Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk
Addressing climate change requires substantial shifts in individual behavior. Providing information about climate externalities through carbon labels is a promising tool to foster sustainable choices when individuals weigh environmental against personal outcomes. We study the impact of carbon labels...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Judgment and Decision Making |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297524000421/type/journal_article |
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| author | Zahra Rahmani Azad Doron Cohen Ulf J. J. Hahnel |
| author_facet | Zahra Rahmani Azad Doron Cohen Ulf J. J. Hahnel |
| author_sort | Zahra Rahmani Azad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Addressing climate change requires substantial shifts in individual behavior. Providing information about climate externalities through carbon labels is a promising tool to foster sustainable choices when individuals weigh environmental against personal outcomes. We study the impact of carbon labels over time and their underlying mechanisms in a repeated risky choice task. We ran two preregistered experiments (US samples, N = 1,268) with realized carbon and monetary payoffs, examining how choice is influenced by the timing of carbon information (One-off vs. Recurring) and participants’ political preference (i.e., Democrat or Republican voters). In Study 1, we find that both Democrats and Republicans reduce carbon emissions when carbon labels were provided. Further, recurring labels significantly reduced carbon choices compared to one-off labels. Study 2 replicated the results in a within-participant design and showed that the impact of recurring carbon labels on sustainable choices cannot be explained by the strength of emission recall. This suggests that recurring labels amplify the importance given to the climate attribute in the decision process, operating via attentional rather than informational mechanisms. Our results emphasize the importance of providing climate externality information at time of use to raise awareness about climate costs and bolster sustainable preferences across population segments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-eb1e29a1151845ceb5db643147a59d02 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1930-2975 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Judgment and Decision Making |
| spelling | doaj-art-eb1e29a1151845ceb5db643147a59d022025-01-31T07:52:53ZengCambridge University PressJudgment and Decision Making1930-29752025-01-012010.1017/jdm.2024.42Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under riskZahra Rahmani Azad0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1072-972XDoron Cohen1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9888-1560Ulf J. J. Hahnel2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0595-5899Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandFaculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USFaculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandAddressing climate change requires substantial shifts in individual behavior. Providing information about climate externalities through carbon labels is a promising tool to foster sustainable choices when individuals weigh environmental against personal outcomes. We study the impact of carbon labels over time and their underlying mechanisms in a repeated risky choice task. We ran two preregistered experiments (US samples, N = 1,268) with realized carbon and monetary payoffs, examining how choice is influenced by the timing of carbon information (One-off vs. Recurring) and participants’ political preference (i.e., Democrat or Republican voters). In Study 1, we find that both Democrats and Republicans reduce carbon emissions when carbon labels were provided. Further, recurring labels significantly reduced carbon choices compared to one-off labels. Study 2 replicated the results in a within-participant design and showed that the impact of recurring carbon labels on sustainable choices cannot be explained by the strength of emission recall. This suggests that recurring labels amplify the importance given to the climate attribute in the decision process, operating via attentional rather than informational mechanisms. Our results emphasize the importance of providing climate externality information at time of use to raise awareness about climate costs and bolster sustainable preferences across population segments.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297524000421/type/journal_articlesustainable behaviorcarbon labelinginformation timingpolitical orientationdecisions from experienceclimate externalitiesattentional mechanisms |
| spellingShingle | Zahra Rahmani Azad Doron Cohen Ulf J. J. Hahnel Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk Judgment and Decision Making sustainable behavior carbon labeling information timing political orientation decisions from experience climate externalities attentional mechanisms |
| title | Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk |
| title_full | Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk |
| title_fullStr | Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk |
| title_short | Recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk |
| title_sort | recurrent carbon labels induce bipartisan effects in environmental choices under risk |
| topic | sustainable behavior carbon labeling information timing political orientation decisions from experience climate externalities attentional mechanisms |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1930297524000421/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zahrarahmaniazad recurrentcarbonlabelsinducebipartisaneffectsinenvironmentalchoicesunderrisk AT doroncohen recurrentcarbonlabelsinducebipartisaneffectsinenvironmentalchoicesunderrisk AT ulfjjhahnel recurrentcarbonlabelsinducebipartisaneffectsinenvironmentalchoicesunderrisk |