Ads placed alongside pro-sustainability contexts increase brand uplift
The research analysed the importance of environmental causes and climate change for Australian consumers and if they are more likely to favour brands that deliver contextually relevant ads within these environments.
IAS country manager, Jessica Miles said: “Our study shows that sustainability needs to play an important role in a brand’s advertising strategy. Consumers not only expect businesses to play a leading role but are more likely to favour a brand that advocates for environmental causes. Given this heightened consumer awareness, contextual alignment is critical.
“Marketers can increase consumer favourability by aligning a positive advocacy message with positive content. Conversely, marketers must be mindful of misinformation or negative sentiment to ensure their reputation is not tarnished. Marketers now have the opportunity to make an impact by actively leveraging their position as storytellers with a strong and credible message and deliver ads in the most relevant environments.”
The research showed that 92% of Australian consumers plan to do more to support environmental causes and help mitigate climate change. People are more engaged with the climate crisis than ever before; consequently, most Australians plan to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle. Avoiding single-use plastics is the most common way consumers demonstrate their commitment to sustainability, with 67% saying they would limit usage. Reducing energy and water consumption to limit carbon footprint (53%) is the next biggest area of focus. 49% of shoppers seek out sustainable products, and 44% say they plan to purchase from brands/companies that support environmental causes. In comparison, 41% begin to reconsider spending on physical items and plan to reduce the number of goods they purchase.
Moreover, Australian consumers place a high priority on environmental causes. The study found that sustainability and climate change remain top of mind and are one of the biggest social issues Australian consumers are concerned about right now after the cost of living crisis. For the world to change, most Australian consumers (90%) recognise that brands and advertisers must actively advocate for environmental causes, sustainability and ways to combat climate change. Almost three-quarters (70%) of consumers have a more favourable view of brands that advocate for environmental causes.
In addition to this, brands benefit most from supporting environmental content. For the study, IAS tested consumer reaction to ads alongside content that was neutral on environmental causes and compared that with reaction to ads alongside content that advocated for environmental causes. Ads with messaging that matches or is related to the content headline show higher favourability for positive/neutral sentiment content. It revealed that a standard ad placed alongside a positively-laden headline advocating for environmental causes benefited from a +90% boost in favourability than the ad would have had alongside a neutral headline.
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