Sustainability a ‘driver of choice’ for many B2B purchases

Sustainability is a meaningful ‘driver of choice’ in business-to-business (B2B) categories from real estate to IT services, a study from Brand Finance has found.

The study examined the world's top 100 B2B brands, estimating their worth to be $2tn in brand value. 

Why it matters

Traditionally, B2B purchases have been regarded as functional in nature, and based primarily on rational considerations. A growing focus on the environment, however, now underpins many enterprise-to-enterprise purchases, giving marketers a chance to stand out from the crowd in powerful ways.

Takeaways

• Brand Finance, a brand valuation consultancy, looked at the role of sustainability as a ‘driver of choice’ across various B2B sectors.
• It found that this issue was most important in real estate (9.5%), insurance (7.9%), IT services (7.8%) and logistics (7.2%).
• These scores matched the peaks recorded in the business-to-consumer arena when it comes to the role of sustainability, according to the study.