IPG, MAGNA, and Twitter Australia have analysed more than six million Tweets and found that Aussies are becoming “hyper-aware” of greenwashing.
The agencies and Twitter commissioned Black Swan Data to dig into Australians’ feelings about sustainability and how brands can ensure they stay on the pulse and away from controversy. The four big findings, while not especially surprising, offer instructive guidance for brands navigating sustainability on socials.
It should come as no surprise that Australians are on Twitter talking about sustainability more than ever before, with climate being the biggest sustainability issue.
But, in the last two years, there have been over 6.2 million Tweets around sustainability, a more than 33 per cent year-on-year increase. Based on these Tweets, climate is the biggest sustainability concern for Australians, making up half of the sustainability conversation.
Within the climate conversation, there has been a 32 per cent year-on-year growth on Tweets focused on extreme weather conditions. Between bushfires and recent floods, Aussies have shared their concerns, with many use the hashtags #Auspol, #Bushfire, #Floods, #ClimateCrisis, and #ClimateChange to share their message.
Twitter users are also moving their focus from individual action towards big structural topics. Previously, issues around packaging, recycling, and sustainable fashion attracted much ire. However, there are more conversations around energy and transport (up 18 per cent), and industry, innovation and infrastructure (up 22 per cent). Aussies are looking to brands and governments alike to play a bigger and strategic role in making sustainability a key priority.
In the last two years, the number of tweets around greenwashing have more than tripled. “Consumers are tired of brands that claim to be environmentally conscious but in reality are not making any notable sustainability efforts,” according to Twitter. What’s more, users are not shy about calling companies out for their wishy-washy sustainability initiatives.
“These results indicate the vast majority of Australians are passionate about adopting sustainable practices. However, the results suggest that achieving sustained behavioural change can be a challenge. Some barriers to this change included the size of the crisis, associated premium and cost involved by the consumer and either too much or too little information when navigating decision making. This can create a disconnect resulting in less action by the consumer,” said Hannah Rook, Intelligence and Insights MAGNA.
“Brands can play a critical role in creating the momentum that Australians are desperately seeking and we will be sharing the results with Initiative and UM clients so they can benefit from the insights gained. Ultimately, business and government need to work towards closing the gap, so the more insight we can discover about sustainability and the attitudes and opinions of Australians in specific product and category verticals, the better.”
