Rethinking sustainability: Why customer value comes first

For years, executives have been told that greater investment in sustainability will naturally translate into stronger business performance. Yet Challagalla argued that the evidence is far less convincing than many assume. Looking across both corporate examples and academic research, he and Dalsace found that while sustainability can create positive business outcomes, the relationship is often much weaker than popular narratives suggest.

The problem, he suggested, is not sustainability itself. It is the question companies are asking. Instead of asking, “How can we become more sustainable?,” Clean Winners asks a different question: “How can sustainability help us create more value for customers?” That distinction sits at the heart of the book.

Throughout the discussion, Challagalla returned to a simple observation about customer behavior. He argued that customers rarely buy products because they are sustainable. Rather, they buy products because they solve problems, improve performance, save money, reduce risk, or make life easier. Sustainability may matter, he agrees, but it is typically a secondary consideration rather than the primary purchase driver. 

As Challagalla  put it, nobody buys detergent to save the planet; they buy it to clean their clothes. Nobody buys a car to reduce emissions; they buy it because they need transportation. Sustainability becomes relevant only after the core job is fulfilled.

This perspective led to a discussion on the distinction between what customers say and what they do. Challagalla described three customer groups. “Green” customers, who are willing to make trade-offs for sustainability. “Blue” customers, who support sustainability when performance and affordability remain intact. And finally, “Gray” customers, who care little about sustainability at all.

In most markets, Challagalla argued, the Green segment is surprisingly small. Companies that design exclusively for these customers risk limiting both impact and scale. The implication for sustainability strategies is significant: they become scalable only when they appeal to customers who are not actively seeking sustainability.

That is where the concept of “resonance” comes in. Rather than treating sustainability as an add-on, Clean Winners use it to improve traditional sources of customer value. They create products that perform better, cost less to use, last longer, or solve broader customer problems. Sustainability becomes an engine of innovation rather than a feature that customers must be persuaded to value.

Several examples illustrate the point. Challagalla highlighted how companies can create value by helping customers use products more efficiently, extending product lifecycles, or moving into adjacent services that improve customer outcomes while simultaneously reducing environmental impact. During the discussion, he emphasized that durability, reuse, and lifecycle services are not necessarily threats to growth; they can become the foundation for entirely new business models.

What are the practical implications for business leaders? The answer, Challagalla argued, is surprisingly straightforward: never lose sight of the traditional reasons customers buy. Price, quality, reliability, and performance remain fundamental. Sustainability succeeds when it strengthens those benefits, not when it competes with them.

The session concluded with a message that resonates well beyond sustainability: companies create lasting impact not by asking customers to make sacrifices, but by making sustainable choices the superior choice. That, Challagalla argued, is what separates sustainability initiatives from true Clean Winners.