ePO 60 – Greenwashing literacy and perception among Portuguese consumers: insights from an educational intervention

INTRODUCTION

Greenwashing, the dissemination of misleading or unsubstantiated environmental claims, undermines efforts to promote planetary health by confusing consumers and delaying genuine sustainability transitions. Understanding consumers’ literacy and perceptions of greenwashing is essential to support more transparent communication and sustainable food choices.

METHODS

A questionnaire created on Google Forms was disseminated via WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. It included questions on greenwashing literacy, a brief guide on identifying greenwashing, perception of potential case on a specific food product before and after guide exposure, and sociodemographic data. Statistical analysis was conducted in IBM SPSS Statistics version 27, assuming a significance level of 95%.

RESULTS

The questionnaire was completed by 184 participants, included mainly women (70.1%) and participants with higher education (83.1%); 25.5% were aged 18–24 years and 19.0% aged 25–30 years. Half (50.0%), had never heard of greenwashing and 38.0% misdefined it, with younger individuals showing greater familiarity (χ² = 17.09, p = 0.009). The importance of the environmental impact of food products was rated ≥4 on a 5-point scale by 76.1% of respondents, especially among older respondents (χ² = 71.39, p < 0.001, Cramér’s V = 0.31). On a 5-point scale, the guide was rated ≥4 by 66.9% and 69.0% for increasing knowledge and greenwashing identification ability, respectively. Although a slight increase in greenwashing identification after guide exposure, it was not statistically significant (p = 0.475).

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

Despite high levels of concern for food systems’ sustainability, awareness of greenwashing is low among Portuguese consumers, even among those with higher education, suggesting the need to invest in environmental literacy. Although the educational intervention was brief and delivered only once, the results suggest that longer and deeper interventions might present greater results.