of Europeans are aware of their impact through their consumption choice. The “consumactor“ is emerging throughout Europe.
Sustainability is becoming an integral part of consumers’ lifestyles, reshaping purchasing behaviors across markets. As consumption practices evolve, retailers must adapt quickly, particularly in the markets where they operate. With this first edition of the BearingPoint Odoxa Sustainable Retail Observatory, we provide a European-wide analysis of consumer attitudes toward sustainability, highlighting both common trends and key differences across regions.
An exclusive survey made by Odoxa in September 2024 among 4,020 people that included:
- A representative sample of 2,010 people in France aged 18 and over
- A representative sample of 2,000 Europeans in four large neighboring countries of France (500 British, 500 Dutch, 500 Germans, and 500 Italians) aged 18 and over.
European consumers are embracing sustainable consumption!
72%
66%
of Europeans take sustainability into account in their purchase decision, which represents two out of three consumers.
64%
trust retailers with the sustainability actions implemented. The level of trust correlates with age, the older we get, the more skeptical we become toward retailers’ sustainable actions.
Regarding these points, retailers need to use the best-adapted message to consumers.
Already well-established practices
63%
of Europeans engage in buying second-hand and 58% in reselling second-hand.
Second-hand buying and reselling is well developed at the European level. Moreover, it is observed that the adoption of this practice is homogeneously increasing (23% of „More often than before”)
77%
of Europeans repair instead of buying new, specifically in Italy, where 86% of consumers are actively engaged in this practice. Moreover, the practice is growing rapidly at the European level: 27% of consumers say they do it more often than 1 year ago.
The task now is to continue developing these practices that have become part of consumer habits while also making progress in other areas in every country.
Buying new: a reflex that is declining but not at the same speed in each country.
24%
of Europeans limit new purchases, rising to 29% in France. Behavioral change is also strongly influenced by accessibility and financial constraints.
The fast mobility of sustainable practices adoption
78%
of consumers have changed their behavior in at least one of the nine non-food practices over the past 12 months. For the four food sector practices, this figure stands at 66%.
Countries who lead and countries who follow
There are practices in which all European countries seem to converge, but in some, we observe mature consumers. For instance, Germany leads Europe in second-hand buying practices, with a proportion of 67%, while the proportion is 59% in the UK.
#1
Italy leads in 7 out of 13 practices. It is the sustainability champion in Europe!
France and the Netherlands have more contrasted adoption profiles, ranking between #1 and #5 depending on the practice.
The results confirm that each country first develops the practice it is most comfortable with and then looks at other countries for new practices.
Look, understand, target: you have to localize!
The favorite practices of European countries regarding the sectors
The differences in the adoption rate of various circular practices can be due to the category of products that allow the consumer to engage more easily or not. Fashion, for example, 88% of Europeans give to a relative, but gifting to an organization in Jewelry/Watches represents 67%.
Regarding second-hand buying practices, Toys & Games/Cultural leads with 71%.
Renting and repairing are practices more adopted in the Sport/Leisure/Mobility sector, with 53% and 81%, respectively, at the European level.
In the Food sector, results are homogeneous over Europe:
- 73% of consumers buy in bulk/returnable
- 75% buy organic and with environmental labels
- 79% prefer short supply chains
The rise of increasingly individualized practices
71%
of consumers are mobilized (ie doing the practice „consistently” or „more often than before”) in at least one sustainable practice in non-food, even if the average mobilization rate practice by practice is around 32%. The same observation applies to the food sector, with 56% engagement in at least one of the three practices, and an average engagement rate per practice of 36%.
Even though individual practices engage only one in three consumers, overall engagement at the consumer level is significantly higher, with nearly three out of four having adopted a circular practice. This indicates that no single practice dominates, but also that consumers are willing to participate in the circular economy—provided they find a practice that aligns with their expectations.
Habits won’t change overnight, but rather across generations.
Even though the survey highlights widespread adoption of sustainable practices among consumers, some habits remain difficult to change, with strongly resistant groups.
In the food sector, the disengagement from livestock-sourced products is heterogeneous: 27% of European consumers declare they are disengaged (ie doing it “never” or “less than before”) from animal protein consumption .
Consumer age can be a key factor influencing the pace of change in adopting sustainable practices, particularly in second-hand shopping, where the adoption rate is 20% lower among the 50+ age group.
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Contact us for a detailed presentation about the sustainable retail observatory: 2024 edition
