MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Talking About Sustainability Can Drive Sales: Lessons From a Casino Giant

It’s long been an open, burning question for sustainability advocates: Do consumers care about a company’s environmental and social practices — and do they care enough to give that company more business? The question is easier to answer in some sectors than others: People vote for organic food, for example, with their dollars. But in the service sector, it’s particularly hard.

So I was very interested to see an unexpected company, Caesars Entertainment, attempt to concretely measure consumer interest in its sustainability efforts. As background, Caesars is a large casino and hospitality company, with $5 billion in sales, 55 million square feet of air-conditioned space across dozens of large properties, 63,000 employees, and 115 million visitors each year. (Full disclosure: I advise Caesars executives as a member of its external citizenship and sustainability council.