A study by the Instituto Superior Miguel Torga (ISMT) in Coimbra revealed that the majority of Portuguese consumers stop buying products from a brand when they discover that it is lying about its sustainable practices.
The brands most identified by respondents, which fit the ‘greenwashing’ model, include Volkswagen, cited by about 40% of the sample, followed by EDP and Galp.
The findings also demonstrate a pattern of breach of trust, rejection of the brand, and, often, definitive abandonment.
“People are not only disappointed – they are reacting firmly to a type of deception that they consider particularly serious: the abusive use of environmental causes for commercial purposes,” said professor and researcher at ISMT, CĂ©lia Santos, who coordinated the study in co-authorship with Arnaldo Coelho, from the University of Coimbra, and Alzira Marques, from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.
For the professor, “it is a rational rupture, in which consumers feel that they have been manipulated and respond by distancing themselves from the brand permanently.
The research, conducted through a nationwide survey, identified two main mechanisms that explain the withdrawal: “green confusion” (the difficulty in distinguishing whether a product is truly sustainable or merely promoted as such) and the emergence of extreme negative emotions, known as “brand hatred.”
“When the consumer realizes that he cannot trust the information given to him, he enters a state of alert. They become more suspicious, become frustrated, and feel they are losing their sense of control over their purchasing decisions,” she explained.
In this context, the reaction is to continue ethical consumption, where the customer “tries to regain control by choosing brands that they consider more transparent, even if it means changing habits or paying more.”
“The negative emotions that are generated, such as indignation or contempt, do not disappear with a new campaign or the repositioning of the brand. On the contrary, they are often consolidated as forms of lasting rejection,” noted the researcher.
While ethical consumerism is on the rise, for many people, environmental concerns rank lower on their list of priorities. Basic needs like food, paying bills, and simply getting by often take precedence over whether a brand is fully ethical.
