The greedy side of green consumers

From the writeup at Climate Feedback, the Nature.com blog:

Mere exposure to green products can make people behave more altruistically, but purchasing those same products can have quite the opposite effect, suggests a new study in press at the journal Psychological Science.

The blog entry didn’t demonstrate this, just that given two randomly assigned groups of people, those exposed to green products and those who purchased them, actually buying the products appeared to provide a “moral offset” on the next task.

Note: I see this in real life (based on people I know, this is not scientifically valid!!!) except among Prius owners, for whom the Prius purchase is part of a set of changes they make in their lives.

What do you see?
Green consumers
Green consumers photo credit

Update: Also, I wonder how accurate my impressions are, even among my very limited sample.

The New York Times, When ‘Green’ Consumers Decide,‘ I’ve Done Enough’, gives more information.

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