Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
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Consumer | Retail | Food
November 21, 2022 – The decision to shop sustainably often depends on the effort required by consumers. According to a survey conducted by senior partner Jessica Moulton and colleagues, shoppers across four countries—France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States—are more likely to freeze food to avoid waste or purchase seasonal produce (less effort) than buy recycled toilet paper or plastic-free detergents (more effort). Click through the interactive to see more results.
To read the article, see “Hungry and confused: The winding road to conscious eating,” October 5, 2022.
Interactive
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Visual form
Country-tabbed stacked horizontal bar chart.
Layout / body structure
The chart has tabs for France, Germany, the UK, and the US. Within each country view, sustainable-shopping behaviors are listed as rows and grouped by the effort required, with the effort bands labeled along the right side.
What is being compared
It compares the share of consumers who say each sustainable-shopping behavior applies strongly or applies somewhat, country by country.
Measurement system
The measure is percent of respondents. Each row uses a horizontal stacked bar, with the dark segment for Applies strongly and the gray segment for Applies somewhat.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Rows include actions such as freezing leftover food, buying seasonal fruits and vegetables, avoiding plastic bags, buying nonpackaged items, recycling, carrying a water bottle, carrying a reusable cup, and buying recycled toilet paper. The right-side bracket separates less-effort, medium-effort, and more-effort behaviors.
Main takeaway from the visual
Consumers are much more willing to take sustainable actions that require little lifestyle change or added cost, while higher-effort product substitutions fall off sharply.
Key standout values or extremes
The longest visible bars are in the easier behaviors near the top, including freezing food, buying seasonal produce, and recycling. The lower-effort rows clearly outpace higher-effort options such as recycled toilet paper.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
The country tabs switch the chart between France, Germany, the UK, and the US while preserving the same behavior rows and effort groupings.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart is the full visual on this page.