Want a new way to market your products to happy customers? Put your products in eco-friendly containers, say consumers.

Over 64% of customers recently surveyed stated that packaging should be made of environmentally-friendly materials, with more than 55% arguing that packaging should contain as little plastic as necessary. These days, consumers are aware that cartons can be created through renewable resources, and that they can be recovered more effectively than other materials overall.

In further studies, consumers were asked to consider different types of packaging for a product, making their decisions based on creativity, environmental protection capability, the information made available on the package, and the functionality of the packaging overall. Using a cereal product as the first example, consumers decided that a cardboard carton was better than a plastic bag in a variety of ways. The same results were made when referring to detergents, with cardboard cartons being chosen over plastics through a multitude of different criteria points.

The real question for business owners is: are consumers willing to pay more for sustainable packaging? Using the responses of over 2,500 respondents, when asked if they agreed with the statement, “I am willing to pay a higher price for an environmentally friendly package,” up to 15.8% of those recorded claimed they “completely agree” or “agree.” However, it should be noted that a distinct variation between different consumer groups was found as well, with the “responsible dedicated” and “critical consumers” both agreeing to the statement at a higher level, as compared to the self-dependent family.

With these results in mind, it’s safe to say that eco-friendly packaging holds a high regard in consideration of consumers. Hopefully, more companies can jump aboard the sustainability trend for the betterment of the environment in the future.