Green chic or Greenwashing – do most Singaporeans trust fashion brands’ sustainability claims?

Do most Singaporean consumers trust the environmental claims of major fashion brands – or do most think greenwashing is rampant?

In Part 3 of our three-part series on the Sustainable Fashion Landscape in Singapore, we uncover how often consumers think greenwashing occurs – and how they react to brands who are found to have engaged in such practices.

Do most Singaporeans trust sustainability claims made by fashion brands?

Latest research from YouGov Surveys shows that close to three-fifths (57%) of consumers think that fashion brands are not transparent enough in sharing information about how sustainable/ethical their products and operations are (not very transparent or not at all transparent).

Just a quarter (25%) think fashion brands have been sufficiently forthcoming about the sustainability/ethics of their business, while under a fifth (18%) are presently unsure.

When asked how often they think major fashion brands engage in greenwashing – making deceptive or misleading claims about their environmental sustainability than they can credibly support with valid evidence – over half (57%) of consumers believe this happens at least some of the time, of which 17% think this happens regularly.

On the other hand, about one-fifth (19%) of consumer think greenwashing by major fashion brands rarely happens if at all, while around a quarter (24%) are unsure how frequently this happens at present.

How confident are Singaporeans of spotting greenwashing by fashion brands?

Asked about their confidence of detecting greenwashing, less than a third (28%) of all consumers believe it’s very or somewhat likely that they would be able to do so. Even among consumers who try to actively verify sustainability claims made by fashion labels before purchasing, less than two in five (39%) express confidence.

Conversely, more than half of all consumers (55%) think it’s somewhat or very unlikely that they will be able to spot greenwashing by fashion brands, as do 51% of consumers who actively try to verify sustainability claims.

How do Singaporeans react to fashion brands found to have engaged in greenwashing?

Data from YouGov Surveys also indicates that brands who mislead consumers with their sustainability claims stand to lose support from over two-thirds (67%) of all consumers in Singapore.

Close to a quarter of consumers (23%) say they will completely stop buying from fashion brands that engage in greenwashing, while over two in five (44%) say they will reduce their purchases from such brands.

Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online in January 2024, with a national sample of 1,018 Singapore residents, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, and ethnicity to be representative of all adults in Singapore (18 years or older) and reflect the latest Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) estimates. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced. 

_{Cover photo by PonyWang}