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

Consumers demand sustainable products. This demand grows. Companies face hard tasks to sell these goods. NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business and PwC offer clear steps. They show how marketing can drive growth, earn more money, and build trust.

The Business Case for Sustainability in Consumer Products

• Strong Sales Growth:
Data from 12 years in 36 CPG categories shows clear links. Sustainability connects with sales growth. Products with a sustainability note grew at 12.3% each year from 2019 to 2024. This rate is more than twice that of usual items, with a 2.3-times gap.

• Market Share:
By 2024, products that shout sustainability grabbed almost 24% of all sales. Each sale builds the case for these items.

• Price Premiums:
A PwC survey of 20,000 buyers in 2024 shows that shoppers pay about 9.7% more. Real-world data also links sustainability with premiums. On average, prices are 26.6% above typical products. For paper goods, the gap can pass 100%, and for coffee and cereal, it nears 50%.

Key Takeaway:
Sustainable products prove they can grow and bring profit. Their promise justifies more investment in both their creation and marketing.

Targeting the Right Customer Segments

• Who Buys Sustainable Products?
Millennials, those with college degrees, urban people, and higher-income buyers show a strong link to these products.

• Category Insights:
For example, dairy items show steady sales of sustainable goods among all age groups.

• Action Point:
Find the customer groups that connect most with sustainability. Then, focus your marketing on them to gain the best results.

Crafting Compelling Sustainability Marketing Messages

Effective sustainable marketing does two jobs. It shows the best things about the product. It connects those features with sustainable messages.

• Core Feature Focus:
Make the product’s strength clear. Say, “rich, delicious chocolate” or “soap that leaves you smelling clean.”
Each description tightly bonds product benefits to the message.

• Layered Messaging:
Add one or two sustainability points. Research with Edelman shows that this mix boosts appeal by 30 percentage points.
Keep each claim near the product’s main trait.

• Category Relevance:
Link sustainability directly to what the consumer values. For example, say “made with sustainable ingredients good for your skin” when talking about skincare.

Building Credibility Around Sustainability Claims

Not all words have the same pull.

• Highly Appealing Claims:
Claims that protect health, save money, support local farms, help future generations, care for animals, or use local sustainable sources work best.

• Less Effective Claims:
Words like biodegradable, climate-neutral, traceable, or generic labels lose strength. Even packaging claims (except all-recycled content) do not build strong bonds.

• Legal and Regulatory Considerations:
Skip vague words like “clean” or “natural.” They can lead to trouble. Rules such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Green Claims Directive need clear proof for each word.

Recommendation:
Invest in clear, evidence-backed words. Support these words with transparent and traceable supply chains. This careful link builds trust.

Conclusion

Marketing sustainable products needs clear business sense, focused customer groups, easy messages, and proven claims. The research from NYU Stern CSB and PwC ties these parts well. It helps brands tap the growing green market, set higher prices, and earn lasting trust.

About the Authors:

• Tensie Whelan is Distinguished Professor of Practice at NYU Stern and Founding Director of the Stern Center for Sustainable Business.
• David Linich is a principal at PwC US who works on decarbonization and sustainable operations.

For marketers in the organic and sustainable products sector, these clear, research-backed steps create better links between product features and sustainable values. This approach can unlock growth and build deeper trust in today’s green economy.

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.