Customers Increasingly Trust Eco-Friendly Products: New Research Challenges Old Biases

For years, eco-friendly products—from detergents to tires—were often perceived as less effective than their conventional counterparts, a notion known as the “sustainability liability.” This belief made companies hesitant to invest in sustainable alternatives, fearing consumer rejection due to perceived inferior performance. However, recent research led by Alexander Chernev and colleagues at the Kellogg School of Management reveals a significant shift in consumer attitudes.

Sustainability No Longer Seen as a Performance Drawback

In comprehensive studies involving over 6,600 participants, consumers rated eco-friendly products nearly equal in effectiveness to standard products, across categories including mouthwash, all-purpose cleaners, hand sanitizers, and tires. The only exception was a slight disadvantage for eco-friendly drain cleaners. These findings remained consistent even during the COVID-19 pandemic when functionality was paramount for products like hand sanitizers.

Chernev notes, “The sustainability-liability intuition might not be as strong as one might have thought,” indicating that concerns about eco-friendly products underperforming are largely unfounded.

Words Matter: How Language Reflects Changing Perceptions

Analyzing massive text datasets—Google News up to 2013 and Wikipedia as of 2021—the research team found that terms related to sustainability (like “ecological” and “recycled”) increasingly co-occur with positive attributes such as “efficient” and “reliable.” This linguistic trend aligns with the experimental evidence, suggesting that consumer perceptions of eco-friendly products have grown more favorable over time.

Implications for Businesses and Climate Action

This paradigm shift in consumer perception removes a key market barrier for sustainable products. Companies that hesitated to develop green alternatives due to fears of perceived lower quality can now consider investing more confidently in eco-friendly innovation.

Chernev emphasizes, “Consumer choices ultimately shape corporate actions,” highlighting how evolving buyer attitudes can accelerate sustainable product offerings, a vital step in combating climate change.

Key Study Details:

• Over 6,600 participants surveyed online.
• Evaluated 10 product categories with eco-friendly vs. standard descriptions.
• Negligible performance rating differences.
• Confirmed during heightened pandemic demand for disinfectants.
• Linguistic analysis showed increasing positive association with sustainability terms.

For companies and consumers alike, this research encourages embracing sustainability without compromising trust in product effectiveness.

Source: Chernev, A., Blair, S., Böckenholt, U., & Mishra, H. (2024). “Is Sustainability a Liability? Green Marketing and Consumer Beliefs About Eco-Friendly Products.” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing.

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