Meghan Armstrong

Abstract: Prior research has found that environmental anxiety is becoming prominent among teenagers and can increase their green purchasing intentions. To appeal to growing consumer interest, many companies use greenwashing, a deceptive environmental marketing tactic to appeal to interested consumers but keep their product costs low by avoiding actual eco-friendly production. This tricks worried consumers into believing they are purchasing eco-friendly products when they are not. A survey was conducted to see if there was correlation between how teens analyzed and selected between eco-friendly versus greenwashed product advertisements and their measured eco-anxiety levels. The survey showed low eco-anxiety levels had no correlation with product selections, medium eco-anxiety levels had notable correlation with greenwashed selections, and high eco-anxiety levels had notable correlation with eco-friendly selections. The correlation between moderate eco-anxiety and greenwashed selections highlights why greenwashing poses an issue to teens who want to make green purchases. However it is unlikely that the study’s results are highly generalized to a larger population, and the survey should be replicated on a larger scale for better results.

Key Words: Eco-Anxiety, Green Purchasing Intentions, Greenwashing, Eco-friendly, Product Advertisements