1 in 2 Singaporeans willing to spend more on ethical products

But just how ethical is ethical?

The number of consumers in Singapore willing to pay more for ethical products has held steady as compared to last year, according to the latest MasterCard survey on ethical spending.

The survey was conducted via online interviews between 5 December 2011 and 6 January 2012 with 500 respondents between the ages of 18 to 64 from Singapore.

Comparing trends of shoppers both online and offline have revealed that Singaporeans are increasingly supportive of products based on fair trade principles.

It also reported that ethical reasons continue to have bearings on purchase behavior amongst Singaporeans with at least one in two individuals having purchased items because of one or more ethical reasons.

Products based on fair trade at (64%) remain the top motivation for “responsible” purchase, followed by if they were environmentally friendly (55%) or if a percentage of the sales was donated to a good cause (40%).

Conscientious spending appears to be taking off amongst online shoppers, with an increasing number of Singaporeans purchasing items which are based on fair trade principles (+9% to 45%) or are environmentally friendly (+4% to 37%).

Products of which a portion of sales went to donations were the least popular both online and offline – results show a substantial 15% drop (from 35% to 21%) in the number of online shoppers who indicated they bought certain items because a percentage was donated to a good cause, while offline shoppers indicated a 9% drop in support for these products.