Don't judge a food by its package: Greenwashing alters health perceptions

Abstract

Past research has shown that “greenwashed” package designs promote the belief that a product is environmentally friendly. The present investigation tested whether greenwashing influences the perceived health benefits of food items. In Study 1 (N = 84), participants generally perceived greenwashed foods to be healthier than did participants evaluating comparable foods in conventional packages. Study 2 (N = 76) additionally compared the impact of a label indicating “organic.” Results showed that for food items generally perceived as healthier, both greenwashed and organic products were rated as significantly healthier than conventionally labeled food products; for foods perceived as less healthy, only the greenwashed items were considered to be healthier, whereas for items generally considered to be unhealthy, package labeling did not exert a significant effect on health perceptions. Implications for the impact of food labeling on perceptions of environmental sustainability and health are discussed.