Buying green makes you a bigger jerk: study

In recent decades, consumer anxiety over what we’re doing to ourselves, our fellow humans, and the planet has grown ever more acute. Not surprisingly, in the same period, certification schemes that promise zero-impact and even beneficent consumption — Fair Trade, eco-friendly, and organic — have enjoyed remarkable growth. We’ve talked some about the complex realities of this burgeoning green consumerism, including dark sides, chicanery and downright lying, but what about the green consumer him- or herself? How’s s/he faring?

A new study in Psychological Science asks a version of this question. Do green products make us, the green consumers, better people?

The answer is — no. In fact, scientists find that while exposure to green labels, like walking down the Fair Trade chocolate aisle, does seem to strengthen your ethical musculature, actually purchasing a bag of Fair Trade cocoa may turn you into a lying, cheating misanthrope with a penchant for stealing.

Some portion of the mind, it seems, keeps a tally of good deeds done. And with one good deed accounted for, the mind subsequently (and unconsciously) relaxes its vigilance of bad behavior. Goodbye, Dr. Jekyll; Hello, Mr. Hyde.

The study included three phases. In the first phase, participants simply rated others who bought either green or regular products. The result: the more green stuff a consumer bought, the nicer and more altruistic others thought s/he was. Buying green improves one’s standing in observers’ eyes. So far so good.

In the second phase, the researchers set up a green store with mostly green products, and a regular store with mostly regular products. Participants were exposed to both stores. In a subsequent money sharing game, those exposed to the green store tended to share more of their money. Mere exposure to green labels seemed to “activate” goodness, the authors surmise, priming innate concepts of social responsibility and ethical conduct. And these concepts, once primed, guided behavior accordingly.

This phenomenon is, of course, well known to advertisers. After all, it’s their job to “prime” whatever part of you induces you to buy today’s flavor. Other studies have shown just how strong this priming can be. One 2008 study found that simply looking at the Apple logo, for example, actually made people more creative. Mac really does make you “think different.”

But in the present study, the authors found that this priming only extended so far. Unlike those who merely saw eco-friendly products, people who actually bought them became more selfish and venal. In games played after their green purchase, they shared less than either the purchasers of regular products or the people with mere exposure to green products. Worse, when given the chance, green consumers tended to cheat and steal more often in subsequent games as well.

Psychologists call this effect “licensing,” and it’s well known. In one study, when participants were reminded of how humanitarian they were, they subsequently gave less to charity. Yet another study found that people who did something gender-egalitarian then went on to engage in more gender-discriminatory acts. Here’s the thinking: Exposure to anything that primes your “moral self” leads you to act more ethically. But sometimes, when it’s over-primed — like spending extra money to buy the fair trade chocolate — you become less moral. That’s because, the authors say, you’ve established your “moral credential.” Rather like buying an indulgence from the Church, you’ve paid your dues and earned a “license” for more “deviating behavior.”

Posted by Moises Velasquez-Manoff

Graphic from Headlight Vision