IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v127y2015icp44-52.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thinking about time as money decreases environmental behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Whillans, Ashley V.
  • Dunn, Elizabeth W.

Abstract

Surprisingly, Americans are no more likely to engage in environmental behavior today than 20years ago. A novel explanation for this pattern may lie in the increased tendency to see time as money. Using large-scale survey data, we show that people are less likely to engage in environmental behavior if they are paid by the hour, a form of compensation that leads people to see their time as money. Using experimental methodology, we show that making the economic value of time salient reduces environmental intentions and behavior. This occurs in part because thinking about the economic value of time creates awareness of the opportunity costs associated with environmental behavior. We mitigate these effects by reframing environmental behavior as an act consistent with self-interest. Together, this research suggests that viewing time as money shapes environmental decisions, potentially shedding light on patterns of environmental behavior across time and around the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Whillans, Ashley V. & Dunn, Elizabeth W., 2015. "Thinking about time as money decreases environmental behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 44-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:127:y:2015:i:c:p:44-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.12.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597814001162
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.12.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2002. "12 Million Salaried Workers are Missing," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(4), pages 649-666, July.
    2. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2009. "A Summary of Trends in American Time Allocation: 1965–2005," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 57-64, August.
    3. Scott I. Rick & Cynthia E. Cryder & George Loewenstein, 2008. "Tightwads and Spendthrifts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(6), pages 767-782, October.
    4. Pfeffer, Jeffrey & DeVoe, Sanford E., 2009. "Economic evaluation: The effect of money and economics on attitudes about volunteering," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 500-508, June.
    5. Shane Frederick & Nathan Novemsky & Jing Wang & Ravi Dhar & Stephen Nowlis, 2009. "Opportunity Cost Neglect," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(4), pages 553-561, December.
    6. Richins, Marsha L & Dawson, Scott, 1992. "A Consumer Values Orientation for Materialism and Its Measurement: Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(3), pages 303-316, December.
    7. DeVoe, Sanford E. & Pfeffer, Jeffrey, 2007. "When time is money: The effect of hourly payment on the evaluation of time," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Wendy Liu & Jennifer Aaker, 2008. "The Happiness of Giving: The Time-Ask Effect," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 543-557, May.
    9. Kirk Brown & Tim Kasser, 2005. "Are Psychological and Ecological Well-being Compatible? The Role of Values, Mindfulness, and Lifestyle," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(2), pages 349-368, November.
    10. Liu, Wendy & Aaker, Jennifer L., 2008. "The Happiness of Giving: The Time-Ask Effect," Research Papers 1998, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Desai, Sreedhari D. & Kouchaki, Maryam, 2015. "Work-report formats and overbilling: How unit-reporting vs. cost-reporting increases accountability and decreases overbilling," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 79-88.
    2. Yanmei Tang & Shuangzhou Chen & Zongjin Yuan, 2020. "The effects of hedonic, gain, and normative motives on sustainable consumption: Multiple mediating evidence from China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 741-750, July.
    3. Yan, Li & Murray, Kyle B., 2023. "The motivational dynamics of arousal and values in promoting sustainable behavior: A cognitive energetics perspective," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 679-699.
    4. Prudence Dato, 2018. "Investment in Energy Efficiency, Adoption of Renewable Energy and Household Behavior: Evidence from OECD Countries," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    5. Teng, Fei & Chen, Zhansheng & Poon, Kai-Tak & Zhang, Denghao & Jiang, Yuwei, 2016. "Money and relationships: When and why thinking about money leads people to approach others," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 58-70.
    6. Goff, Sandra H. & Waring, Timothy M. & Noblet, Caroline L., 2017. "Does Pricing Nature Reduce Monetary Support for Conservation?: Evidence From Donation Behavior in an Online Experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 119-126.
    7. Zhang, Xiadan & Gong, Xiushuang & Jiang, Jing, 2021. "Dump or recycle? Nostalgia and consumer recycling behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 594-603.
