A Better Way to Market Sustainable Products: Insights from NYU Stern and PwC Research

Sustainable products are increasingly popular among consumers, yet companies often face challenges in effectively marketing these goods to realize their full growth and profit potential. New research by NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) and PwC provides practical strategies for marketing leaders aiming to better connect sustainability with consumer demand.

Strong Market Growth and Price Premiums

Analysis of 12 years of US point-of-sale data from Circana reveals that products marketed on sustainability attributes have significantly outpaced conventional products, growing sales by 12.3% annually from 2019 to 2024—2.3 times faster than non-sustainable items. By 2024, sustainability-marketed products made up nearly 24% of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market segment studied.

Moreover, sustainable products command meaningful price premiums. PwC’s 2024 survey of 20,000 consumers found an average willingness to pay nearly 10% more for sustainably produced goods. Real-world data confirms this willingness, with sustainability-marketed products priced on average 26.6% above comparable conventional goods, and premiums exceeding 100% in certain paper products and around 50% in categories like coffee, cereal, and chocolate.

Key Strategies to Realize the Value of Sustainable Products

1. Understand Customer Segments and Product Categories

Research highlights that millennials, college-educated shoppers, city dwellers, and high-income consumers tend to purchase more sustainability-marketed products. However, sustainability also drives significant sales shares across age groups in key categories like dairy, often at sizable premiums. Identifying which customer segments and product lines have the greatest affinity for sustainability is crucial.

2. Amplify Appeal by Linking Sustainability with Core Product Attributes

Marketing pitches succeed when sustainability messages complement a product’s primary qualities. For example, emphasizing that a chocolate bar tastes rich or soap leaves a clean scent, reinforced with one or two clear sustainability claims, enhances appeal dramatically—boosting product attractiveness by 30 percentage points on average. Sustainable messaging should relate directly to attributes consumers prioritize in the product category, such as “formulated with sustainable ingredients that are good for your skin” in skincare products.

3. Use Precise, Credible Sustainability Claims Consumers Trust

Consumers resonate most with sustainability claims tied to direct benefits: protecting human health (e.g., no harmful ingredients), saving money, supporting local farms and food systems, benefiting future generations, preserving animal health, and using local or sustainably sourced materials.

Claims about biodegradability, climate neutrality, traceability, or packaging details—except for all-recycled content—tend to be less influential. While certification seals help validate claims, they need to be supplemented by messaging that consumers find relatable.

Companies must ensure claims are specific, backed by evidence, and compliant with evolving regulations—particularly in regions like the EU where directives increasingly require scientific substantiation and transparency.

Navigating Regulatory and Legal Challenges

Ambiguous or vague claims such as “clean” or “natural” often face legal challenges, especially for products used by children or applied to skin. Compliance with emerging policies like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Green Claims Directive necessitates strong capabilities in value chain analysis and traceability to substantiate environmental and social claims.

Conclusion

The compelling growth and premium potential of sustainable products offer a lucrative opportunity for consumer product companies. By targeting informed customer segments, integrating sustainability naturally with product qualities, and making credible, precise claims supported by evidence, marketing leaders can unlock and maximize the full value of sustainability-driven propositions.

About the Authors

• Tensie Whelan: Distinguished Professor of Practice at NYU Stern and Founding Director of NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business
• David Linich: Principal at PwC US, expert in decarbonization and sustainable operations

Related Insights and Resources

• "How the EU’s Green Deal is Driving Business Reinvention," by Claudia Buysing Damsté et al.
• "The CEO’s Sustainability Checklist," by George Serafeim
• Research data referenced primarily from Circana and joint studies by NYU Stern CSB and PwC

By applying these evidence-based marketing principles, sustainable products can move beyond niche appeal to become mainstream leaders in consumer choice and business value creation.

Design Delight Studio curates high-impact, authoritative insights into sustainable and organic product trends, helping conscious consumers and innovative brands stay ahead in a fast-evolving green economy.