Do you understand the background of every single product you buy? If not, then that’s okay for now, but you should definitely start researching where your products come from. Buyer awareness has become incredibly important in recent years with the rise of sustainable fashion and people cutting back on eating meat products and turning to plant-based food instead.
Buyer awareness is when consumers realise that there is a problem with whatever they’re buying so turn to a different product to fix that solution. It is when the customer finally becomes active in making a positive change. This has definitely increased in recent years with consumers being super aware of product backgrounds. Understanding where our products come from is vital to saving our planet, as we could be unconsciously contributing to climate change. Research is vital to find out where particular items come from, especially if you know that certain things are being brought in from unethical sources. Food and clothes are the main items that consumers are now finding sustainable alternatives for.
Food
Starting with food, over the last few years, there have been more people than ever campaigning for buyers to be aware of what they’re purchasing and eating, particularly in meat products. Nourish by WebMD found that plant-based food sales were up in 2020 by 27%, meaning that 57% of all US households purchased plant-based foods that year. This proves that people are beginning to be more conscious of what they’re buying and eating. There have been several statistics showing that having a plant-based vegan, or majorly plant-based diet is better for you than eating meat. Eating meat means more animals are killed, can even lead to consumers being diagnosed with certain cancers, and is also responsible for releasing greenhouse gases around our planet. These gases are known to make our climate worse and can even contribute to global warming. So not only is eating plant-based food better for you, but it is also helping to save the planet.
Analysts have predicted that the plant-based food market is going to grow by a further 11.9% by 2027 (New Food Magazine). These growing percentages show that the vegan diet has no sign of slowing down as consumers are becoming aware of the background behind meat products. The more consumers understand what they eat can be harmful to the environment, the more proactive they’re being in taking care of our planet for future generations.
Fashion
Another item that consumers are now particularly conscious about is clothes. The rise of vintage and second-hand clothes over recent years just proves this. According to a Thredup and Global Data report, Harper's Bazaar reported that the fashion world is becoming more sustainable than ever and ‘the resale market is growing at a rate 11 times faster than traditional retail and should be worth $84 billion by 2030’. Second-hand sites such as Depop and Vinted are used by millions worldwide and are racking in new users daily. Fast fashion brands are careful not to share too many details about their background so consumers are finally beginning to take this into their own hands and using second-hand sites over buying from fast fashion brands.
Fast fashion describes cheap and trendy pieces of clothing that are made quickly to keep up with moving fashion trends. These clothes cause massive global environmental issues as clothing production uses a lot of toxic ingredients and emits carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Levi Strauss & Co admitted that producing a pair of jeans emits as much carbon as driving a car 80 miles. However, the fast fashion market is expected ‘to stay roughly flat’ over the next 10 years according to The Fashion Law, the second-hand fashion industry is expected to boom and grow expeditiously.
This displays that consumers have, again, become conscious of what they’re buying and where the products are coming from. Fashion consumers have begun to take active steps in avoiding fast fashion brands and turning to second-hand fashion brands and sites instead.
Fashion and food are only two examples of how consumers are beginning to change the way they buy. The world’s buyer awareness seems to be increasing, and this is a hugely positive step in the right direction to help battle climate change and other environmental issues. Can you think of any other potentially environmentally harmful products you buy that you could maybe find sustainable solutions to? Definitely get researching!