Only a small minority of the public believes announcements from a company about how it is reducing its impact on climate change, according to a new study.

BrandZ, the WPP brand and corporate reputation study carried out by Millward Brown, found that just 7%believe company claims of action on climate change.

At the same time, the research reveals that on average about 20% of sales are influenced by corporate reputation and that about 10% of that corporate influence is directly related to perceived environmental behaviour.

“We have looked at the performance of the Top 100 Most Valuable Brands and compared them to all brands, and it is striking to see that the most successful companies are significantly better on all aspects of corporate reputation and particularly on environmental performance,” said Peter Walshe, senior global director at Millward Brown. “This suggests that brands and companies should seriously strive to address issues like carbon emissions if they want to be amongst the best and maintain and grow sales.”

The BrandZ research was compounded by a new consumer survey from the Carbon Trust, which highlighted the considerable commercial and reputational opportunities for brands that provide evidence that they are reducing their environmental impacts.

The survey revealed that 61% of consumer would be more likely to buy from a company if it has a good reputation for reducing its impact on climate change while 56% are more loyal to brands that can show, at a glance, evidence of action.

Harry Morrison, general manager of the Carbon Trust Standard, said: “There’s a clear expectation for firms to do their bit to reduce their environmental impacts. The window of opportunity to enhance reputation by taking action is shrinking; as either competitors seize the leadership position, or through the onset of environmental compliance.”