Author: Suzette Meade

Published on The Drum 

A recent study conducted by MAGNA Media Trials points to a potential shift in consumer behavior. Brands that emphasize transparency and sustainability appear increasingly well-positioned to tap into emerging revenue opportunities. In this article, Martin Bryan, Global Chief Sustainability Officer at IPG Mediabrands, explores the rise of “eco-spenders” and the influence their values may have on shaping future market dynamics.

Amid inflationary pressures and tightening household budgets, it’s easy to assume price is the only driver of consumer choice. But the data tells a more nuanced story. There is growing evidence that purpose-led purchasing is accelerating, and sustainability continues to show commercial value—particularly among a rising group of value-driven consumers: the eco-spenders.

This segment doesn’t just express concern about environmental impact—they act on it with their wallets. And the opportunity for brands is clear: 1 in 4 consumers say they would pay a premium for sustainable features, regardless of the category.

Who Are the Eco-Spenders?

New research from MAGNA, the media intelligence unit in IPG Mediabrands, and Sharethrough, an Equativ Company, called “Sustainability Sells” reveals that 76% of consumers believe climate change affects their personal health, while 79% consider sustainability in their purchase decisions. Younger audiences, often assumed to be more price-sensitive, are in fact leading this shift. Around a quarter of Gen Z and nearly a third of Millennials say they are willing to pay more for sustainable alternatives

From a financial perspective, this signals a meaningful long-term trend. These cohorts are growing in economic influence, and the brands that build trust with them today stand to benefit tomorrow.

Where the Spend Is Shifting

Understanding where eco-spenders are allocating their money helps brands align product strategy with consumer values. The categories seeing the strongest movement include:

1. Groceries

Sustainability is often tangible at the dinner table. People increasingly recognize the link between personal health, planetary health, and the agricultural systems behind their food. Attributes that resonate include:

• • Animal welfare standards – Ethical farming practices, including humane treatment and environmental designthat meet the needs of farm animals.
  • Organic ingredients – Cultivation practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance soil health.
  • Non-GMO – Reduce herbicide pollution and support for biodiversity and climate resilience.

 

2. Personal Care

Plastic-heavy packaging and unsustainable sourcing are coming under scrutiny. The OECD estimates plastic lifecycle emissions at 1.8 billion tons annually—a growing concern for this segment. With ad sales in the sector expected to grow +3% in 2025, reaching over $17.3 billion dollars, marketers could also explore how to incorporate sustainability into their campaigns and overall messaging.

Key features driving preference:

• • Refillable packaging – Cost-effective and reduces landfill impact.
  • Sustainably sourced materials – Regenerative, organic, or recycled inputs.
  • Recyclable containers – Supporting energy efficiency and circularity.

 

3. Fashion

The fashion industry generates more emissions than the UK, France, and Germany combined. Consumers are responding by prioritizing:

• • Responsibly sourced fabrics
  • Certified regenerative agriculture or organic products
  • Recycled materials including textiles and trims

 

The Trust Gap: Transparency and Credibility are Key

Despite growing interest in sustainable choices, many consumers remain uncertain or skeptical about claims. Consumers want clarity and proof of sustainability, not vague virtue signaling.

That’s why science-backed certification is so critical. NGOs and third parties offer verified seals covering everything from ethical sourcing to emissions standards. Yet up to 85% of consumers remain unaware of or confused by these seals.

The appetite for education is real. Over 90% of consumers say brand communication on sustainability is important, and the top two places they look for this information are packaging and brand websites. These touchpoints are underutilized assets in conveying brands’ sustainability efforts—and justifying the premium pricing that may come with your investment in selling sustainable products.

Three Ways Marketers Can Unlock Value from Sustainability

To connect effectively with eco-spenders and drive business results, marketers must go beyond product features and embrace sustainability as a brand value proposition. Here are three actions that can make an immediate impact:

1. Align with Internal Sustainability Leaders

Partner with your organization’s sustainability team to ensure accurate, consistent messaging. Collaboration between the CMO and CSO helps ensure sustainability communication is credible, timely, and aligned with business goalsas consumers are increasingly looking for meaningful, verified sustainability solutions from brands.

