Where Consumers Learn About Brand Sustainability (And Where They'd Rather)

Consumer research on ESG communications tends to focus on what brands should say. The more precise question is where they should say it.

In the 2022 Australian F&G benchmark, consumers were asked two questions: where do you currently learn about brand ESG programs, and where would you prefer to learn? The gap between those two answers is the strategic signal for any brand communications team.

Current sources (where consumers say they learn now): News and media coverage (36%), product packaging (30%), advertising (30%), general social media (26%), friends and family (24%), company website (21%), in-store (18%), company social media (14%), company communications (14%), events (5%).

Preferred sources (where consumers say they want to learn): Product packaging moves to first (33%), followed by news and media (31%), advertising (27%), company website (24%), in-store (22%), general social media (21%), friends and family (16%), company social media (16%), company communications (14%), events (6%).

The pattern is consistent with findings across markets: consumers want brand-owned, brand-controlled touchpoints to carry more of the sustainability information load. Packaging is the clearest signal: it is the moment of purchase, the most trusted brand-owned surface, and the channel consumers most frequently call out as underutilised.

Social media is an exception by generation. For Gen Z, social media functions as a substitute for traditional news and media: they are not looking for it less, they are looking for it differently. For Boomers, the preference runs strongly in the other direction.

The brands leading the Australian benchmark are not generally the loudest on social media. They are the most legible in their own channels. Packaging, website, and company communications are where their sustainability story lives in enough detail to be useful to a consumer who is paying attention.

The communications gap between current and preferred is not a creative problem. It is a channel allocation problem.