    8. Pai, Jieun & DeVoe, Sanford E. & Pfeffer, Jeffrey, 2020. "How income and the economic evaluation of time affect who we socialize with outside of work," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 158-175.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dhandra, Tavleen Kaur, 2019. "Achieving triple dividend through mindfulness: More sustainable consumption, less unsustainable consumption and more life satisfaction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 83-90.
    2. Hong Zhang & Jiawei Zhu & Li Wei & Wenting Zhang, 2021. "A Comparison between the Psychological Benefits of Giving Money vs. Giving Time," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2677-2701, August.
    3. Diogo Hildebrand & Yoshiko Demotta & Sankar Sen & Ana Valenzuela, 2017. "Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Contribution Type," Post-Print hal-01576949, HAL.
    4. Diogo Hildebrand & Yoshiko DeMotta & Sankar Sen & Ana Valenzuela & Laura PeracchioEditor & Gita JoharEditor & Jaideep SenguptaAssociate Editor, 2017. "Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Contribution Type," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 738-758.
    5. Chatterjee, Subimal & Rai, Dipankar & Heath, Timothy B., 2016. "Tradeoff between time and money: The asymmetric consideration of opportunity costs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2560-2566.
    6. Dora E. Bock & Jacqueline K. Eastman & Kevin L. Eastman, 2018. "Encouraging Consumer Charitable Behavior: The Impact of Charitable Motivations, Gratitude, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1213-1228, July.
    7. Diogo Hildebrand & Yoshiko Demotta & Sankar Sen & Ana Valenzuela, 2017. "Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Contribution Type," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01576949, HAL.
    8. Cosimato, Silvia & Faggini, Marisa & Prete, Marzia del, 2021. "The co-creation of value for pursuing a sustainable happiness: The analysis of an Italian prison community," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Yeniaras, Volkan & Akkemik, K. Ali & Yucel, Eray, 2016. "Re-considering the linkage between the antecedents and consequences of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 176-191.
    10. Langan, Ryan & Kumar, Anand, 2019. "Time versus money: The role of perceived effort in consumers' evaluation of corporate giving," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 295-305.
    11. Grant E. Donnelly & Cait Lamberton & Rebecca Walker Reczek & Michael I. Norton, 2017. "Social Recycling Transforms Unwanted Goods into Happiness," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 48-63.
    12. Yeomans, Michael & Al-Ubaydli, Omar, 2018. "How does fundraising affect volunteering? Evidence from a natural field experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 57-72.
    13. Sebastian Lehmann & Martin Reimann, 2012. "The influence of time and money on product evaluations - a neurophysiological analysis," FEMM Working Papers 120011, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    14. Davide C. Orazi & Jiemiao Chen & Eugene Y. Chan, 2021. "To Erect Temples to Virtue: Effects of State Mindfulness on Other-Focused Ethical Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(4), pages 785-798, April.
    15. Teng, Fei & Chen, Zhansheng & Poon, Kai-Tak & Zhang, Denghao & Jiang, Yuwei, 2016. "Money and relationships: When and why thinking about money leads people to approach others," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 58-70.
    16. Yi-Ching Hsieh & Hung-Chang Chiu & Yun-Chia Tang & Wei-Yun Lin, 2018. "Does Raising Value Co-creation Increase All Customers’ Happiness?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1053-1067, November.
    17. Yizhao Jiang, 2022. "The Influence of Payment Method: Do Consumers Pay More with Mobile Payment?," Papers 2210.14631, arXiv.org.
    18. Nepomuceno, Marcelo Vinhal & Laroche, Michel, 2015. "The impact of materialism and anti-consumption lifestyles on personal debt and account balances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 654-664.
    19. Ayelet Gneezy & Alex Imas & Amber Brown & Leif D. Nelson & Michael I. Norton, 2012. "Paying to Be Nice: Consistency and Costly Prosocial Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(1), pages 179-187, January.
    20. Wuryanti Kuncoro & Hanifah Azhar Windyasari, 2021. "Consumer Purchasing Decision Improvement Model through Brand Image, Religiosity, Brand Ambassador and Brand Awareness," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(8), pages 1-42, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:127:y:2015:i:c:p:44-52. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.