Study: Americans want more news about a company’s social and environmental efforts

Americans want more information about a company’s social and environmental responsibility efforts from news outlets, according to the ninth annual Sense & Sustainability Study released Wednesday by G&S Business Communications.

The study found that half of Americans (49 percent) rely on news media for knowledge about business responsibility and sustainability. That’s up from 43 percent in 2017, which was a five-year low.

In addition, nearly one in five Americans—18 percent—read a company’s sustainability report, a five-year high. The readership was 16 percent in 2017.

“Amid spasms of upheaval that test public trust in institutions to protect people and the environment, Americans are demanding harder evidence in the form of facts and figures to inform their decisions and actions,” said Ron Loch, G&S managing director and sustainability consulting leader, in a statement.

The study found that the public may be taking cues from high-profile crises in the news, including the 2014 contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan, the 2016 controversy over EpiPen pricing, and the 2018 racism incident that led to anti-bias training for Starbucks employees.

The study can be found here.