Titled “The Negative Footprint Illusion: Why Our 'Green' Choices Might Not Be So Green?”, the study examines the Negative Footprint Illusion (NFI)—a cognitive bias in which the presence of environmentally friendly products or behaviors leads individuals to underestimate the total environmental impact when these are presented alongside high-impact choices.
Published in the Istanbul Gelişim University Journal of Health Sciences, the review highlights that this illusion is not limited to “organic” or “natural” labels; it is also reinforced through product presentation formats, social norms, and affective decision-making processes.
The study emphasizes that these perceptual distortions are not merely the result of information deficits but are also associated with cognitive mechanisms such as averaging bias, compensatory green beliefs, and framing effects. It further reveals that the NFI can be observed across various domains, including food consumption, energy use, and transportation.
The authors stress the importance of adopting more transparent, data-driven, and structured approaches in sustainability communication to help individuals make more accurate assessments of environmental impact.
We sincerely congratulate our researchers for their valuable contribution and hope that this study will shed light on promoting greater awareness around sustainable consumption.
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