Mehak Bharti

Thank you.

Hi, David.

Thank you so much for having me.

It's great to be here.

That's an excellent question.

Based on the recent UN reports, 40% of people say that they want to buy ethically, but only 4% actually do.

So as you can see here, there's a fairly large intention behavior gap.

And we can't really blame the consumers here, can we?

Absolutely.

Then it's definitely greenwashing.

And this is what we don't want companies to do.

Oh my God, you just stole my panda, but you're right.

People say that they care about, you know, fair rages, like you just mentioned, animal welfare, sustainability, but somehow these concerns go mysteriously silent at the checkout counter.

Our research shows that the problem isn't that the consumers don't care or that they're indifferent or dishonest.

It's when ethics or ethical products show up with a higher price tag, people suddenly remember their grocery budget.

So our paper essentially shows that ethical consumption gap isn't a failure of values, it's a failure of price aid.

People actually care about sustainability, but ethical products often feel financially out of reach.

And we find that when ethical product premium is paid through slightly less quantity instead of a higher price, more consumers choose the ethical option.

So in other words, people are willing to give up a little product, but not more money.

So people actually want to act out their values, but not by paying extra.