Self-Reported Familiarity with ESG and Selected Sustainable Consumer Practices Among Students: Preliminary Evidence on the Familiarity-Behaviour Gap

This preliminary study uses a quantitative, cross-sectional, and exploratory design to examine the association between self-reported familiarity with ESG and six selected self-reported sustainable consumer practices among students, focusing on the prevalence and profiles of the familiarity-behaviour gap. Data were collected using computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) from a non-probability convenience sample of 528 students enrolled at all higher education institutions operating in the Lubuskie Voivodeship, Poland. Self-reported familiarity with ESG was assessed with a single four-point item, while an author-developed six-item composite measure focused mainly on product selection and purchasing (Cronbach’s α = 0.837). Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, non-parametric analyses, and supplementary correspondence analysis were applied. The analyses did not provide statistically significant evidence of an association between self-reported familiarity with ESG and the composite practice score (χ2(2) = 5.386, p = 0.068, V = 0.101); complementary analyses yielded the same substantive conclusion. The familiarity-behaviour gap—good or very good self-reported familiarity with ESG without a high composite practice score—occurred in 18.8% of the total sample and 58.9% of the higher-familiarity subgroup. Conversely, 26.1% obtained a high composite practice score despite reporting no or poor self-reported familiarity with ESG. Employment status was the only socio-demographic characteristic that remained significantly associated with the prevalence of the gap after the Benjamini–Hochberg correction for multiple testing. These findings indicate that familiarity with ESG terminology is not consistently aligned with the selected self-reported practices. They should be interpreted cautiously, within the regional student sample and the limits of the measurement instruments used.