What Consumers Say: The Top 3 Priorities for Businesses on Sustainability & Social Impact in 2025

As revealed in our Q2 2025 report, Say Less, Risk More: Sustainability Silence Is Undermining Trust, consumers are demanding that businesses do more — and communicate more — from sustainability to social equity.

Here are the top three priorities that consumers expect companies to act on right now:

1. Ensure Fair Compensation and Economic Equity

Consumers and, notably, younger employees are taking a stand: A significant share of young workers have left, or are planning to leave a job, over concerns about sustainability commitments and fair labor treatment. Businesses are realizing that equitable pay isn’t a cost center, it’s a trust builder and long-term investment.

TriplePundit underscores this in their analysis of “living wages,” noting that fair compensation can improve profitability and workforce stability. When companies extend this ethical approach across their supply chains, they strengthen consumer and investor trust. TriplePundit

2. Adopt Practices to Eliminate Waste

Waste isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s a signal of inefficiency, excess, and misalignment with consumer values. With 56% of U.S. consumers stating that sustainability shapes their daily lives and 73% believing their purchases influence corporate behavior, companies that set and transparently report waste-reduction targets stand apart.

Our Q2 report reveals a growing perception gap: over a quarter of consumers assume companies that don’t share sustainability updates are doing nothing at all. Clear data, consistency over time, and honest updates, even about challenges, are crucial for building trust.

3. Protect and Restore Ecosystems

Consumers want more than just neutral environmental impact — they want active regeneration. Whether it’s reforestation, biodiversity protection, or responsible sourcing, ecosystem stewardship has become a benchmark for corporate responsibility.

The Q2 report confirms that “clear, verifiable data,” “consistency,” and transparency around failures are key to driving consumer trust. In an environment where 66% of U.S. adults expect companies to sustain their ecological commitments regardless of politics, staying silent — or inaction — is a risky strategy.

The Bottom Line: Prove, Don’t Puff

Across all three priorities, the same principle applies: evidence trumps empty promises. Brands that share measurable progress, stay consistent, and speak candidly, even when things don’t go as planned, to win consumer trust.

In 2025, the brands that thrive will be those that walk the walk and talk about it openly. Your silent sustainability approach won’t save you—it will cost you.