Consumer Behavior

Consumers still care about sustainability

Photo: Adobe Stock

June 25, 2025

Sustainability is still a top concern for consumers with 69% reporting climate change directly affects their daily lives and 86% believe businesses should use their resources to improve society and the environment.

Those are top findings from a VisualGPS report, which is a global insights platform for Getty Images. The study, Sustainability at the Crossroads, maps out the consumer sentiment around sustainability and offers actionable insights and data-driven guidance, according to a press release.

Additional findings include:

• 76% of consumers worldwide question the credibility of brands' environmental claims.
• Two out of three consumers globally doubt companies are genuinely committed to sustainability.

"What years of studying sustainability imagery has shown me is that the commercial focus on sustainability surges in times of cultural urgency and recedes in moments of economic pressure or shifting priorities," Dr. Rebecca Swift, senior vice president of creative at Getty Images, said in the release. "We are now in that period of pull back, but this new VisualGPS research tells us that consumer expectations are louder and more urgent than ever. People want to see real action, and they want to believe in the impact they are seeing. Visual storytelling is a key vehicle for answering this call."