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Correcting Consumer Misperceptions about CO2 Emissions

Author

Listed:
  • Taisuke Imai
  • Davide D. Pace
  • Peter Schwardmann
  • Joël van der Weele
  • Davide Domenico Pace

Abstract

Policy makers put great emphasis on the role of information about carbon emissions in achieving sustainable decisions by consumers. We conduct two studies to understand the optimal targeting of such information and its effects. First, we conduct an incentivized and representative survey among US consumers (N = 1, 022) to investigate awareness of climate impact and willingness to mitigate it. We find a large variation in the perceptions of the carbon emissions of different consumption behaviors, with an overall tendency to underestimate these emissions. We also find a positive but highly concave willingness to mitigate climate impact. We combine elicited misperceptions and willingness to mitigate in a structural model that delivers sharp predictions about where to best target information campaigns. In an experiment with actual consumption decisions (N = 2, 081), we then test for the effect of CO2 information on the demand for beef, a product predicted to be a productive target for information. Correcting misperceptions has no effect on the demand for beef, both in absolute terms and compared to a predictably less productive target of information, i.e. the demand for poultry. Our dataset allows us to hone in on the underlying reason for this null effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Taisuke Imai & Davide D. Pace & Peter Schwardmann & Joël van der Weele & Davide Domenico Pace, 2022. "Correcting Consumer Misperceptions about CO2 Emissions," CESifo Working Paper Series 10138, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10138
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10138.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Roth & Peter Schwardmann & Egon Tripodi, 2024. "Misperceived Effectiveness and the Demand for Psychotherapy," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 500, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    2. Schöller, Vanessa & Ulmer, Clara, 2023. "Can monetized carbon information increase pro-environmental behavior? Experimental evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    3. Fang, Ximeng & Goette, Lorenz & Rockenbach, Bettina & Sutter, Matthias & Tiefenbeck, Verena & Schoeb, Samuel & Staake, Thorsten, 2023. "Complementarities in behavioral interventions: Evidence from a field experiment on resource conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; carbon emissions; information provision; consumer behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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