ABSTRACT

To actually buy environmentally friendly products, consumers need to recognize legitimate sustainable claims. This is a challenge considering the dissemination of misinformation in advertising promoting sustainable products typically referred to as greenwashing. In an experimental design (N = 302) we investigated two different advertising literacy measures that aim at increasing literacy about greenwashing: an informative text (text condition), or an informative text plus a quiz game (quiz condition). We compared these two literacy measures to a control group that received no literacy intervention. Afterwards we measured participants’ greenwashing literacy and their confidence in being able to perceive greenwashing strategies. Both advertising literacy measures significantly increased participants’ greenwashing literacy. Yet, participants’ confidence in recognizing greenwashing was decreased in the quiz condition. Still, our study points to quiz-based literacy interventions as the most promising measure as it increases consumers’ formal knowledge, but also might keep them humble and therefore critical in the long run.

摘要

要真正购买环保产品，消费者需要承认合法的可持续声明。考虑到在宣传可持续产品的广告中传播错误信息（通常被称为漂绿），这是一个挑战。在实验设计 ( N = 302）我们调查了两种不同的广告素养措施，旨在提高有关漂绿的素养：信息性文本（文本条件），或信息性文本加上测验游戏（测验条件）。我们将这两种识字措施与未接受识字干预的对照组进行了比较。之后，我们测量了参与者的漂绿素养以及他们对能够感知漂绿策略的信心。两种广告素养措施都显着提高了参与者的漂绿素养。然而，在测验条件下，参与者识别漂绿的信心下降。尽管如此，我们的研究指出，基于测验的识字干预是最有希望的措施，因为它可以增加消费者的正式知识，但也可能使他们保持谦虚，因此从长远来看至关重要。