Sustainability Signals 2026 - What's Next In Consumer Demand? [FULL REPORT]

Willow Sustainability, in collaboration with RILA GLOBAL CONSULTING, has published a new snapshot report: Sustainability Signals 2026: What’s Next in Consumer Demand?

The report analyses the sustainability trends shaping 2026 and beyond, drawing on insights from millions of real consumer conversations.

What is clear is that that sustainability features are not only a 'must-have’ attribute to products and experiences, but that they also need to be clear, easy to understand, affordable and substantiated with data. 

Today, people want sustainability to be practical, visible and beneficial to their everyday lives. Comfort, health, cost savings, durability and transparency are becoming the new benchmarks for trust.

Interesting highlights

Here are three signals we should pay attention to:

🔹 Comfort over ideology. People don’t simply buy items labelled as 'sustainable' anymore. They buy products that last longer and cost less over time.

🔹 Proof > promises. Vague claims are losing trust fast. Data, verification and product-level evidence are becoming the baseline expectation.

🔹 Convenience is the strategy. If the sustainable option is harder, slower or more expensive, sadly most people won’t choose it. It has to be simple to be impactful.

All of this matters because it changes how we justify sustainability internally within business: less values-based storytelling and more business logic, risk reduction and customer relevance.

Who should read this report?

If you work in sustainability, brand & marketing, supply chain & procurement,  product or service development, or you are the executive taking decisions on how companies should respond to ever-changing consumer demands, then this report is for you. 

Reading it will help you identify important themes that are gaining momentum before they become mainstream. This will give your organisation a critical advantage in planning for the years ahead.