Most consumers today want to buy from brands that align with their values—it’s more important to them than cost and convenience, brand loyalty, or product functionality. They will pay more for products and services that tangibly support their social, ethical, and environmental objectives—and abandon those that don’t. This sentiment has strong roots in the youngest consumers: An extraordinary 84% of teens told researchers they strive to buy based on their beliefs.

There is mounting evidence that companies benefit when they heed this message: A study from South Korea, published in January, found that food and beverage companies with strong reputations for their environmental and social initiatives generate more consumer trust and positive word-of-mouth. Unilever’s purpose-led Sustainable Living brands have grown more than the rest of its business. And new research from McKinsey found that products that made claims about their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance outsold products that did not.

This seems like a simple equation: Consumers will reward companies with convincing ESG stories, and those brands thrive. There is a problem, however. Only 4 in 10 consumers say they have adequate data to make sound sustainable purchasing decisions. This may explain the complaint that customers say they support green, ethical, socially responsible companies with their wallets—but often don’t. They lack the information they need to follow through.

In fact, most businesses struggle to present a thorough, compelling story detailing their environmental impact: Only 13% can map their end-to-end supply chain and four out of five have no visibility beyond their immediate suppliers. Executives surveyed by IBM acknowledged that inadequate data is the biggest obstacle to their ESG efforts.

DATA-DRIVEN INSIGHTS

This will change over the next 5 to 10 years as companies deploy emerging technologies that unlock data to enable smarter supply chains and measure their end-to-end carbon footprint, organic production, recycling track record, and other outcomes. These include:

• Connected supply chains that link fragmented systems, technologies, and networks
• Visibility technologies that provide a complete picture of supply chain operations, from procurement of raw materials to shipment and use of end products
• Blockchains to create an immutable audit trail that tracks the provenance and the movement of goods and include verified information regarding suppliers
• Internet-of-things networks that improve supply chain transparency, and collect data supporting ESG compliance
• AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics to extract insights from supply chain data. Generative AI has the potential to do the same with unstructured ESG data.
• AI, blockchains and open data frameworks to enable Scope 3 emissions reporting

Companies with stellar sustainability results will presumably be the first to leverage these technologies to establish their credibility with consumers and other stakeholders including regulators, shareholders, and current and potential employees. If the population of value-driven consumers is as large and committed as it appears to be—particularly millennials and Gen Z—other companies will follow suit and new ESG reporting expectations will be set. Conscious consumers will be empowered to vote with their wallets.

DELIVERING THE MESSAGE

Enterprises will also turn to emerging technologies to share this information with consumers precisely when, where, and how they want it—online, in the store, via QR codes printed on product packaging, through smart glasses and virtual reality (VR) goggles, or at the point of sale (digital or physical.) “With AR (augmented reality), brands can turn products, packaging, and places into digital discovery channels, surfacing their sustainability efforts through a humble QR code,” notes Zappar, an AR studio in Scotland.

Indeed, there is evidence this is an effective way to engage customers. Using AR to inform purchase decisions increases consumer confidence in the product, increases sales, and reduces returns.

CLOSING THE PERCEPTION GAP

Three-fourths of executives surveyed by IBM said their stakeholders understand their companies’ ESG objectives and performance, but there is a disconnect. Only about 40% of consumers said they have enough information about corporate sustainability to make purposeful decisions about what to buy and where to work.

That’s a problem. It’s no time for business leaders to assume their value-driven customers are on board, because consumers have made it clear they will jump ship for a competitor that can demonstrate strong ESG credentials. As we approach an era in which all companies will have the means to do that, leaders can seize a competitive advantage by providing conscious consumers with information that empowers them to do what they find difficult today—make purchase decisions that reward companies that align with their values.