Ethical shoppers ‘more likely to cheat and steal’

The boom in organic and environmentally friendly goods is turning modern consumers into self-obsessed hypocrites who use their ethical purchases to justify unethical and amoral behaviour, according to new research.

The notion that people are motivated by concerns about Mother Earth appears to have been consigned to the dustbin of history along with the hippy ideals of the 1960s and 1970s. In the modern world people are narcissistic and want payback - and believe that if they earn moral brownie points in the supermarket or by driving a hybrid car they can cash them in elsewhere.

Bizarrely the research, published in the journal Psychological Science, suggests that while being physically surrounded by ethical goods makes people 'better', actually buying them can have the opposite effect.

The report, by Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong of the University of Toronto, states: "In line with the halo associated with green consumerism, people act more altruistically after mere exposure to green than conventional products. However, people act less altruistically and are more likely to cheat and steal after purchasing green products as opposed to conventional products."

The news will be greeted with glee by opponents of theories like climate change who resent what they see as the self-righteous and overweening influence of 'woolly liberal' thinking on their lives.

Mazar and Zhong write: "Purchasing green products may produce the counterintuitive effect of licensing asocial and unethical behaviors.

"Because purchasing green products affirms individuals' values of social responsibility and ethical consciousness, we predict that purchasing green products will establish moral credentials, ironically licensing selfish and morally questionable behavior."

The scenario could be described as a moral equivalent to carbon offsetting - the practice of donating to projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses immediately before embarking on an activity that generates large carbon emissions.

There are plenty of celebrities whose actions appear to back up the theory. Al Gore famously ran up massive electricity bills at his home, while at the same time calling on people to use less energy.

Even respected green celebs are not immune. Zac Goldsmith has impeccable environmental credentials and was editor of the Ecologist until 2007, but late last year it emerged that the would-be Tory MP has dodged tax in the UK by taking up non-dom tax status. Similarly, U2 frontman Bono relocated the band's business to the Netherlands to avoid paying higher taxes in Ireland.

Meanwhile the father of green campaigners, Sting, was once criticised for hiring a private jet for a flight where he was the only passenger. And his band The Police were labelled the dirtiest in the world because of the amount of pollution created during their reunion tour in 2007-8. ·