More than three-quarters of Americans (78%) aren’t sure what greenwashing is, and 86% aren’t sure what “ESG” stands for. Those are some of the key findings in a new report from Morning Consult, a business intelligence company, on what sustainability means to consumers.

“Sustainability knowledge doesn’t equal understanding,” according to the study. “U.S. adults are broadly familiar with common sustainability concepts like ‘energy conservation’ and ‘renewable resources,’ but a gap exists between familiarity and being able to demonstrate understanding of certain topics, such as identifying a renewable resource or knowing what ESG stands for.”

In an open-ended analysis, many respondents misidentified the “S” in ESG as “sustainability,” according to Morning Consult. In reality, ESG stands for “environmental, social and governance,” and is a framework that originated in the investing world to measure an organization’s efforts to improve things like sustainability and social responsibility.

Though eight in 10 U.S. adults said they were familiar with the term “renewable resources,” only 58% could accurately identify a renewable resource from a list of renewable and nonrenewable ones, according to the study.

Who’s Responsible for Sustainability? (Source: Morning Consult)

Another significant finding: Consumers are holding institutions and corporations more accountable for their role in climate change. “More of the public today understands the threat that climate change poses for billions of people,” according to Morning Consult’s report. “While many are taking small, individual actions to help to protect the environment, attention is increasingly directed toward corporations and consumer-facing brands.”

The majority of people (57%) believe their individual sustainability efforts have a minor positive impact, while the remaining respondents are more likely to say their efforts have no impact than to say they have a major impact. That means, Morning Consult says, that people are looking for broader effort from institutions to have a larger positive impact on the environment.

Indeed, 36% of U.S. adults believe brands have more responsibility for sustainability than individuals, with another 41% expressing the belief that brands and consumers share equal responsibility.

The bottom line, according to Morning Consult, is that though there’s currently a gap between consumers’ awareness and knowledge of sustainability, that gap will get smaller as time goes on and news and education about climate change and its effects proliferate. “As a result, people will expect even more when it comes to everyday brands,” the intelligence firm posits. “Brands without a public-facing sustainability plan aimed at reducing their carbon footprint or energy consumption or cutting back on excessive waste will likely face increased criticism from their customer base.”

Read the full sustainability report from Morning Consult here.

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