Industry surveyBBB National Programs, 2026

Broad green claims can make consumers assume a company uses renewable energy, cuts waste, or has a sustainable supply chain, even if those things aren't mentioned.

Positioning & messaging

Reader Note:: The three practices participants inferred were renewable energy use, waste reduction and a sustainable supply chain, from an ad that mentioned only “eco-friendly paper products”. The report calls this a halo effect and says the difference was significant, but publishes no effect size, so how much more likely the assumption became is not shown. The ads were simulated and the outcome was what participants said they assumed, not anything they acted on.
Evidence:: Experimental
Vendor interest:: Low
Sample:: Survey of 1,794 consumers in the United States shown simulated advertising across six product and service categories.

Good for

Backing budget and pricing decisions in similar situations.

Not for

Situations far from the one tested, without checking again.
The source never says when this data was collected. It could be considerably older than the publication date suggests.
The source never says how this number was measured.
This was measured in one market. It may not hold where you are.
The source says how much it looked at, but not how any of it was chosen.

Personalization in B2B marketing is now standard practice, but leaders stand out in the level and precision of their personalization

Broad green claims make consumers assume companies do more for the environment than the ad actually says.

20%

chose the recommended article when the comment said “I guess this will be a great article” — against 63% for “I believe” and 63% for no qualifier at all