Is pro-environmental effort affected by information about others’ behavior?

Abstract

Strengthening pro-environmental behavior, as well as understanding its drivers, is crucial for the fight against global warming. In this study, we (i) shed light on the behavioral determinants of pro-environmental efforts and (ii) explore the potential of information provision (about others’ efforts) to shape pro-environmental behavior. US citizens ($n=782$) in our online experiment are given the opportunity to work on a limited number of real-effort transcription tasks. For each task completed, one tree is planted via a specialized charitable organization. In addition to this incentivized measure of pro-environmental effort, we elicit subjects’ (beliefs about others’) willingness to fight global warming, both in general and w.r.t. specific actions. We find that these beliefs are updated, in particular by subjects that underestimate the actual value, when information about others’ actual willingness to fight global warming is provided. Surprisingly, the observed significant upward shift in beliefs does not translate into higher levels of exerted pro-environmental effort. In addition to our main results, we provide correlational evidence that economic preferences, in particular altruism and positive reciprocity, and universalist values are deeply intertwined with acting pro-environmentally.