Study: SEA consumers sceptical of fashion items marketed as sustainable

The majority of Southeast Asian consumers (63%) are highly sceptical of brands marketing their fashion products as sustainable. According to June 2022 survey by Milieu Insight which surveyed 1,000 respondents each from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, majority of the respondents indicated that they would do more research before purchasing.

In fact, 31% in Singapore would ignore such marketing as 'it does not matter to them'.

The majority of Singaporeans (71%) are also unwilling to pay more for sustainable products. This then begs the question of whether fashion brands in Singapore may possibly need to absorb the added cost rather than pass it on to consumers. This finding also corroborates a previous YouGov study published in May this year which said that 46% of Singaporeans are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products.

Meanwhile, 75% in Vietnam are willing to pay more for sustainable fashion products, followed by Thailand (65%) and Indonesia (62%). Of those willing to pay more for sustainable fashion, 49% in Singapore were willing to pay between 1% to 10%, while those in Thailand (40%), Vietnam (32%), Malaysia (26%) and the Philippines (26%) were willing to pay 11% to 20% more.

In total, 66% of Southeast Asian consumers have purchased sustainable fashion products, especially those in Vietnam (86%) and Indonesia (71%). Surprisingly, Milieu Insight found that 31% of Singaporeans are unaware of sustainable fashion options. Sentiments towards sustainable fashion products are overall neutral (52%), leaning more towards positive than negative (33% versus 6%) across Southeast Asia.

This sceptism over brands marketing their products as sustainable doesn't only happen in the fashion industry. In fact, consumers are also sceptical about similar claims when it comes to beauty products, as discovered by Milieu Insight in an earlier Southeast Asia survey.

The majority of respondents (67%) will do more research about the claims on the packaging of their beauty products, especially those from the Philippines (83%) and Malaysia (72%). Meanwhile, 42% of consumers in Indonesia and 41% of consumers in Singapore said they trust the claims on their beauty products' packaging to know if it's sustainable/clean/ethical, while only 28% in Malaysia said the same.

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