Otto trend study shows change: Ethical consumption is becoming more important to Germans

Sunday 17th January 2021

Otto trend study shows change
Ethical consumption is becoming more important to Germans

For a long time, it was above all stinginess that Germans are now paying more and more attention to ecologically, regionally or fairly produced goods when shopping. According to a study, the trend intensifies during the Corona period.

According to a survey, Germans are paying more and more attention to ecologically, regionally or fairly produced goods when shopping. In the meantime, ethical criteria are an integral part of their purchase decision for 70 percent of people, according to the "2020 trend study on ethical consumption" by the Hamburg Otto Group. That is six percentage points more than in the previous trend study from 2013. A fifth of the respondents also stated that they have been shopping even more consciously according to ethical criteria since the Corona crisis.

According to this, 68 percent of people are now also boycotting providers who show unfair behavior towards employees. 63 percent are even willing to bear the additional costs for climate-neutral products. According to the Otto Group, the results of a survey of 1149 Germans between 14 and 70 years in September and October 2020 were combined with perspectives from trend research for the study. "The results show that ethical consumption has arrived in the mainstream," said Otto Group's CEO, Alexander Birken, of the German press agency. The times of greenwashing are finally over.

"Companies have to take on more responsibility, customers rightly expect that the intrinsic value of the goods is also right." If you can't do that, you won't be able to survive in the long run. According to the survey, the majority of Germans have reached the limits of growth. Three quarters of those questioned are in favor of a fairer distribution of wealth, for limiting the consumption of resources and for a better quality of life with less, but more meaningful work.

Share and exchange

A similarly high proportion (71 percent) believe that people and the environment will face serious difficulties if the economy continues as before. Accordingly, 82 percent of those questioned are in favor of a longer shelf life of the products and higher material efficiency and are also prepared to go along the path from the throwaway society to the circular economy. 73 percent think it is good to buy or sell used things such as worn fashion or old furniture.

In the 2013 trend study, around half of those surveyed were willing to share, swap, borrow or buy things more often, now almost two thirds. Value creation and value-oriented action must be on both sides of the same coin, said Otto boss Birken. This includes that the manufacture of a product does not take place at the expense of people and the environment and that its price also reflects the actual costs. "This only works if we create fair competition. Politics and business clearly have to take on more responsibility here," demanded Birken.

According to the survey, 41 percent of those questioned now see politicians as having to provide a framework for ethical consumption. In the 2011 and 2013 trend studies, only 27 percent of those surveyed saw politics as an obligation. Today 23 percent think that the economy should be a driving force for ethical consumption. 22 percent, in turn, see each individual challenged.