Irish people are prepared to spend more for environmentally friendly products, according to a new study, with just 32 per cent saying they would not pay a higher price for a sustainable product.
Overall the Royal London Ireland study found that seven in 10 people would pay more for sustainable products, anywhere between an increase of 5 per cent and “whatever it takes”.
Joe Charles, the proposition director at Royal London Ireland, said the results were encouraging. He said it showed that there was an awareness among younger people about environmental issues and ethical consumption. Younger people – those born since 1997 – were significantly less likely than their older peers to baulk at paying more for sustainable products.
People are willing to pay almost one-fifth more for environmentally friendly and sustainable products.
Almost one in five respondents (18 per cent) said they would pay 10 per cent of a premium on a product that was more sustainable, according to a survey by Royal London, while 17 per cent of respondents said they would pay up to 5 per cent more for an environmentally friendly alternative. Some 9 per cent were willing to pay 20 per cent more for sustainable products, with another 15 per cent agreeable to prices that could be anywhere between 30 and 75 per cent higher.
Almost one in 10 said they would pay a premium of “whatever it takes” so they could buy sustainably though that was skewed by support in Dublin (14 per cent) that was almost five times the backing among Connacht/Ulster residents (3 per cent).
A lack of trust in financial services was reflected in the survey results, with one in three respondents saying they don’t trust Irish financial services to keep their environmental goals. This belief was particularly pronounced in the Generation Z group (born 1997 to 2012) where almost one in two respondents – 46 per cent – have little or no trust in financial groups to maintain their sustainability goals.
Opinion was pretty divided on the future with almost one in three (32 per cent) people optimistic about the financial sector becoming more socially responsible but 31 per cent pessimistic on the sector’s environmental future.
Mr Charles said that financial services firms try to build trust with customers and the public. However, sometimes “efforts fall shy and other times consumers simply are not aware of the positive changes and actions that are being taken behind the scenes”.
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