, gender equality and inclusion are in the ascendant, global citizens' awareness of sustainable development has gradually increased Upgrading, from the government to the small enterprise, has all caught up with the trend of sustainable development. Whether the brand can correctly grasp the sustainable issues and formulate the brand strategy has become an important key to growth. In particular, the continuous spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has brought many crises, but it has also created a good opportunity for enterprises to pay attention to and review sustainable development.
However, despite the clear framework and common language provided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, do consumers care about sustainable development? What issues are you concerned about? Which aspects should brands start from, and do they accurately play the role of guides leading consumers to practice sustainable development?
Kantar Insights, a market research consultancy, conducted a survey of 500 Taiwanese aged 18-64 through the LifePoints online survey platform in the first quarter of 2022 to discuss the theme of sustainable development and reveal what Taiwanese care about most and what brands should pay attention to. sustainable development issues.
What is the attitude of Taiwanese consumers towards sustainable development?
Nearly 70% of Taiwanese consumers believe that they can change the world through their small choices and actions, but about half of them will refuse to buy products that affect the environment or society, and actively seek out companies that try to make up for the damage to the environment. , as well as willing to support companies and brands committed to social responsibility from time and money.
Source: Kantar Insights / LifePoints
However, it is worth noting that more than 70% of consumers said that due to their own daily life considerations and the high price of green products, they are hindered from adopting more environmentally friendly behaviors.
It can be seen that even though Taiwanese people's purchasing decisions are influenced by the brand's attitude towards the environment, they are still discouraged when faced with the actual consideration of product use or price factors. Therefore, while promoting sustainability, brands must maintain product competitiveness and acceptable prices in order to win the favor of consumers.
Source: Kantar Insights / LifePoints
What sustainable development issues do Taiwanese consumers care about?
According to the survey results of Kantar Insights' 2021 Asian Sustainability Fundamental Research, Taiwanese consumers are not far from other East Asian countries (China, Japan and South Korea) in terms of sustainability issues, and they are mainly focused on environment-related issues, especially These are air pollution (including toxic gases and smoke), clean and safe water resources, water pollution (including pesticide use and oil spills), and extreme climate and greenhouse gas emissions.
It is worth noting that in view of the scarcity of vaccines after the outbreak of the three-level alert in Taiwan in 2021, the issue of vaccination resources also ranks in the top ten.
Taiwan's industrial type (steel and petrochemical industries), thermal power generation, and topography (caused by the blocking of the Central Mountains, unable to disperse air pollutants near the leeward side of the Central Mountains) have long been responsible for air pollution.
Regarding water pollution, although prevention and control have been successful in recent years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, as of 2019, 32% of Taiwan's rivers were still polluted by domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, and river garbage. Leaving a deep impression of "Rainbow Creek" on the public.
Perhaps because both air pollution and water pollution have not been cured for many years, the study found that consumers of all regions and ages have a high degree of concern about these issues, especially the elderly over 55 years old.
According to a multi-country study by Kantar, when brands communicate with consumers about the concept of sustainability, in addition to taking into account issues that really affect people’s lives, more importantly, they need to further identify issues that are highly relevant to the products/services the brand sells. Sustainability strategy, as people often associate issues with specific industries/categories and expect brands to take more responsibility in these areas, consumers will be less sensitive to associating products with unrelated issues , and cannot add points to the enterprise.
For example, consumers in Taiwan mostly believe that oil and gas are closely related to their main concerns – air pollution, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions – so it is reasonable to expect that consumers will expect oil and gas brands to address these related issues There's more writing and action here.
In other words, brands need to be able to reflect consumer expectations when setting sustainability missions and communication strategies to increase the effectiveness of sustainability measures and help brands grow.
What sustainability actions are Taiwanese consumers taking?
Among the actions that can be practiced in daily life to improve sustainable living, Taiwanese consumers have the best practice willingness to bring their own shopping bags and reduce food and water waste, followed by buying products with less packaging and carrying refills Containers are also a more common sustainable behavior.
Ideal is full, the reality is very skinny. While consumers perceive cognitively to change their habits and behaviors, actually taking action remains a challenge.
We further analyzed the gap between consumers' values and actual actions from the "Value Action Gap". The results of the study found that for Taiwanese consumers, they carry reusable containers and buy less packaging when shopping. Product/sustainable/locally produced goods, and mass transit as much as possible, is quite challenging – people have high intentions, but very little action.
The analysis results of "Poor Value Action" also show that Taiwanese consumers are not only less willing to support, but also weaker in action in many aspects, such as fair trade, the legitimacy of the product manufacturing process, and environmental friendliness, which shows the sustainability of Taiwanese consumers. Development awareness still needs to be raised, and civic action must be further educated and awakened.
Source: Kantar Insights / LifePoints
What factors hinder Taiwanese consumers from implementing sustainable development actions?
In addition to the gap between values and actions, there are still some factors in life that prevent people from taking actions that are beneficial to sustainability. Among them, product quality/price is the most significant obstacle. Nearly 80% of consumers put saving money first. To save money by not buying green/environmentally friendly items.
In addition, many consumers are unable to strike a balance between maintaining the environment and maintaining a standard of living, and are more focused on addressing the economic challenges of everyday life.
At the same time, Taiwanese consumers have limited awareness of green/environmentally friendly products, which makes them more careful to consider whether the money invested in sustainable development is not only helping the environment, but also worth the fare.
In addition to the barriers of consumers themselves, most believe that companies and manufacturers have a greater responsibility to practice sustainable development. It can be seen that brands that can actively pay attention to and invest in sustainable issues will be more in line with consumers' expectations.
Although Taiwanese consumers have a positive attitude towards sustainable living and show considerable attention to environmental-related issues, there are still many obstacles on the way to practice. Chen Wenting, Deputy Client Manager of Kantar Insights, said that in order to succeed in sustainable development, it is necessary to bring growth and competitiveness to the brand:
1. Brands must identify sustainability issues that are most relevant to their industry/category
2. The brand must set a clear brand and sustainable mission
3. Innovate related products/services according to the sustainable mission
4. Provide consumers with choices that are simple, easy to understand and have clear value, and guide consumers to transform their desire for sustainable environmental protection into practical actions. Only in this way can brands achieve corporate social responsibility, gain consumers' trust, and achieve substantial results. increase.