When it comes to going green, people are more likely to take up planet-friendly habits such as using less plastic and wasting less food if they saw it on social media, according to a new report from Unilever. And with younger consumers being more focused on sustainability, social platforms could be a way for brands to authentically connect with them.

Unilever partnered with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a U.K.-based global social purpose organization that studies and applies behavioral science insights to inform policy. BIT built a simulated social media platform that showed study participants different styles of sustainability content and then measured their behavior changes. Unilever's Dove and Hellmann’s brands commissioned creators to make the video content, including vegan food creators Max La Manna and Brooklynn Palmer, eco-friendly lifestyle creator Kathryn Kellogg, food creator Andy Hay and sustainable living and travel creator Delilah Harvey.

According to the survey, 78% of respondents said that influencers had the single biggest impact on their choices to be more environmentally friendly. Influencers ranked higher than TV documentaries (48%), news articles (37%) and government campaigns (20%). 

The study included 6,000 participants in the U.K., U.S., and Canada who matched the demographics of TikTok and Instagram users. Participants were shown sustainability-related content and asked a series of questions to understand whether the content had affected their intentions to change their behavior. Two weeks later, 2,500 reported back on whether or not it had affected their actual behavior.

The content was aimed at encouraging viewers to use less plastic and to waste less food. The tone was either pragmatic, showing the scale of the problem and the consequences, or optimistic, showing practical ways to be more green. Both styles of content were effective at nudging people to adopt sustainable behaviors. The study found that 75% of people said that content made them more likely to adopt sustainable behaviors, like saving and reusing plastic, buying refillable products, and freezing and reusing leftovers.

Branded content was seen as just as engaging, authentic and informative as unbranded content, with participants supportive of social media creators making sponsored content around sustainability. Seventy-seven percent support creators encouraging their audience to take on environmentally-friendly behaviors, and 72% support them selling products or services focused on sustainability. Seventy-six percent were encouraged to act after watching Dove content around reusing plastics, and 82% after watching Hellmann’s content on reducing food waste.

The study also found that 83% of the participants agreed that TikTok and Instagram are helpful places to seek out advice on how to be greener at home, and the percentage was even higher (86%) for participants aged 18 to 34.

The report comes at a time when younger consumers are highly aware of climate change, and brands’ impact on the environment. Still, there seems to be a disconnect between brands and their environmentally-conscious consumers. A report by KPMG late last year found that many companies put ESG efforts on the back burner in the face of a recession. And yet, a 2021 report by First Insight and the Wharton School of Business found that 75% of Gen Zers said sustainability is more important than brand name when making purchases, and that every generation was willing to spend at least 10% more for a sustainable product.

Unilever, as one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods marketers, has reason to study such topics. The company has already been doing its own sustainability work. For example, Hellmann’s Super Bowl ads emphasize using mayo on leftovers to reduce food waste. And its Dove brand provides bar soaps and reusable aluminum body wash containers (though the refills arrive in plastic bottles).

Unilever executives, particularly former CEO Paul Polman and his soon-to-retire successor CEO Alan Jope, have been vocal about sustainability goals—sometimes to the dismay of investors (some of whom privately nicknamed Polman “Captain Planet”). The company last year set a goal to have zero emissions operations by 2030, and to halve the greenhouse gas impact of its products across their lifecycle, including consumer use, by the same year.