Price beats ethics at the checkout for majority of Brits

Over two-thirds (68%) of Brits say ethical production matters to them, but when it came to their last actual purchase, the single most common behaviour was ignoring ethics altogether and buying based on price or quality alone.

That’s according to new research from supply chain intelligence firm Zero100, which tested the extent to which customers are willing to pay more for a more ethical option across clothing, toiletries, household goods, and food.

The research found that shoppers are willing to stretch to around 8% more (80p on a £10 purchase) for an ethical or more sustainable product before defaulting to the cheaper option, while more than a quarter (28%) will not pay a penny extra.

At around 8%, the premium ceiling is tight enough that any significant cost increase - whether caused by supply chain disruption, a change in sourcing or reformulation - can push a product out of reach for most shoppers.

Choosing based on price or quality alone, with no ethical consideration, was the single most common behaviour across every category: 40% for clothing, 42% for toiletries, 42% for household goods, and 43% for food and drink.

In each category, only between 7% and 10% of respondents said they actively considered the ethical option before choosing the cheaper alternative instead.

Jenna Fink, VP of Research & Advisory at Zero100, said: “British consumers haven’t tuned out on sustainability; the data shows clearly that it matters to them. But caring about something and being willing to pay more are two different things.

“The brands that understand this are shifting how they think about the problem entirely. Sustainability is a cost to engineer out, not a premium to charge for.”

The strongest commercial argument for getting this right may lie in Zero100’s own company performance data. An analysis of 469 businesses found that those embedding sustainability into their core operations – meaning sustainability accountability sits within day-to-day business functions rather than in a separate team or initiative – generate roughly 23% higher operating profits and 20% higher net profits than those that do not.

What keeps British shoppers loyal, even as prices rise, is quality, with 63% of respondents saying that product and service excellence would retain their custom even if a brand’s prices increased. This points to a consistent theme running through the data: what retains customers is not ethical positioning, but operational performance.

Most UK shoppers are also more forgiving about price rises than brands might assume. Only 27% say that price increases directly linked to supply chain pressures are unfair, suggesting that when businesses are honest and specific about why costs are rising, most shoppers are more understanding than brands might expect.

Transparency campaigns may also be delivering less than brands hope. While 36% of UK consumers say that knowing more about a brand’s supply chain would make them more likely to trust its ethical claims, nearly half (48%) have never actually checked for that information before making a purchase.

The data also points to consumers being under genuine financial pressure rather than simply not caring.

Fink added: “The data tells a more human story than the headline numbers suggest. Many British shoppers are actively choosing between their values and their budgets every time they shop, and the budget is winning, often because the gap between the ethical option and the affordable one remains too wide.

“The brands that close that gap through smarter operational decisions are the ones that will win lasting loyalty, not just from shoppers who can afford to pay more, but from the much larger group who want to, but can't.”