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If you open a newspaper today, there’s a good chance you’ll read about somebody taking climate action. Governments are pledging to decarbonise. Energy providers are building wind farms and solar panels. Activists are marching in the streets. But how do environmental concerns affect people’s spending habits? And crucially – will they pay more for sustainable travel?
The answer, in brief, is no. Or rather, not exactly – purchasing decisions are complicated, and everyone prioritises different things. Often shoppers will express support for environmental causes yet still rank price and quality as their top concerns when it comes to spending money. This tendency to say one thing but do another has come to be known as the “say-do” gap – the disparity between people’s words and their actions. For travel providers, this creates a conundrum. How can we spark positive change and make sustainable options more accessible, without alienating customers? In short: how do we bridge the say-do gap?
A big part of the solution is to avoid ‘one-size-fits-all’ offers. Although the preference for price over sustainability is near universal, the reasons people spend the way they do vary significantly. Some people value cost over everything. Others weigh up convenience, online reviews and lifestyle factors. Understanding the driving forces behind these habits can help tourism providers and their marketing teams to plan more effectively, and encourage the takeup of sustainable habits.
As a starting point, WTTC has partnered with YouGov, the international research data and analytics group. As part of this research, a survey was conducted among over 10,000 adults in Britain to understand their views on sustainability, and how environmental concerns factor into purchasing decisions.
The report identifies six types of consumers:
1. The Hopeful Worrier: believes the climate crisis is urgent and that individuals can make a difference.
2. The Outward-pointing Worrier: cares about the environment and believes individual action is important; however, action must be led by governments and corporations.
3. The Disempowered Environmentalist: is cynical about the possibility of progress and finds it hard to take action when the chance of meaningful change feels remote.
4. The Accountable Optimist: strongly believes that personal action matters, irrespective of what others are doing. Likes to recycle and donate second-hand items (but remains unlikely to spend extra for sustainable purchases).
5. **The Action Avoider: **has little interest in climate change. Detached from social action and unlikely to consider sustainability important when making a purchase.
6. The Climate Change Agnostic: is most likely to claim that climate change is “not real”. Believes a sustainable lifestyle is too expensive.
Although these are UK results, the segments can be considered a reasonable proxy for consumers in other markets too – or at least a starting point to be complemented by further local market research.
But with these segments in mind, how should companies respond? The good news is that most people can be encouraged to make more sustainable choices – it’s just a question of knowing how people think. Customers in the first two segments above (those who rank sustainability more highly as an issue) are likely to believe small individual contributions are important and will have a positive impact. Meanwhile, the last two groups are the least likely to make a sustainable change, seeing little point in individual action, and instead place responsibility to act on governments and businesses.
This report makes seven recommendations, explaining which tactics cater to each segment (together appealing to most travellers):
1.** Highlight economic and personal benefits: **irrespective of their segment, consumers prioritise cost and quality over sustainability. Businesses should emphasise where sustainable travel options are affordable, while also highlighting their personal benefits.
2. Make sustainability hassle-free: consumers are more likely to gravitate towards sustainable travel options that do not involve added time-consuming complexity. Make sustainable travel options easy to find, understand and implement.
3. Offer tiered reward schemes: address varying levels of consumer engagement and willingness to pay for sustainability by developing a tiered reward scheme. This approach can help nudge a broad range of consumers into taking action.
4. Highlight corporate sustainability initiatives and partnerships: show customers that you are taking leadership and working with others. Tell them about any large-scale sustainability projects and joint ventures with governments or other businesses, as well as the company’s own corporate implementation of sustainable measures.
5. Show that environmental action supports wider benefits: in educational messaging, frame sustainability beyond an ecological perspective to highlight its influence on daily societal activities. Demonstrate how your business’ sustainable activities deliver positive economic and social outcomes on an individual and community level.
6. Tailor your marketing: adapt and personalise your communication for different segments to help maximise impact.
7. Seek feedback: listen to your customers to continuously improve and overcome barriers to sustainable behaviour.
Overall, companies should recognise that travellers are increasingly price sensitive, particularly when the economy is weak. To encourage the uptake of sustainable travel practices, products and services must either become more cost-effective or offer undeniably superior quality. And while many customers are willing to play a part in climate action, there is an overwhelming desire to see more institutional action from policymakers and big companies. Travel providers can contribute by being open and transparent about their sustainability practices, and making information easy to find.
