New Research by NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business Identifies Most Appealing Social Sustainability Messages Across Consumer Audiences

The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB), with support from Edelman, today released new research exploring which social sustainability claims best resonate with consumers. Titled Social Sustainability Messages that Resonate, the study was completed in partnership with seven leading global brands spanning food and beverage, technology, financial services, personal care, over-the-counter medicine, and nutrition, and tested claims that describe ethical business practices, inclusivity, and social wellbeing. 

With many brands feeling caught between regulatory shifts and consumer demand, companies are struggling to find balance, while finding that inconsistent or unclear communications can erode trust. The results demonstrate that select social sustainability messages,when substantiated, can amplify brand appeal and relevance by an average of 23 percentage points compared to the sole use of high performing category claims.

Lead CSB researcher Randi Kronthal-Sacco partnered with seven brands including Advil (Haleon), Amalgamated Bank, Chobani, and Vaseline (Unilever) to devise 30+ custom category relevant and social sustainability messages for each brand, to gauge their overall appeal and ensure learnings could be applied across categories. Responses and reactions to these claims from 2,100 persons were analyzed by a TURF (Total Unduplicated Reach and Frequency) simulator to identify the optimal combination of claims.

“NYU Stern CSB has been reporting on the growing market share of sustainable products for more than a decade through our Sustainable Market Share IndexTM, and previous research showed environmental claims help drive sustainable product appeal. This new research complements that field of study and expands the findings to social sustainability messages as a driver of brand appeal,” said Kronthal-Sacco, Senior Research Scholar at NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern. “Importantly, the research shows that consumers of all demographics respond positively to select social messaging, and it sheds light on opportunities for brand managers to understand and deepen connections with their consumers with the right message.”

In summary, the research showed a pattern of certain social sustainability claims outperforming the average marketing message, and in some cases emerging as the single top performing claim. 

• Social sustainability messages were among the top performing claims overall. For three out of seven brands, a social claim was the single best performing message inclusive of category claims.
• The most appealing messages varied by brand, but performed best when the social claim was tied to the product's core functions, for example “fighting food insecurity” for food brands.
• Adding two resonant social messages increased brand appeal by an average of 23 percentage points over category-standard claims alone.
• Best resonating social sustainability messages with strong performance across brands and cohorts related to the following themes:
  • Access: Promoting equal access, removing gaps in opportunity
  • Basic needs: Providing communities with essential needs and services
  • Crisis response: Supporting disaster relief efforts and emergency response
  • Disability and veteran community: Offering products designed to support people with disabilities and veterans and their families
  • Economic status: Targeting underserved socioeconomic groups

• Findings for top social claims spanned the psychographic and political spectrum, including age, gender, political party, urbanicity, education, income, and family size. 

   

“This research reinforces what we see across many industries: when social sustainability messaging is specific, backed by action, and has direct relevance to the brand's offering, it both builds trust and drives value,” said Gerry Rodriguez, U.S. Head of Brand Purpose & Impact at Edelman. “The findings offer practical guidance for brand and marketing leaders to create content and campaigns that resonate across audiences and deliver real business impact.”

This research was conducted with financial support from The Ford Foundation. Please find the full research findings here.

About NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business

The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) was founded with the vision of a better world through better business. CSB empowers leaders to shape the new sustainable business paradigm, unleashing the transformative potential of business to solve societal challenges at speed and scale. Through practical research, innovation in education, and corporate engagement, CSB works across the business ecosystem to embed sustainability core to strategy, achieving breakthroughs in financial performance while creating positive environmental and social impacts. Learn more at www.stern.nyu.edu/sustainability and follow on LinkedIn @NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

About Edelman

Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. Our 6,000 people in more than 60 offices deliver communications strategies that give our clients the confidence to lead and act with certainty, earning the trust of their stakeholders. Our honors include PRovoke’s Global Agency of the Year (2022); PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year (2022); Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards for PR (2016) and the Entertainment Lions for Sport (2021); a Gold Lion in the Sustainable Development Goals category (2022); Cannes Lions Independent Agency of the Year for the Entertainment Track (2021); Cannes Lions Co-Independent Agency of the Year for the Good Track (2022); and Advertising Age’s 2019 A-List. Since our founding in 1952, we have remained an independent, family-run business. Edelman owns specialty companies Edelman Data x Intelligence (research, data), Edelman Smithfield (financial communications), Edelman Global Advisory (advisory), and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, lifestyle).