Go on, do the right thing … how brands can accelerate the consumer shift to sustainable products and practices … from food and fashion, to energy and electric cars

July 5, 2025

When Oatly first launched in Sweden, it was a quirky oat milk company trying to persuade consumers to ditch dairy.

Rather than preach about climate change, it made oat milk cool—partnering with baristas, turning its cartons into witty billboards, and winning over hip cafés in New York and London.

In one of the most quirky ads ever, Oatly’s CEO Toni Petersson sings “Wow, no cow!”, a song he wrote entirely by himself to explain exactly what Oatly. But it was also funny, addictive (and very cheap to make!).

Within a decade, Oatly wasn’t just a niche alternative; it helped make plant-based milk a mainstream choice, with global sales topping a billion dollars. Its success reveals a powerful truth: people don’t switch to sustainable products just because they should, they switch because they want … when it feels easy, desirable, and rewarding.

That insight is the key to accelerating the adoption of everything from electric cars to clean energy to sustainable foods.

What stops people doing the right thing?

The urgency of climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity is forcing governments, businesses, and individuals to rethink the way they live and consume. Yet despite the growing awareness, consumer adoption of sustainable products and services often lags behind intent. People may support the idea of renewable energy, plant-based diets, or electric vehicles, but translating concern into action is harder. To accelerate adoption, brands and policymakers must better understand consumer psychology, redesign incentives, and reinvent business models.

Most consumers sit in a space known as the “value-action gap”—they say sustainability matters, but in practice convenience, price, and habit dominate decisions. Research shows that around 70% of consumers express concern for climate change, but less than 20% consistently make purchase decisions based on sustainability.

Different consumer types respond differently:

Early adopters and eco-pioneers (often urban, educated, younger demographics) actively seek sustainable alternatives and are willing to experiment with EVs, clean energy, or new foods. They influence peers but are a relatively small segment.
Pragmatists are more mainstream, focused on cost, reliability, and ease. They’ll choose a green option if it is at least equal to—or better than—traditional products on these dimensions.
Price-sensitive segments (often lower-income households) prioritize affordability, making subsidies, rebates, and cheaper green solutions crucial for uptake.
Status-driven consumers respond when sustainability is reframed as aspirational or premium, as seen in the luxury EV market.

Accelerating mass adoption requires moving beyond the pioneers to win over pragmatists and price-sensitive consumers.

Nudges and incentives that work

Behavioral economics offers powerful tools for shifting choices. Some of the most effective nudges and incentives include:

Defaults. When consumers are automatically enrolled in green tariffs or sustainable pension funds, adoption soars. In the UK, suppliers offering renewable energy as the default plan saw much higher retention compared with opt-in models.
Price parity and subsidies. Uptake accelerates when sustainable choices become cheaper or equally priced. Norway’s EV revolution—where more than 80% of new cars sold are electric—is driven by generous tax exemptions, road toll discounts, and parking perks, making EVs often cheaper than petrol cars.
Social proof. People are more likely to adopt when they see peers doing the same. Tesla leveraged this by making EVs desirable lifestyle statements; Oatly turned oat milk into a cultural movement by aligning with baristas, cafés, and influencers.
Framing benefits. Linking sustainability to health, savings, or convenience is powerful. For example, promoting plant-based foods for wellbeing and taste as much as for the environment widens their appeal.
Access and convenience. Widespread charging networks, easy app-based switching to clean energy, and mainstream retail presence all reduce friction. India’s solar rooftops and mobile-enabled payment models show how accessibility drives adoption in emerging markets.
Gamification and rewards. Loyalty points, digital badges, or lower insurance premiums can encourage incremental sustainable actions. For instance, Vitality offers health and sustainability incentives linked to lifestyle choices.

Reinventing propositions and business models

There was a time when sustainability was something separate from business, and from products. Sustainability strategies, innovations and reporting was done separate from the main business activities. This just didn’t make sense. Sustainability should be core to what you do. For brands, sustainability cannot be an add-on. It must be integrated into the core proposition, creating value that appeals on multiple levels: functional, emotional, and social.