If you open a newspaper today, there’s a good chance you’ll read about somebody taking climate action. Governments are pledging to decarbonise. Energy providers are building wind farms and solar panels. Activists are marching in the streets. But how do environmental concerns affect people’s spending habits? And crucially – will they pay more for sustainable travel?
The answer, in brief, is no. Or rather, not exactly – purchasing decisions are complicated, and everyone prioritises different things. Often shoppers will express support for environmental causes yet still rank price and quality as their top concerns when it comes to spending money. This tendency to say one thing but do another has come to be known as the “say-do” gap – the disparity between people’s words and their actions. For travel providers, this creates a conundrum. How can we spark positive change and make sustainable options more accessible, without alienating customers? In short: how do we bridge the say-do gap?
A big part of the solution is to avoid ‘one-size-fits-all’ offers. Although the preference for price over sustainability is near universal, the reasons people spend the way they do vary significantly. Some people value cost over everything. Others weigh up convenience, online reviews and lifestyle factors. Understanding the driving forces behind these habits can help tourism providers and their marketing teams to plan more effectively, and encourage the takeup of sustainable habits.
As a starting point, WTTC has partnered with YouGov, the international research data and analytics group. As part of this research, a survey was conducted among over 10,000 adults in Britain to understand their views on sustainability, and how environmental concerns factor into purchasing decisions.
The report identifies six types of consumers:
1. The Hopeful Worrier: believes the climate crisis is urgent and that individuals can make a difference.
2. The Outward-pointing Worrier: cares about the environment and believes individual action is important; however, action must be led by governments and corporations.
3. The Disempowered Environmentalist: is cynical about the possibility of progress and finds it hard to take action when the chance of meaningful change feels remote.
4. The Accountable Optimist: strongly believes that personal action matters, irrespective of what others are doing. Likes to recycle and donate second-hand items (but remains unlikely to spend extra for sustainable purchases).
5. **The Action Avoider: **has little interest in climate change. Detached from social action and unlikely to consider sustainability important when making a purchase.
6. The Climate Change Agnostic: is most likely to claim that climate change is “not real”. Believes a sustainable lifestyle is too expensive.
Although these are UK results, the segments can be considered a reasonable proxy for consumers in other markets too – or at least a starting point to be complemented by further local market research.
But with these segments in mind, how should companies respond? The good news is that most people can be encouraged to make more sustainable choices – it’s just a question of knowing how people think. Customers in the first two segments above (those who rank sustainability more highly as an issue) are likely to believe small individual contributions are important and will have a positive impact. Meanwhile, the last two groups are the least likely to make a sustainable change, seeing little point in individual action, and instead place responsibility to act on governments and businesses.
This report makes seven recommendations, explaining which tactics cater to each segment (together appealing to most travellers):
1.** Highlight economic and personal benefits: **irrespective of their segment, consumers prioritise cost and quality over sustainability. Businesses should emphasise where sustainable travel options are affordable, while also highlighting their personal benefits.
2. Make sustainability hassle-free: consumers are more likely to gravitate towards sustainable travel options that do not involve added time-consuming complexity. Make sustainable travel options easy to find, understand and implement.
3. Offer tiered reward schemes: address varying levels of consumer engagement and willingness to pay for sustainability by developing a tiered reward scheme. This approach can help nudge a broad range of consumers into taking action.
4. Highlight corporate sustainability initiatives and partnerships: show customers that you are taking leadership and working with others. Tell them about any large-scale sustainability projects and joint ventures with governments or other businesses, as well as the company’s own corporate implementation of sustainable measures.
5. Show that environmental action supports wider benefits: in educational messaging, frame sustainability beyond an ecological perspective to highlight its influence on daily societal activities. Demonstrate how your business’ sustainable activities deliver positive economic and social outcomes on an individual and community level.
6. Tailor your marketing: adapt and personalise your communication for different segments to help maximise impact.
7. Seek feedback: listen to your customers to continuously improve and overcome barriers to sustainable behaviour.
Overall, companies should recognise that travellers are increasingly price sensitive, particularly when the economy is weak. To encourage the uptake of sustainable travel practices, products and services must either become more cost-effective or offer undeniably superior quality. And while many customers are willing to play a part in climate action, there is an overwhelming desire to see more institutional action from policymakers and big companies. Travel providers can contribute by being open and transparent about their sustainability practices, and making information easy to find.
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