Report · Money and Finance

Avoiding guilt is the top reason Americans buy green products

Reading

Three-in-ten Americans (30%) say buying green products helps them avoid feeling guilty about environmental harm, more than cite any other reason for choosing them in a July 2025 Verasight survey of 1,000 U.S. adults.

A quarter (25%) say green purchases make them feel good about themselves, 21% see them as a way to express their values or identity, and 10% point to some other reason, while relatively few (6%) buy green because others around them do. Meanwhile, 28% say they have never bought green products or don't intend to.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

Avoiding guilt is the top reason Americans buy green products.

Which of the following describes your reasons for choosing green products, if you were to do so? (Choose all that apply)

  • Buying green products helps me avoid feeling guilty about environmental harm 30.5%
  • I have never bought, and/or don’t intend to buy, green products 28.1%
  • Buying green products makes me feel good about myself 25.3%
  • Buying green products is a way for me to express my values or identity 21.4%
  • Other (please specify): 10.5%
  • Buying green products is something I do because others around me do 6.1%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.1%

EPOVB Conference Omnibus Survey #2025-059

View source

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-07-14 → 2025-07-24
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.1%
Module
EPOVB Conference Omnibus Survey #2025-059

Source

Citation

EPOVB Conference Omnibus Survey #2025-059, fielded July 14-24, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.1%.

https://verasight-epovb.tiiny.co#reasons-for-choosing-environmentally-friendly-products

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.