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Consumers often rate a product or service as more sustainable when a company adds a visible “green” feature than when it quietly removes waste—even when the removal saves more resources. A nine-study program published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science calls this the sustainable additive bias.
What the nine studies found
The article “The more, the better? The sustainable additive bias,” by Lemarié, Acuti, Pizzetti and Viglia, was published on 10 September 2026. Its evidence comes from seven online studies, one laboratory study and one field study spanning hospitality, consumer products, conferences, festivals and trade shows. The University of Bath summary, published 14 October 2026, reports that one hotel experiment included 302 guests.
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Across these settings, participants commonly judged an offering as more sustainable when it included an eco-friendly component than when a company removed an unnecessary component. That judgment could favor the addition even where the removal reduced material use, packaging or waste more substantially.
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Why adding something looks more sustainable
Visible effort becomes a shortcut
The central mechanism is perceived environmental effort. A reusable bottle, bamboo cutlery set or plant-based toiletry container is visible evidence that a company appears to have invested in sustainability. Removing an item produces no new object for a customer to notice, photograph or remember, so the effort can remain invisible.
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This is a perception effect, not proof that the added item has a lower life-cycle impact. Manufacturing, transporting and eventually disposing of an additional product can require resources. The studies show that people infer effort from what they can see; they do not establish that every visible addition is environmentally preferable.
The component itself changes the response
The preference for additions is strongest when the added component is recognizably eco-friendly. The pattern reverses for traditional, clearly less-environmentally-friendly components: consumers generally understand that removing those items is the sustainable choice. The problem is that a reduction such as less paper packaging or no single-use toiletries is harder to recognize as an active intervention.
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Familiar sustainability symbols can narrow the gap
Prototypical sustainability cues—features people already associate strongly with environmental responsibility—can reduce the difference between an addition and a removal. Clear explanations also help consumers understand why “less” may represent greater effort than “more.”
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| Question | Visible eco-friendly addition | Waste-cutting removal |
|---|---|---|
| Objective resource and waste impact | May reduce impact when it replaces a disposable or high-impact item; may increase material use when it is surplus. | Often lowers resource use and waste directly when the removed item is unnecessary. |
| What consumers see | A tangible cue that is easy to notice and remember. | Usually an absence, which can be overlooked. |
| Inferred company effort | Often judged as high because the investment is visible. | Can be judged as low unless the reason is explained. |
| When the bias applies | Primarily when the component is framed or recognized as eco-friendly. | Removal of traditional, environmentally harmful components is generally recognized as sustainable. |
| Consumption risk | Can encourage people to acquire items they do not need. | Supports “less but better” consumption and avoids producing a replacement object. |
Examples from hotels, events and products
Hotel amenities
A hotel might add bamboo cutlery or eco-friendly toiletries. Guests can immediately identify those additions as green. Alternatively, the hotel could reduce paper packaging or eliminate single-use toiletries. The second option may prevent more waste, but without an explanation guests may interpret it as cost-cutting or notice nothing at all.
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Conferences, festivals and trade shows
Event organizers often distribute reusable cups, tote bags or water bottles. Those objects create a memorable sustainability signal, yet producing large quantities for attendees who already own similar items can become another form of overconsumption. Removing unnecessary giveaways, printed material or disposable serviceware may have a stronger environmental result while attracting less praise.
Everyday products
For a household product, adding recycled content, a refill accessory or a reusable component can be beneficial when it replaces a specific disposable habit. It is not automatically beneficial when it is an extra item that sits unused. The relevant question is whether the addition displaces a real need over repeated use.
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What the findings mean for buying a reusable bottle
A durable reusable water bottle makes sense when it replaces regularly purchased disposable bottles and is used for a long time. Buying another bottle merely because it carries an environmental message does not follow the study’s logic; it adds production and distribution without removing an existing source of waste. One useful replacement is different from accumulating a cupboard full of promotional bottles.
How companies can make reductions visible without overstating them
- Name what was removed. State the specific packaging, toiletry, printed material or disposable item that no longer enters the supply chain.
- Explain the purpose. Connect the change to avoided material use, waste prevention or resource conservation rather than implying that every absence is automatically green.
- Show the replacement need, if any. If an addition replaces a disposable product, explain the expected repeated use and the conditions under which it delivers value.
- Avoid surplus giveaways. Distribute reusable items only where people are likely to use them, rather than treating quantity as evidence of ambition.
- Use recognizable cues carefully. Familiar sustainability symbols can help consumers understand a reduction, but they should support accurate information rather than substitute for life-cycle evidence.
What policymakers and consumers should take away
The researchers’ practical message is to make reduction and “less but better” approaches more legible. Labels, procurement rules and public communications can identify avoided materials and waste, not just celebrate newly added products. Consumers can apply the same test at checkout: does this item replace something disposable or unnecessary, and will it be used enough to justify making it?
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Diletta Acuti of the University of Bath summarized the tension by noting that an extra product does not become sustainable simply because it carries an eco-friendly label. Her example of accumulating about 20 tote bags illustrates the boundary between a useful reusable alternative and overproduction disguised as sustainability.
Limits of the evidence
The nine studies describe how consumers judge sustainability; they do not provide a universal life-cycle ranking for every bottle, tote bag, toiletry or packaging decision. Environmental outcomes still depend on materials, manufacturing, transport, durability, washing or reuse patterns, and end-of-life treatment. The strongest conclusion is therefore about perception: visible additions can win approval even when a well-explained removal would conserve more resources.
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