2002
Price is Key Concern for UK Consumers
IGD's research shows that price, sell-by-date, and taste are the main factors influencing purchase by over 70% of consumers. In contrast, less than ¼ of consumers consider factors covering production issues, such as GM, animal welfare, and whether grown in the UK, as influencing purchase.
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2001
Who are the Ethical Consumers?
According to EIRIS, the number of unit holders/policy holders in pooled ethically screened funds increased from 137,000 in September 1997 to 456,000 in June 2001. Ongoing research since 1989.
Ethical Investment Research Service, published by the Co-operative Bank.
The New Consumer Directory
2/3 of UK consumers in their 30's and 40's – with a weekly spending power of £4.5 billion – have boycotted brands because of their 'unethical behaviour'. The Quintin Bell Organisation
Corporate Social Responsibility increasingly important
80 % thought that companies should attach as much importance to 'social responsibility' when making business decisions as profits. YouGov
5th Annual International Environmental Monitor
4/10 people say that they would be willing to pay a 10% premium for a car with a new kind of engine and fuel system that was better for the environment. Environics International Ltd.
Taking Flight: The Rapid Growth of Ethical Consumerism
Total Ethical activity, with banking and investments amount to £13.4 billion in 2000, up 19% on 1999. New Economics Foundation
Co-op Defies ban on Sale of Organic Peaches
77% of consumers would buy more organic food if it was cheaper. Nearly 6/10 would prefer to buy organic food that is produced in the UK. 85% feel that the Government should be doing more to encourage the growth of organic food in the UK.
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2000
Ethical goods get a Fair Share in the market
A group of (ethical) products and services have been around for some time, and have attained significant market shares, up to 20%. Examples include sales of energy efficient light bulbs and sales of eggs under the Freedom Foods Label. New Economic Foundation
Animal Welfare Position Paper
44.6% of unit holders rate cosmetic testing on animals as a very important issue and 30.7% rate this as quite important. Only 7.5% of unit holders rate cosmetic testing on animals as not very or not at all important.Henderson Global Investors
Who are the Ethical Consumers?
Just over half the UK population have bought a product and recommended a supplier because of its responsible reputation at some time in the last year. The Co-operative Bank
What the Progress of Ethical Consumerism in the 1990's Tells Us About the Prospects for the 21st Century
The environment has become an issue over which 1/3 of consumers are prepared to act and will influence the shopping of half. This should translate into significant sales in key categories and the 'main-streaming' of environmental standards by companies.The Co-operative Bank (Research by the Future Foundation)
Potential ethical consumers lack information
Sixty per cent of the UK sample for this survey either strongly agreed or tended to agree they did not have enough information on companies' social and environmental behaviour to make a purchasing decision.The Co-operative Bank (by MORI)
Co-op 'Consumers put Industry in Dock over Food Crimes'
Eighty six per cent of consumers disapprove of animal blood being fed to animals, yet Government officials admitted, as recently as April 2000, that agricultural cannibalism is still being permitted with feed containing blood products, tallow and gelatine from cows being fed back to cows. 87 % disapprove of feeding animals with growth promoting antibiotics. 84% are concerned that animals are not treated properly, and 61% 'want to know more' about the conditions animals are kept in. 72 % feel the environment is being damaged by global food production. 85 % feel MNCs have too much power over what we eat. 935 believe people have the right to know everything that has happened to their food, not just about the ingredients on the label.
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The UK Green and Ethical Consumer
Seventy two per cent of respondents to the survey recycle goods. Animal welfare is the top environmental concern, particularly among women, with 70 % saying they would buy food advertised as animal-friendly. A surprisingly high percentage (60%) say they now buy ethically produced food. Keynote.