Are Gen Z Really Sustainable Shoppers, or Just Selectively Green?

Written by

Phuong Doan

A marketing professional focused on transforming insights into accessible content that helps audiences better understand consumers and markets.

Key Findings from TGM Global Consumer Insights

Are Gen Z Really Sustainable Shoppers, or Just Selectively Green?

September 14, 2026

(Updated September 18, 2026)

Gen Z's environmental concern is real and consistent across surveys. But once that concern reaches a shopping decision, it competes with other factors such as price, shipping and discounts. As a result, green values only drive purchases in select categories, turning Gen Z into selective green shoppers.

Gen Z is often handed a familiar set of titles. Green champions. Ethical buyers. Sustainability advocates. While these tags reflect genuine values, they rarely predict every checkout decision.

TGM Research's data, alongside Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, bring a clearer perspective. While climate concern is widespread among 18–24-year-olds and influences their attitudes toward consumption, green intentions often give way to price or product quality at checkout.

This article draws on findings from the TGM Global Sustainability Report 2024, APAC Pet Care Insights 2026, TGM E-commerce Insights 2026, and Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. Data was collected through online surveys across multiple markets. Sample sizes and age groups vary by study and are shown next to each finding.

In this article, TGM's Gen Z findings primarily refer to respondents aged 18–24, based on the age bands available in each study. Deloitte's findings follow Deloitte's own survey definition. Where broader age groups such as 25–34 are shown, we identify them separately rather than treating the entire group as Gen Z.

Gen Z sustainability in focus: Key takeaways

Gen Z demonstrates high environmental awareness, yet sustainability frequently takes a back seat to pricing, promotions, and delivery costs when making real-world purchases.
In online retail, quality, competitive pricing, and free shipping remain key decision drivers, keeping eco-friendly features as secondary considerations.
Sustainability can matter more in high-involvement, care-oriented categories like pet care.
Eco-friendly credentials serve as a powerful tipping point that earns brand preference and loyalty when price and quality parity are achieved.

Gen Z's sustainability concern is real

Concern about climate change stays high

According to the TGM Global Sustainability Report 2024 (N=18,985 across 34 markets), 90% of respondents aged 18–24 (N=2,985) reported being concerned about climate change. This overwhelming majority makes it clear that environmental awareness is far from abstract. This concern can also translate into everyday attitudes and behaviors. Nowhere is this trend more visible than in their everyday purchasing choices.

Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, fielded across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific (N=23,400+ Gen Z and Millennial respondents), found a similar pattern in purchase intentions: 65% of Gen Z respondents said they would pay more for environmentally sustainable products or services.

Stated concern and stated willingness to pay both run high. The gap opens once that willingness meets an actual shopping decision.

Gen Z builds sustainable habits alongside older cohorts

Everyday sustainable habits offer a clear example.

According to the TGM Global Sustainability Report 2024, everyday green habits increase with age across respondents aged 18–24 (N=3,040) and 25–34 (N=4,615):

Reusable bags (Top choice): 39% (18–24) vs. 48% (25–34)
Avoiding plastic packaging: 34% (18–24) vs. 42% (25–34)

So, are green values actually making it into the shopping bag? Yes, Gen Z is putting sustainability into practice, alongside consumers aged 25–34. However, the data suggests that adoption varies by age and behavior.

How this changes when it comes to shopping

E-commerce: Noticed, but not decisive

Drawing on TGM E-commerce Insights 2026, we asked 7,077 respondents across 7 countries what matters most when deciding where to buy online. Surprisingly, sustainability and eco-friendly packaging (such as low-carbon delivery or resale options) ranked near the very bottom of the list, far behind price and promotions for most shoppers.

Gen Z online shopping habits offer useful context here. While sustainability ranked low overall, younger consumers showed a stronger preference for green delivery choices than other age groups. Respondents aged 18–24 (N=1,141) selected sustainability at the highest rate among all age groups surveyed.

This highlights the disconnect between green willingness and wallet reality. Even for eco-conscious Gen Z, price comparisons can override sustainability preferences during online purchases. However, competing purely on price is a race to the bottom. For brands looking to break through, "go green" offers a powerful secondary USP, an added-value differentiator that can tip the scales when prices are comparable.

The exception: Pet care purchases still go green

Pet care is one category where sustainability appears to carry more weight in purchase decisions. Looking at regional data from APAC as a primary example, 43% of 18–24-year-old pet owners (N=676) reported choosing sustainable pet food brands over standard options. TGM's analysis of APAC pet food purchase drivers further highlights the growing importance of eco-friendly factors, including sustainable packaging and ethical sourcing, in the category.

This green commitment extends into other shopping decisions among Gen Z consumers. In TGM Pet Care Insights on Accessories & Services, 42% of 18–24-year-old owners reported actively avoiding excessive plastic packaging wherever possible, with cat owners in this group leaning toward eco-friendly cat litter over conventional options.

The Bigger Picture: Zooming out to a macro level, environmental features can appear secondary to cost and convenience. Yet, looking at specific categories and everyday behaviors shows that sustainability can still influence consumer choices. In categories driven by care, routine, and long-term values, sustainability can be a valuable differentiator. For brands in these spaces, applying eco-friendly elements into their core value proposition can help earn lasting customer loyalty and win the hearts and minds of customers.

Winning Gen Z requires more than assumptions

One common mistake is treating Gen Z as one audience with one sustainability threshold. The data says otherwise: it's one audience, deciding differently depending on what's being bought and how much that decision costs to get wrong. Brands should calibrate their green narrative based on category involvement and purchasing friction:

Build a brand that leads with green factors: Put sustainability credentials where the buyer is already comparing quality, not just at checkout. This audience is evaluating the brand, not just price or product quality. Explore more FMCG consumer research cases to see how consumer insights can inform stronger commercial decisions across different categories.
General online shopping: Stated willingness to pay extra rarely survives price comparisons and shipping fees at checkout. Brands operating in broad e-commerce must ensure competitive pricing and quality first; sustainability alone cannot rescue an uncompetitive price point.
E-commerce specifically: Show eco packaging and low-carbon delivery as added value on top of a competitive price. When product specs and prices are identical, green logistics can become the tipping point that closes the conversion. E-commerce market research can help brands identify where sustainability fits into the broader purchase journey.
Everyday habits (bags, packaging, plastic use): Sustainable habits are gaining traction among younger consumers, but adoption remains uneven. Brands should focus on making greener choices easier to adopt in everyday life.

Brands that win aren't the ones with the loudest sustainability message. They're the ones that remove the reasons consumers have to trade it away.

Build sustainability strategies with TGM Research

Sustainability decisions are rarely driven by one factor alone. Consumers weigh price, convenience, availability, environmental impact and personal values differently across categories.

Whether you're developing sustainable products, testing packaging concepts, or evaluating ESG initiatives, TGM Research's omnibus research solutions help brands see where sustainability actually changes a purchase decision, and where it doesn't yet.