2. Promote Recognized, Science-Based Seals

Partner with NGOs and certification bodies to help raise awareness of trustworthy sustainability seals. These identifiers enable consumers to make informed decisions—and they differentiate your brand from competitors less invested in sustainability. There is opportunity to work with both the private and non-profit sectors, for example the Rodale Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to growing the regenerative organic agriculture movement through rigorous research, farmer training, and education.

3. Invest in Consumer Education Through Media and Packaging

Use advertising, packaging, and owned channels to explain sustainability features in clear terms. Retail media, in particular, plays a critical role at the point of purchase, where eco-spenders often make trade-offs between cost and values.

For marketers, these priorities present a roadmap: sustainability credentials aren’t just ethical—they’re commercially strategic. The data supports this sustainability shift; for example, the global organic food market size is projected to expand at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2025 to 2034.

Purpose and Profit Are Not Mutually Exclusive

As marketers face growing regulatory demands and rising consumer expectations, sustainability is no longer a niche or optional initiative. It’s a business imperative. Eco-spenders represent a rapidly growing, values-driven audience willing to reward brands that deliver on environmental promises.

By educating consumers, embracing transparency, and aligning messaging with substantiated impact, brands can not only earn trust—they can grow revenue. Sustainability, done right, is both a consumer value and a financial strategy.

Now is the time to act.

Published on Social Media Today

Pinterest has published a new report, in partnership with MAGNA, which looks at the impact of positivity on social platforms, and the broader benefits that an overly positive user experience can have on ad response.

And according to the data, the feeling that people have when using Pinterest is a major driver of their activity.

As explained by Pinterest:

“Previous studies have shown that the way people feel on inspiring, positive platforms like Pinterest can affect their emotional health. But now, new findings indicate that ads in overall environments people perceive as positive can also drive better results.”

MAGNA’s 30-page report looks at the impact of ad environment on ad response, and how overall positive experiences matter just as much as ad placement.

“The study found that people were 20% more emotionally engaged with content they saw on a platform they viewed as positive. They were more committed as well, spending an average of 15% more time looking at the ads.”

Indeed, user responses indicate that “Positivity” is a significant consideration for social media users, and has a big effect on their in-app experience.

While it can also drive higher purchase intent:

Especially for big purchases:

Pinterest further notes that it’s specifically focused on positivity, and positive user experiences, in its development:

“At Pinterest, we take positivity very seriously. It guides our product investments, social impact spending and our own accountability metrics. Pinterest is ranked as the No.1 social media platform for instilling feelings of self-worth and purpose, as measured by a global wellbeing metric.”

Pinterest’s focus on product discovery, over general post engagement, means that it doesn’t need to boost angst-inducing posts, using comments as a proxy for popularity. That means that Pinterest, overall, is a more positive environment, and while it still does have its share of controversial content, user experiences are more defined by their interests, as opposed to trending news.

That could be a consideration for your Pin strategy, with this data showing that the overall feeling that users have can drive more ad response and sales activity.

Some interesting considerations, either way.

Published on The Wall Street Journal

Published on ADWEEK

Magna is reducing its forecast for 2025 amid uncertainty

 

Today, Magna released its spring update to its U.S. Ad Forecast report for 2025, and the results focus on what the market looks like during an uncertain time.

Magna found that U.S. ad sales reached $380 billion in 2024, as fourth-quarter earnings were strong across the board. This reflects a more than 12.4% increase (+9.9% excluding cyclical spending). However, Magna, which already expected a down year in 2025, is reducing that forecast even more.

