When a sustainability initiative underperforms, brands often interpret the results as evidence that sustainability isn't a driver of consumer demand.

Pauline Kabitsis of behavioral design consultancy Irrational Labs challenges that interpretation through a corporate cafeteria project where employees asked for healthier options, but when the company provided them, few people took them. What appeared to be a contradiction between stated preferences and behavior became a lesson in how context influences decisions.

In this conversation from the 2026 Sustainable Fashion Forum, founder Brittany Sierra speaks with Kabitsis about what brands miss when they take consumer preferences at face value. From the cafeteria's uneaten healthy options to the unexpected role of effort in a cake mix's appeal, the conversation challenges familiar assumptions about what gets people to act, with implications for how fashion brands design, market and evaluate their sustainability initiatives.

This conversation premiered at the 2026 Sustainable Fashion Forum, a two-day digital conference exploring consumer behavior, market demand and the internal buy-in needed to turn sustainability into business value.