The results of the Postbank youth digital study show that girls shop online more sustainably than boys

Created: 09/25/2022, 08:30

Girls are a little more thoughtful than boys when buying online © PM/gpointstudio

Online – When shopping online, girls in particular make sure that their orders are resource-saving.

This is the result of Postbank's representative youth digital study.

41 percent of them have changed their behavior in the past six months and refrained from buying new products because the previous product still served its purpose well.

That is nine percentage points more than for boys.

In addition, 35 percent of teenage girls are trying harder than they used to to bundle their online purchases into one delivery (vs. 24 percent of boys).

In addition, 32 percent of girls choose the more sustainable product when given the choice between two items of equal value.

For boys it is seven percentage points less.

Every second person is influenced by influencers

Influencers play an important role in the shopping behavior of young people: Two out of five boys and even every second girl between the ages of 16 and 18 have bought a product that was recommended on Instagram, YouTube & Co. in the past six months.

This applies to 44 percent across genders.

For 53 percent of those who have already followed recommendations, it is important that the advertised product is sustainable.

Awareness of this increases with the age of the buyer: 45 percent of 16-year-olds, but 62 percent of 18-year-olds attach importance to it.

Climate protection is losing some of its importance due to the Ukraine war and the pandemic

With their changed way of shopping, many young people have already internalized the rethinking of consumption demanded by the Fridays for Future movement.

Nevertheless, half of those surveyed stated that the topic of climate protection has lost importance for them in view of the acute corona and Ukraine crises.

This is confirmed by a look at the importance of sustainability when shopping online.

Accordingly, two out of three teenagers currently pay attention to the protection of the environment and climate when buying clothes and shoes “always” or “occasionally”.

In the previous year it was three percentage points more.

When it comes to fashion accessories such as watches, sunglasses or bags, 47 percent value sustainability, which is even six percentage points less than in 2021.

"Awareness of sustainability and climate protection is still high among young people," says Thomas Brosch, Head of Digital Sales at Postbank.

"Even if other issues such as the Ukraine war or the pandemic are currently attracting young people's attention, the trend towards sustainability is unbroken: Young adults in particular prefer products and services that do not harm the environment and climate."

Spending on online shopping is stagnating

The budget for online purchases has remained the same compared to the previous year.

On average, the young people still have 102 euros per month at their disposal.

With 120 euros per month, boys spend significantly more money online than girls (83 euros).

In addition, expenses increase significantly with age.

While 16-year-olds shop online for an average of 74 euros, it is 139 euros for 18-year-olds.

Three categories of goods are particularly popular among young people when shopping online.

44 percent of them usually buy media products such as video games online instead of in brick-and-mortar stores.

This is followed by entertainment electronics such as game consoles (43 percent) and clothing and shoes (33 percent).

Cosmetic products, on the other hand, are bought by a large majority in the local shop (74 percent).

also read

Self-experiment: For a week, I let all my everyday decisions be determined by a roll of the dice

The "Ethno-Messe" sounds in the elementary school Forstern as a sign for peace and justice

Hartmut Schlegel