Commentator Greg Petro, CEO of First Insight, noted that retailers are trying to take customers’ enthusiasm and support for sustainable products and practices into account but that the result resembles “a branding swamp.”

Surveys from First Insight and Fidelity International reflect consumers’ confusion at the meaning and substance of brand sustainability programs and show four major lessons:

• The competing, noisy marketing efforts that tout sourcing, content and recycling are confusing.
• About 40% of apparel shoppers told Fidelity they were “poorly informed” about sustainability but “highly interested” in knowing about the labor and environmental practices of brands they buy.
• In a time of increasing financial stress, consumers say paying more for sustainable products is an added strain.
• Many sustainability efforts fail to explain why products are better or cost more than competing brands.

For more detail, see Petro’s article on Forbes.