Nudge, Nudge, Green Boost: How To Encourage Sustainable Buying Behavior Among Online Shoppers

Picture this: You're wrapping up an online shopping session, with the mouse hovering over the checkout button. Suddenly, you notice a little green leaf next to one of the delivery options. "Huh," you think, "that's new." Without much thought, you select it and complete your purchase. Congratulations! You've just been "nudged" into making a more sustainable choice. But how did that happen, and why should marketers care?

Opting for a common pick-up point instead of home delivery is increasingly recognized as a more sustainable option for online shopping. It can potentially reduce global CO2 emissions by up to 33% (Davydenko & Hopman, 2020). Green packaging and solar-powered delivery vehicles are already an active part of the solution. What needs more attention to achieve emission reduction is the consumer decision-making process (Manerba et al., 2018). The impact of this behavior change on our natural environment would be significant. In 2023, online retail sales accounted for more than 20% of global retail purchasing — or 6.3 trillion US dollars (Chevalier, 2022). How much carbon dioxide was emitted as a result? Imagine 2.4 million US households using energy for one year. It means 19 million tonnes of CO2. This is the polluting impact last year of the ‘last mile ’— the journey an order placed online takes from the distribution center to a single buyer’s address.

Barriers Preventing Consumers from Choosing a Pick-Up Point Delivery

Most of us worry about the effect our consumerism has on the health of the planet (hence, our own health) (Eurobarometer, 2023). So what stops us from taking action? There are several barriers preventing consumers from choosing a pick-up point delivery mode as opposed to home delivery:

• Accessibility: Buyers find pick-up points challenging to reach due to their locations and limited opening hours.
• Convenience: The ease, low cost, and speed of traditional home delivery often outweigh sustainability concerns.
• Cognitive load (too much information): When making decisions under time pressure, consumers may not consider sustainability as the most important option.
• Influence of information: Energy-saving labels can motivate consumers towards sustainable choices, but their effectiveness diminishes under cognitive stress (e.g. when we make online purchases in a rush or are presented with a multitude of choices).

Choice Design During Online Checkout Shifts Buyer Behavior

Researchers in the Netherlands (Nijssen et al., 2023) created an experiment to prove how consumers can be encouraged to choose pick-up point delivery over less sustainable options when purchasing items online.

They set up an online store and threw in little nudges (Fig. 1) to see if they could get shoppers to choose more eco-friendly delivery options. Nudges, at a cognitive level, refer to small changes in the choice architecture that influence behavior without removing options or significantly altering incentives (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008). They can be designed for varying levels of cognitive engagement: complex, informational nudges (they require full attention to the details of the choices) or default nudges (automatically setting a preferred option, minimizing the need for conscious decision-making).

The Power of Default and Informational Nudges in Promoting Sustainable Choices

The default nudge (pre-selected) performed the highest. Participants were exposed to the most sustainable delivery option during checkout (they had to choose a gift for contributing to the study, using their preferred delivery method). This default nudge technique is basically the digital equivalent of your mom packing your lunch - you'll probably eat what's in the box because, well, it's already there! The study recorded a 5.39 times increase in people choosing the greener path compared to the control option (containing no nudge). Most participants chose this option.

At the same time, the research team experimented with informational nudges. By showing the percentage of CO2 saved with this selection, choosing the sustainable delivery method increased by approximately 3.07 times. Featuring a green leaf symbol next to the most sustainable option (an informational nudge of low complexity) also increased the pick-up point delivery method by about 2.45 times. When shoppers were presented with the most complex nudge (detailed percentages of CO2 emission reduction between options), there was no significant increase in the number of people choosing eco-friendly delivery. Instead, it steered them away from the two most polluting delivery methods.

Fig. 1. Delivery choices during the check-out process (Source: Nijssen et al., 2023)

It shows how implementing nudging strategies effectively into your e-commerce marketing strategy can bridge the gap between environmental values and sustainable consumer behavior online.

Before you rush off to pepper your checkout page with green leaves and CO2 stats, let's break down what this means for marketers.

Effective Nudging Strategies for Online Retailers

If you want to make a big sustainable impact with your online business, first understand attitudes on environmental issues. Not all shoppers are created equal. Segment your audiences based on their green beliefs and online shopping habits. Then align and tailor your messaging to resonate with each audience for more effective communication and higher engagement rates.

Make the sustainable option the default. Keep the information simple. Use visual cues - they are your friend, look what a simple green leaf has done! Think of them as puppy dog eyes in every Instagram reel - so hard to resist!  

Consumers are price-sensitive when it comes to delivery. If you keep the cost of your options the same, you’ll more likely see a green shift. It's like offering broccoli and fries at the same price - suddenly, veggies don't seem so bad!

Optimize your checkout process. Incorporate nudges that help consumers make more sustainable choices without feeling overwhelmed. When shopping online, buyers look for low-friction, accessible options (Sharpe et al., 2021), and not complicated, pushy checkout experiences.

Ensure that nudges are ethically sound and do not undermine consumer autonomy. There’s always the opportunity to engage consumers beyond the immediate purchase decision.

Team up with your delivery pals: work with logistics partners to expand sustainable delivery options. It's a win-win situation.

Nudging strategies can create spill-over effects in the long term, fostering a culture of sustainability among your most loyal customers.

Before you go nudge-crazy, a few things are worth remembering:

• Transparency is key, be upfront about your nudging to enhance consumer trust and satisfaction.
• Keep it relevant: what works for Dutch shoppers might not work for everyone else. Know your audience!
• Balance sustainability promotion with relevant user experience.
• Collaborate with partners and policymakers for a broader impact.