Electric Vehicles (EVs). Beyond climate benefits, EV brands must deliver superior driving experience, lower running costs, and status. Tesla achieved this by positioning EVs as aspirational tech, not niche eco-products. Chinese brand BYD has scaled by offering affordable, feature-rich EVs for the mass market, now expanding aggressively in Europe.
Clean Energy. Companies like Octopus Energy in the UK and Enel in Italy are reinventing utilities by making switching seamless, offering digital tools, transparent pricing, and bundling services like smart meters and EV charging. Their customer-centric approach builds trust and stickiness.
Sustainable Food. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have reframed plant-based eating as indulgent and mainstream, collaborating with fast-food chains like Burger King and McDonald’s to reach scale. In Europe, companies like Alpro and Oatly emphasize fun, lifestyle-driven branding to move beyond eco-niches. In Asia, startups like Shiok Meats are pioneering cell-based seafood, targeting both sustainability and food security.
Sustainable Fashion. Brands like Patagonia and Allbirds differentiate through radical transparency, product repair schemes, and circularity models. Luxury player Stella McCartney positions sustainability as innovation and style, not compromise.
Sustainable Finance. Platforms like Aspiration in the U.S. and Triodos Bank in Europe help consumers align money with values, offering green accounts and carbon-tracking tools. As consumers understand that financial choices can be climate choices, adoption increases.

Strategies to accelerate adoption

10 years ago I wrote the book, People Planet Profit. I quickly recognised that the real problem was that most sustainable brands, while seeking to do the right thing, assume that most people are like them – they understand the problems, they prioritise the causes, they know what needs to happen. Most people don’t. For most people, it needs to be normal, simple, and desirable. So where should you start?

Mainstream the message. Talk less about sacrifice and more about positive outcomes—better health, savings, convenience, cool design.
Segment smartly. Use data to identify consumers most likely to adopt early, then amplify their influence through storytelling and social proof.
Build ecosystems. Pair products with services that remove friction—EVs with home charging and clean energy bundles; plant-based foods with recipes and influencer endorsements; financial products with carbon-tracking apps.
Leverage regulation. Work with governments to design subsidies, rebates, and policies that level the playing field. France’s ban on short-haul flights where trains are viable, or the EU’s “Fit for 55” package, show how policy can accelerate consumer shifts.
Experiment with circularity. Resale, rental, and subscription models can make sustainable options more accessible. IKEA’s furniture buy-back programs and H&M’s rental trials point to scalable new business models.
Invest in trust and transparency. Consumers increasingly distrust greenwashing. Brands that show clear evidence of impact—such as carbon labels or lifecycle analysis—earn loyalty.

Global examples of momentum

Walking through the shopping streets of Copenhagen or Stockholm, you realise that Scandinavia is certainly ahead of most countries in embracing sustainability as cool, desirable, and normal. But look further afield to Chinese markets, for example, and you quickly recognise that their most successful innovators are also sustainable, companies like BYD and Nio, who have shifted to sustainable solutions as the norm, and their consumers likewise.

Norway’s EV success shows how coordinated policy (tax breaks, infrastructure) and consumer incentives can make a radical difference.
China’s EV dominance demonstrates the role of industrial policy and affordability—BYD, Nio, and XPeng are reshaping both domestic and global markets.
Kenya’s M-KOPA Solar shows how pay-as-you-go models can democratize access to clean energy in low-income markets.
Singapore’s carbon tax and green finance hub illustrate how government frameworks create conditions for private innovation.
Plant-based fast food partnerships worldwide show how aligning with mainstream players accelerates cultural adoption.
Unilever’s “Sustainable Living Brands” (e.g., Dove, Hellmann’s) grow faster than the rest of its portfolio, proving sustainability can drive business performance when linked to purpose and innovation.

Faster greener better

To shift billions of people toward sustainable lifestyles, adoption must move from niche to mass, from optional to normal. This requires aligning consumer aspiration with planetary necessity. The formula is clear: make sustainable choices more attractive, affordable, and accessible than the alternatives.

Brands that succeed will not only mitigate climate risks but also unlock massive new growth. The future consumer will not simply ask, “Is this product green?” They will expect every product to be sustainable by default—and reward the brands that make that journey effortless.

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