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

Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword in consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing—it’s a driving force for growth and innovation. But effectively marketing sustainable products poses challenges, including justifying investment, balancing sustainability with other consumer-desired features, and ensuring credible messaging amid competing claims. Research from NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) and PwC offers valuable guidance to unlock the full potential of sustainable product marketing.

The Business Case for Sustainable Products

• Strong Sales Growth: Analysis of 12 years of U.S. point-of-sale data across 36 CPG categories (about 40% of the market) shows sustainability-marketed products grew sales by an average of 12.3% annually from 2019 to 2024—more than double the growth rate of conventional products.

• Market Share Gains: By 2024, sustainable products captured 23.8% of overall sales, confirming their rising prominence.

• Price Premiums: Consumer surveys indicate a willingness to pay approximately 9.7% more for sustainable goods. CSB’s data reveals actual price premiums averaging 26.6%, with some categories like paper products seeing premiums over 100%, and coffee, cereal, and chocolate around 50%.

Strategic Approaches for Marketing Leaders

1. Know Your Buyers

• Key demographics driving sustainable product purchases include millennials, college-educated individuals, urban residents, and high-income earners.
• Certain categories, such as dairy, see broad adoption of sustainability-marketed products across age groups.
• Understanding which customer segments dominate sustainable buying in your categories is critical to targeting and messaging.

2. Amplify Core Product Qualities with Sustainability

• Effective marketing combines a product’s core attribute (e.g., taste, freshness, efficacy) with one or two sustainability messages for maximum appeal.
• Research by CSB and Edelman finds that layering sustainability claims on top of a core product feature increases appeal by approximately 30 percentage points.
• Tailor sustainability claims to attributes that matter most in each product category:
  • Example: In skincare, "formulated with sustainable ingredients that are good for your skin" links sustainability with consumer priorities.

3. Advance Credible, Consumer-Valued Claims

• Messages that resonate most highlight benefits such as:

  • Protecting human health (absence of harmful ingredients)
  • Saving money
  • Supporting local farms and food systems
  • Promoting animal health
  • Benefitting children and future generations
  • Originating from local or sustainable sources

• Less effective claims include scientific terms (biodegradable, climate-neutral), traceability alone, packaging claims (except all-recycled content), and generic sustainability certifications.

• Certification seals aid regulatory validation but should be supplemented with clear messaging for consumers.

4. Be Precise and Evidence-Based

• Avoid ambiguous claims like "clean," "natural," or "safe" which are often legally challenged, especially for products used by children or applied to skin.
• Stay current on evolving regulations such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the proposed EU Green Claims Directive, which require substantiated scientific evidence for environmental claims.
• Build strong capabilities for value chain analysis and product traceability to ensure transparency and compliance.

Conclusion

Marketing sustainable products successfully requires a strategic blend of clear business justification, targeted audience understanding, compelling messaging that ties sustainability to core product benefits, and trustworthy, evidence-backed claims. Leveraging insights from NYU Stern CSB and PwC can help marketers not only meet consumer demand but also capitalize on the robust growth and premium pricing that sustainability offers.

About the Authors:

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

For brands committed to sustainability, these research-backed principles offer a roadmap to connecting authentically with consumers and driving long-term growth in the 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.