Sustainable financial products increasingly well known
Within three years, the awareness of sustainable financial products in Austria has increased significantly - including those that have been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel UZ 49.
Awareness of the Austrian Ecolabel
Every year, a representative survey is conducted on the awareness of the Austrian Ecolabel as well as on questions concerning trust and the influence on purchasing decisions. The Austrian Ecolabel has a consistently high level of awareness of 59% - the level of trust in the label is also consistently satisfactory. The higher the level of education and income, the higher the awareness and trust.
Sustainable financial products
Every year, there are also specific additional modules: in 2018 and this year, these were the Sustainable Financial Products. This revealed some pleasing results:
- Across all groups, awareness of sustainable financial products has increased from 23 % in 2018 to 36 % this year - a significant increase, so not just a randomly higher result in the survey. This means that 36 % have already heard of financial investments that take ecological and/or social aspects into account.
- Fortunately, 14 % are now also aware of the Austrian Ecolabel for this product group - three years ago, awareness of the UZ 49 was only 10 %.
- Where to get information about such financial products: especially in the banks. The survey shows that, compared to 2018, financial institutions are increasingly promoting the Austrian Ecolabel themselves - be it through campaigns or in customer advisory services. But people are also learning more from the media.
- For 40 % of the respondents, such sustainable investments are important or rather important - 17 products already use such financial products, but only 6 % use products that are also awarded with the Austrian Ecolabel.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be stated that sustainable financial products are not only on the rise on the supply side - but also the awareness on the demand side is increasing significantly. In other words, people are asking for investment products that take ecological and social criteria into account. One reason for the higher awareness of the Austrian Ecolabel may also be found in the fact that since 2020 accounts and savings products have been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel - i.e. financial products that everyone has.