Beyond the Attitude–Behavior Gap: A Latent-Class Segmentation of European Environmental Engagement for Sustainable Consumption, 2024

Sustainable-consumption policy in the European Union currently treats the European public as a relatively homogeneous target audience. This study contributes a reproducible instrument for measuring and monitoring sustainable consumption under the European Green Deal. Whether this assumption holds empirically in 2024 is examined using Special Eurobarometer 550 (N = 26,332, EU27, March–April 2024). Background: the relationship between environmental concern, observed behavior, and policy support remains contested in the post-pandemic, post-inflation, post-Green-Deal context, and the role of chemical-risk literacy as a possible additional segmentation dimension has not been examined. Methods: a weighted latent class analysis (LCA) on a 16-indicator hybrid battery covering five conceptual domains (concern, observed behavior, willingness-to-pay, policy support, chemical-risk literacy), followed by weighted multinomial logistic regression with 27 country fixed effects. Robustness checks include alternative class numbers (K = 4, K = 6) and stratified estimation across country subsamples. Results: the EU27 population in 2024 is most consistently described by a five-class solution comprising Concerned Policy Supporters (47.1%), Comprehensive Eco-Citizens (20.8%), Chemically Concerned Pragmatists (14.2%), Disengaged citizens (12.9%), and Behavioral-Only Adopters (4.9%). Education and political left-right placement are associated with class membership more strongly than household economic difficulty. Chemical-risk literacy varies substantially across classes. Conclusions: the descriptive heterogeneity of the European population in 2024 is consistent with concern-behavior gaps documented in the prior literature and motivates segment-aware sustainability communication while providing a baseline against which the European Union can measure and monitor progress in sustainable consumption, while leaving causal questions about policy effectiveness for future longitudinal designs.