The Impact of AI: Shaping Sustainable Consumer Choices

In today’s climate change threat, the absence of robust data poses a challenge to consumers striving to adopt sustainable practices. In particular, access to detailed information about the environmental impact of products can help consumers better align their purchasing decisions with their sustainability goals.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds the key to overcoming this information gap. With its ability to analyze vast amounts of data quickly and efficiently, AI can provide consumers with the insights they need to make environmentally responsible choices.

Not only consumers are increasingly prioritizing sustainability (with 64% of Gen Zs expressing a willingness to pay more to purchase environmentally sustainable products¹), but companies have also realized the need to better communicate with their clients. According to a recent Clarity AI survey², over half (52%) of the most prominent brands believe that their customers consider sustainability information a must-have when making purchasing decisions.

On the other hand, consumers widely acknowledge the disruptive power of AI and machine learning (ML), and demonstrate increased trust in its use. In fact, 39% of consumers globally are willing to place their trust in artificial intelligence systems³. As AI becomes an integral part of people’s lives, there is a growing willingness to place confidence in companies that leverage this emerging technology⁴.

There are two areas where AI can significantly contribute to empowering consumers:

1. Data analytics and normalization: There is a lack of convergence on how sustainability progress should be measured across industries. Achieving comparable insights becomes an impossible task without the usage of ML and AI models. By implementing constant reliability checks and reducing human error, AI algorithms can now ensure unparalleled precision in handling vast volumes of data, frameworks and standards. This is exemplified by the recent collaboration between Clarity AI and Klarna, a leading global consumer platform serving over 550,000 merchants, each adhering to different frameworks and using varied metrics and standards.
2. Scalability in technology: Utilizing technology to scale solutions remains a persistent concern in the sustainability discourse, presenting a significant hurdle in the widespread adoption and implementation of environmentally responsible solutions. For example, tracking and assessing the sustainability of products from raw material sourcing to end-of-life disposal can be challenging due to the complexity and global nature of supply chains. In this context, transparency and traceability are key components for advancing sustainability and securing the credibility of sustainability claims, as expected by consumers.

In short, technology and tools to analyze, assess, and extract sustainability insights are available. The current challenge is the adoption of these tools by the companies to empower consumers to make sustainable choices on a large scale.

Clarity AI utilizes artificial intelligence to assess the merchants selling through Klarna’s platform, identifying those that excel in several climate-related topics and providing customers with actionable insights. This is not only achievable with AI models, but also through the use of ML, which ensures the reliability and accuracy of the reported data. This is especially relevant since currently 19.2% of the merchants, from a sample of 15,000, publicly disclose direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, 9.6% have made a public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC⁵. Transparently measuring emissions is a crucial first step to reducing emissions and holding companies accountable.

Furthermore, of the merchants in Clarity AI’s database, only 8.4% source 90% or more of their energy from renewable sources, indicating significant room for improvement in meeting EU renewable energy targets. This is why, to help identify the companies making significant efforts towards sustainability, Clarity AI highlights those merchants among the top 10% in terms of lower carbon emissions.

This information empowers consumers to make everyday decisions. Thanks to AI we are able to provide this information reliably and at scale, demonstrating that AI can serve as a transformative force for a greener, more sustainable planet. By enhancing data analytics and the scalability of sustainability solutions, AI can equip consumers with transparent and reliable insights, empowering more informed decision-making.

¹The Deloitte Global 2022 GenZ & Millennial Survey. “Striving for balance, advocating for change”. 

² 2023 Clarity AI Virtual Survey to prominent brands: Danone, Citi, Bridgestone, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, eBay, Target, Wayfair, Kimberly-Clark, Panasonic, Estee Lauder, and AT&T.

³KPMG Trust in Artificial Intelligence. 2023 Global study on the shifting public perceptions of AI. University of Queensland, Australia.

⁴AI Applications in Personalized Marketing and Customer Engagement in the Retail Banking Industry. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal. 

⁵ 1.5 degree warming alignment data from CDP