Earth Day 2023: Brand to Go Green to attract Urban Youth

“Earth Day” is an annual occasion held to raise awareness about environmental issues and solutions. To celebrate this day, IRL Vietnam shared some figures on how urban youth perceive GREEN CONSUMPTION.

How important is sustainability to consumers?

Global warming (93%) and environmental issues, specifically air pollution (96%), are among top concerns of urban Vietnamese youth (aged 18-29), surpassing unemployment and inflation. This recognises the increasing prevalence and dominance of environment issues over other social concerns among this population.

In such a context of growing concerns, Vietnamese youth are the pioneers to take action by changing their consumption behaviour and lifestyle, in the belief that they can drive the change and bring an impact. About 7 out of 10 respondents declared to be less likely to purchase products from brands alleged to have committed environmental violations. Similarly, about 9 in 10 are likely to buy from companies with eco-friendly products or with actions to reduce environmental impacts, while 30% confirmed some influence of brands’ CSR in their purchase decision.

Beside the consumption preference for environmentally friendly companies, young Vietnamese also expect transnational corporations to take their commitment on and responsibility for the environment seriously, instead of using CSR as a mere marketing or human resource management tool.

What is driving youth’s focus on sustainability?

The drive towards sustainability might originate from Vietnamese tendency to care about health and food/nutrition. Our survey among 500 Vietnamese from ABC socio economic class (monthly household income over 15mil) reported that around 3 out of 10 had purchased organic food in the previous 1 month. This figure is up to 50% among youth respondents, which shows a significant support for organic food production within this demographic.

A premium is spending is also accepted with 95% of respondents from key urban cities of Vietnam (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang, Can Tho) asserted their willingness to pay a premium for organic products. A similar pattern was confirmed between genders.

Are there any major challenges to buying sustainable products?

Despite the will, higher cost of products and lower availability are the key barriers for young consumers to go green all the way. Another challenge relates to the trust in the green producers, who have not had any certifications and guarantees. However, some trusted certifications, such as foreign organic food certifications (from US and Europe) and Vietnamese VietGap, were named as trusted references.

Data Sources:

– Youth Survey (Dec-Jan 2023) among Youth 18-29 yo in Hanoi and HCM, n= 1500 by Indochina Research, Online survey.

– End of Year Survey 2022 (Nov-Dec 2023) among General population in 4 key cities among 18-64yo, n=800 by Indochina Research, Face to Face survey.

– Organic food survey (December 2022) among ABC class 25-54 yo in Hanoi and HCMC, n= 500, non rejectors of Organic food, by Indochina Research, Face to Face survey.

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