“Confidence plays a crucial role in marketing and advertising investment decisions. The current—hopefully temporary—dip in confidence has already dampened the dynamics of the ad market, prompting U.S. to revise our growth forecast for 2025,” Vincent Létang, evp, global market intelligence, Magna, and co-author of the report, said in a statement. “While total ad spend is still expected to grow in the mid-single digits, digital media ad sales will continue to experience high-single-digit growth. In contrast, most traditional media channels may face stagnating ad revenues this year.”

Here are some of the standout points and key takeaways from the report:

Lack of visibility could slow down the ad market

Magna predicts that the lack of visibility and risk of a trade war may cause marketing and advertising budgets to either freeze or result in cuts in industries that are vulnerable to global trade, supply chain disruptions, and consumer confidence issues. That includes consumer packaged goods companies, in food, drinks, and personal care, as well as quick-service restaurants and the automotive industry.

These industries account for a sizeable share of ad spend in the U.S., but there are still large, growing industry verticals that are not particularly sensitive to global costs or economic fluctuations, like pharmaceuticals, retail, tech/telecoms, entertainment, finance, and insurance.

Moreover, endemic and organic growth factors (media innovation, retail media, ad-supported streaming) that drove ad spend faster than the general economic growth in recent years will continue to make advertising formats more effective, efficient, and attractive to brands and encourage advertisers to maintain or develop advertising budgets.

Considering the various business and economic factors, Magna has reduced its 2025 ad market growth forecast from +4.9% in December 2024 to +4.3%. Non-cyclical ad sales will grow by +6.7% (previous forecast +7.3%).

Still, some categories will continue with robust revenues. For instance, digital pure players (DPP) in search, retail media, social media, digital video, and digital audio (such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Spotify) will see ad revenue grow by +9.6% to $293 billion.

Traditional media owners are the most vulnerable

Magna points out that traditional media owners (TMO) (categories that fall under television, premium long-form streaming, audio media, publishing, out-of-home advertising, and cinema) are more vulnerable when a lack of business visibility leads some marketers to prioritize short-term KPIs and lower-funnel channels.

Because of this, Magna expects TMOs’ non-cyclical ad sales to decline by -1% to $103 billion, while cross-platform TV sales stabilize, with growth in ad-supported streaming (+14%) helping to offset an ongoing decline in linear ad sales (-7%).

Ad-supported streaming—which includes FAST channels and all premium long-form streaming platforms like Hulu, Peacock, Netflix, Prime, etc.—benefits from growing reach and viewership as 75% of all streaming hours are now ad-supported, up from 58% a year ago, per Magna.

Among other highlights, sports will continue to grow for TV with content such as the college football playoffs, the WNBA on Prime Video, and exclusive NBA games on Peacock. Meanwhile, out-of-home (OOH) ad sales are predicted to grow by more than 4.8% this year to $10 billion, driven by double-digit growth in digital OOH revenues.

However, other traditional media channels may struggle in 2025. For instance, Magna forecasts a decrease of -2% for audio media and publishing ad revenues, with digital ad formats not being able to offset declines on legacy formats. Magna predicts that audio media will account for $16 billion, while publishing will account for $15 billion.

Despite uncertain times, the economy is healthy

The Magna report explores how business and consumer confidence deteriorated since January due to several factors, such as the stock market recording decreases and the cost of food rising.

Though overall food costs did not rise in Q1—staying around 3%—U.S. consumers were shaken by the sharp inflation in eggs, which is typically a food staple of American households.

The combination caused a drop in the consumer confidence index, which decreased from 74 in December to 58 in March, close to the all-time low recorded in June 2022 when gas hit $5 per gallon in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

When it comes to the economic outlook on the U.S. ad market, the research notes how the core economic fundamentals like consumer price index (CPI) inflation, job market, retail sales, and corporate profits stayed healthy.

Additionally, international trade tensions don’t necessarily lead to extensive economic damage. However, the current confidence crisis has already impacted economic activity in Q1, and Magna expects negative GDP growth for the first quarter and cautious investment and marketing spending in the months ahead.