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

Overview

Despite a strong consumer preference for sustainable products, many companies struggle to effectively market these items and capitalize on their growth potential. Challenges include demonstrating sustainable products’ value, balancing eco-features with customer priorities, and presenting credible, trustworthy sustainability claims amid a crowded landscape of labels and certifications.

New research by NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) in collaboration with PwC offers actionable strategies to overcome these challenges, helping brands unlock the full value of sustainability in consumer packaged goods (CPG).

Key Research Findings

• Sustainability-Market Growth: An analysis of 12 years of U.S. point-of-sale data across 36 product categories (covering 40% of the CPG market) showed sustainability-market products grew at an annual rate of 12.3% from 2019 to 2024—more than twice the growth rate of conventional products.
• Market Share and Premiums: Sustainable items accounted for nearly 24% of total CPG sales by 2024. Consumers are willing to pay an average premium of 9.7% for sustainable products, with actual price premiums averaging 26.6%—exceeding 100% in categories like paper products and about 50% for coffee, cereal, and chocolate.
• Consumer Segments: Millennials, college-educated, urban dwellers, and high-income shoppers purchase more sustainability-marketed products. Notably, some categories like dairy show strong sustainability sales across all age groups.

Effective Marketing Approaches

1. Clarify the Business Case

Understanding which product categories and customer segments are most receptive to sustainable products is critical. Brands should focus efforts on these groups to maximize sales impact and justify investments in sustainable product development.

2. Amplify Appeal by Linking Sustainability to Core Product Attributes

Marketing messages that first highlight a product’s core qualities (e.g., taste, effectiveness) and then layer in one or two clear, relevant sustainability claims perform best. This approach increases the overall appeal by about 30 percentage points and resonates across demographics.

Example: Skincare products marketed as “formulated with sustainable ingredients that are good for your skin” connect sustainability directly to consumers’ primary concerns.

3. Prioritize Consumer-Valued Claims and Build Trust

Research identifies six sustainability claims with high consumer appeal:

• Protecting human health (e.g., no harmful ingredients)
• Saving money
• Supporting local farms and food systems
• Benefiting children and future generations
• Preserving animal health
• Originating from local or sustainable sources

Less effective claims include technical scientific properties (e.g., biodegradable), traceability, packaging (except all-recycled content), and certification seals alone.

4. Be Precise and Substantiate Claims

Generic terms like “clean” or “natural” are vulnerable to legal challenges, especially for products used by children or applied on skin. Regulatory frameworks, particularly in the EU, require scientific evidence and transparent value chain monitoring to substantiate environmental claims.

Implications for Brands

• Invest in robust value chain analysis and traceability to support sustainability claims.
• Craft marketing messages that combine product benefits with meaningful, consumer-relevant sustainability attributes.
• Target segments that demonstrate the highest propensity to purchase sustainable products.
• Stay informed on evolving global regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Green Claims Directive to ensure claims compliance.

Conclusion

Sustainability offers substantial growth and premium opportunities in consumer goods. By applying these research-backed principles—clarifying the business case, harmonizing product and sustainability messages, prioritizing trusted claims, and ensuring precision—brands can better connect with customers, build trust, and turn sustainable products into profitable market leaders.

About the Authors

Tensie Whelan is Distinguished Professor of Practice and Founding Director of NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business. David Linich is a principal at PwC US with expertise in decarbonization and sustainable operations.

Sources:

• NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business analysis of Circana data, 2012–2024
• PwC Consumer Survey, 2024
• CSB and Edelman research on consumer appeal of sustainability claims

For more expert insights on sustainable marketing, follow updates from NYU Stern CSB and PwC’s sustainability practice.

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