Confidence in retail ethics falls for most Brits in new analysis

Storage Vault utilised responses which asked people to rate how ethically they felt retail businesses behaved, in order to understand how Brits felt about what they see on the high street and online.

They examined the data between August 2020 and May 2024, which was the most recent data available and found that in most areas, Brits attitudes had soured when it came to retailers.

Overall, 40% of Brits felt that retailers behaved in a not very, or not at all ethical way, which had risen from 35% in 2020. Those that felt they behaved either fairly, or very ethically on the other hand, had fallen from 37% in 2020, to 33% in 2024.

When the responses were broken down regionally, Wales had the largest rise in those replying ‘not ethical at all’, with a 9% increase showing a rise from 7% in 2020 to 16% in 2024. The only area which saw this figure fall was Scotland, with a 2% drop from 8% to 6%.

Despite recording a 6% rise in negative sentiment, opinion in London was split, as response for ‘very ethical’ rose from 2% in 2020 to 7% in 2024. All other areas recorded the same score or saw a fall in this response between the two years.

Males were more likely to feel positive than Females, seeing a rise from 2% to 3% in ‘very ethical’ while this figure fell to just 1% for Females.

The only age group to see a rise in ‘very ethical’ and a fall in ‘not ethical at all’ was the 18-24 year old range. All other age groups saw a fall in positive sentiment, and a rise in the negative.

Anthony McAteer of Storage Vault gave their thoughts on the results: “As the cost of living crisis has continued, people have seen the price of both luxuries and essentials become increasingly difficult to afford. This is naturally going to make some people question the way in which retailers are acting.

“From ‘shrinkflation’ to ‘price gouging’, there have been a lot of concerns that the way in which products are being priced, doesn’t always reflect the increased costs incurred by businesses.

“If retailers want to see sentiments move in the opposite direction, they need to do everything they can to provide value for consumers, and be transparent in their pricing so people understand why they may have to pay more than they have in the past.”