BOOK
The 60% potential
Marketing can inspire the masses to embrace green consumption
Our framework is used by large corporations, medium-sized businesses, start-ups and NGOs to sell more sustainable products and services.
CONTENTS
The 60% potential
The 60% potential describes the largest and most frequently overlooked segment of the sustainable products market: around 60 percent of consumers consider sustainability important, but don't buy accordingly. Not out of disinterest—but because sustainable options are too expensive, too inconvenient, or not attractive enough for them. Reaching this group will have a greater impact than any campaign targeting those who are already convinced.
The book shows how this broad mass thinks, what prevents them from consuming green products, and how marketing becomes the driver of a successful, economically viable green transformation.
ISBN
3593519585
Jan Pechmann
Co-author, founder of BAM! Bock auf Morgen
In English
Paperback & E-book
HEAR & SEE
The book in sound and pictures
PODCAST
BAM! Looking forward to tomorrow — Episode #074
Johanna Gollnhofer and Jan Pechmann discuss the book.
VIDEO
Book summary: The 60% potential
Sustainable consumption, behavioral psychology & mainstream marketing.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Three groups – one is usually overlooked
Gollnhofer and Pechmann divide the market into three groups based on attitudes and actual behavior, along two axes: green attitudes and actual green behavior. The 60% figure is not an exact value, but rather an assumption supported by several studies.
15–20%
Eco-Fans
Green attitude & green behavior
They already buy sustainably, pay premiums, and forgive compromises in the product. The majority of sustainability communication, sustainability marketing, and traditional green marketing are aimed at them—even though they need the least convincing. The group is too small to sustain a market. They are not caught in the attitude-behavior gap.
~60%
The mainstream consumer
Green attitude & no green behavior
They agree that sustainability is a good thing, but it's not the deciding factor when they're buying. Price, taste, availability, and habit take precedence. This group is rarely addressed by green marketing and tends to be put off by moralizing appeals. This group is caught in the classic attitude-behavior gap.
This is precisely the group we need to win over now – both for the sake of the environment and for sales.
15–20%
Eco-Grouches
No green attitude & no green behavior
They reject sustainability as a purchasing argument or distrust it. Changing the mind of this group is expensive and rarely successful.
Why don't people buy sustainably, even though they want to? The attitude-behavior gap!
At the heart of the book is the attitude-behavior gap: the difference between what people think about sustainable consumption and what they actually buy. This gap can be closed—through emotional appeal and a tangible, personal benefit. And not with a raised finger, but with clever communication and skillful marketing.
And around 60% of the population find themselves in the attitude-behavior gap. This figure has also been supported by other studies, such as a market segmentation in the UK (2023) or by GfK (Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung, 2023) .
The core message for the 60%: Sustainability doesn't work through deprivation and guilt. It takes clever marketing – so that people aren't afraid of tomorrow, but excited about it.
Empirical research behind the 60% potential
This model is not merely a consulting concept, but the result of years of research into consumer behavior and sustainable consumption. I am a professor of marketing at the University of St. Gallen and have co-directed the Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight (IMC-HSG) since 2021. My work on sustainable consumption has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research ( 2019 and 2025 ), the leading journal in the field of consumer research.
More information can be found on my Google Scholar profile.
IMAGE PROBLEM OF SUSTAINABILITY
Why sustainability has an image problem - the 5 Vs framework.
What do 60% associate with the word sustainability and related terms? We offer the concept of the 5 Vs: sacrifice, increased costs, change, loss of trust, and reason. The word sustainability actually has a huge image problem for these 60%.
A study investigated which word is most frequently associated with "sustainable fashion." The word "guilty" received the most mentions, while "fun" received the fewest. This already highlights the fundamental problem: apparently, the general public doesn't associate sustainability with the finer things in life, not with fun and pleasure, but rather with guilt and frustration.
The same applies to the sustainability-related terms "vegan" or "eco". They have almost become battle cries, or at least currently have negative connotations for large segments of the general public.
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UNDERSTAND
How does marketing reach the 60%?
The masses are not reached through sustainability arguments, but through three levers: personal benefit instead of collective benefit, emotion instead of education, and positive scenarios instead of negative ones. Sustainability remains in the product itself—it simply no longer drives the communication. This is precisely where classic green marketing most often fails: it relies on rational arguments instead of emotional appeal.
Or, to use our visual language for marketing sustainable products: At the front of the tandem bicycle sits the personal benefit, the advantages, and the positive scenarios. The argument for sustainability rides in the back. And not because it's unimportant to us: We are committed to selling more sustainable products, but to achieve this, they have to be relegated to the back of the marketing mix for the remaining 60%.
Personal benefit instead of collective benefit — Better marketing of sustainable products
Sustainability is structurally the weakest possible position in a purchasing decision: individual costs now, collective benefits later and for others. The personal benefit is usually already there, but it's not talked about. Durability saves money. Less packaging means lighter carrying. Regional means fresher. Efficiency means lower operating costs. Repairable means you don't have to make a new decision.
Emotion instead of enlightenment — communicating sustainability without lecturing.
Sustainable marketing typically relies on information: percentages, labels, CO₂ balances. Information changes knowledge, not behavior. The 60% already know that sustainability is important—that's their definition, after all. Numbers and facts are correct and important for countering potential greenwashing accusations. But in marketing, we know that positive emotions work much better than factual lectures.
Positive scenarios instead of negative scenarios — out of the niche!
Negative scenarios aren't a mistake. They're simply aimed at the wrong group. They work brilliantly with eco-enthusiasts: the melting iceberg, the burning forest, the approaching deadline mobilize people who already feel empowered to act. For the 60%, however, the same picture flips to the opposite extreme. The problem is enormous, their own shopping cart is tiny—what remains is not motivation, but powerlessness. And powerlessness doesn't lead to different behavior, but to looking away. Added to this is an insight that predates any sustainability debate in marketing: positive scenarios sell better than negative ones.
REVIEWS OF THE BOOK
What readers and press are saying
GetAbstract
Nominated for the International Book Award in the Business Impact category, with a rating of 9 out of 10 points.
einszunull.ch, Bücherberg review
An inspiring guide for marketing professionals and anyone who wants to bring sustainability from niche to mainstream.
Amazon reader review
"One of the best books I've read on marketing in recent years. It contains a wealth of well-researched facts and studies combined with concrete tips and examples of how companies can improve their marketing. Highly recommended."
nion digital
One clear message: If you want to reach the masses, you have to package sustainability in terms of enjoyment, quality or lifestyle.
WHAT THE BOOK DELIVERS
Three levels: Analysis, practice, outlook
Gollnhofer and Pechmann divide the market into three groups based on attitudes and actual behavior. The 60% figure is not an exact value, but rather an assumption found in several studies.
01
How the general public thinks
An analysis of what prevents the 60% from consuming green products — and how this target group can actually be reached.
02
Marketing Best Practices
Concrete approaches for the green transformation: from attractive products to messages that work without moralizing.
03
Five new roles for CMOs
An outlook on how marketing managers can become drivers of the green transformation — with five very specific new roles for tomorrow's CMOs.
THE AUTHORS
Two perspectives, one book
SCIENCE
Prof. Dr. Johanna Gollnhofer
Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of St. Gallen and Head of the Institute for Marketing and Customer Insight (IMC-HSG). She researches and teaches at the intersection of marketing and sustainability.
PRACTICE
Jan Pechmann
Founder of BAM! Bock auf Morgen — a market-oriented sustainability consultancy that ensures sustainability pays off for both the environment and revenue.