Sustainability Messages in Residential Property Advertising

Abstract

Companies and brands are increasingly addressing issues of sustainability in their marketing and advertising as they respond to consumers’ evolving interests and preferences. While studies have examined the presence of sustainability messages in advertising in general, and in a number of discrete industries, the use of these messages in residential property advertising is critically understudied. Some homebuyers, however, appear interested in these messages, as evidence suggests they ascribe value to certain sustainability claims and features. An analysis of the textual and visual content of 100 property adverts for city centre flats, listed for sale in two English cities in early 2022, afforded detailed insights into the positioning of sustainability in residential real estate advertising. Findings from this analysis indicate that explicit sustainability messages are rare. Property and locational features related to environmental sustainability are mentioned more frequently than those related to social sustainability. Features related to economic sustainability are discussed in adverts targeted at property investors. Sparse explicit discussion of sustainability in adverts might imply that there is little general concern for this issue, either amongst those selling property and/or amongst those buying property. An implication of this might be that pro-sustainability measures targeted at the housing sector may encounter a muted response from actors within the sector, potentially frustrating the implementation of those measures. For homebuyers who are interested in a property’s sustainability, the findings suggest that they are poorly served by current practices in property advertising. Estate agents and developers wishing to appeal to these sustainability-minded consumers might do well to incorporate greater commentary on a property’s sustainability features in their advertising materials.