Sustainable Biz #5 - Magazine - Page 7
More than half of UK consumers would
boycott brands over misleading green claims
O
ver half (54%) of consumers say
that they would stop buying
from a company if they were
found to have been misleading in their
sustainability claims, new research from
KPMG in the UK has found.
KPMG UK surveyed over 2,000 UK adults
on their thoughts around green and
sustainable products and technologies to
understand how they influence decisions,
and whether misleading practices, i.e.,
‘greenwashing’, were having an impact.
The findings highlight that greenwashing
is widely recognised by consumers with
almost half (45%) stating they had heard
of the term, with words such as fake, lying,
exaggerating, dubious, and misleading
all commonly being used unprompted to
explain what the term is.
Over three quarters (76%) of respondents
agreed that false or misleading claims
about the sustainability of specific
products was the clearest example of
greenwashing. Other popular examples
of what consumers believed constituted
greenwashing were:
- Exaggerated or unsubstantiated
sustainability credentials (73% of those
surveyed)
- Misleading commitments on net zero
(66%)
- Inconsistent ethical polices (60%)
- Missing sustainability targets (39%)
Almost a fifth (18%) are already voting with
their feet and say they have changed their
mind about a company due to misleading
green claims, this is more pronounced
in the capital where a quarter (25%) of
Londoners say they have done this. What’s
more, over half (54%) state that they would
stop buying products and services from
companies found to have greenwashed,
while 38% would stop investing in them.
Commenting on the findings, Richard
Andrews, Head of ESG at KPMG in the UK
said:
“Companies keen to capitalise on the
growing interest in sustainable products,
should be taking a measured approach;
overselling sustainability credentials risks
losing customers as well as the reputational
damage that will follow.
While this might often be unintentional,
understanding the data behind any
sustainability claims is key, as well as
ensuring that data has also been verified,
if brands are serious about avoiding
any greenwashing risks.” The research
highlights that many consumers care about
the sustainability of items – two thirds
of consumers (67%) say that they try to
seek out green or sustainable options for
some of the products and services they
buy. However, a third (33%) of respondents
said they were sceptical of green labels
and sustainability claims, while a similar
amount (28%) admitted to struggling
to know what products were green or
sustainable due to inconsistent labelling.
When asked which sustainability labels
consumers recognised, for many awareness
remains very low. Established marks like
fairtrade (73%) and Rainforest Alliance
Certified (44%) had the greatest awareness
among respondents, while initiatives like
the carbon reduction label (9%), B Corp
(10%) and better cotton initiative (9%) all
scored low on consumer awareness.The
energy sector (58%) was seen as the most
likely to engage in greenwashing, with the
fashion industry closely following (57%).
However, this is reversed for younger
respondents (18–24-year-olds), who deem
the fashion industry as the most likely to
greenwash (66%) and are slightly more
positive about the energy sector (50%).
Transport and automotive (51%) and
grocery, food and agriculture (47%) were
also seen as at risk of greenwashing by a
large number of consumers.
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