Can indifference make the world greener?
We conducted a natural field experiment to evaluate two resource conservation programs. One intervention consisted of a moral appeal message asking university employees to cut back on printing in general, and to use double-sided printing whenever possible. The other intervention tested whether peopl...
| Published in: | Journal of Environmental Economics & Management Vol. 76; pp. 1 - 14 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
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Academic Press Inc.
Mar2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=114628391&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 114628391 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00950696 EEM jtl: Journal of Environmental Economics & Management issn: 00950696 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2016 vid: 76 pid: 735 pub: Academic Press Inc. artinfo: ui: 114628391 10.1016/j.jeem.2015.11.004 ppf: 1 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: Can indifference make the world greener? aug: au: Egebark, Johan Ekström, Mathias affil: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway su: Pollution Conservation of natural resources Environmental protection Natural resources Computer printers sug: subj: Pollution Conservation of natural resources Environmental protection Natural resources Administration of Conservation Programs Computer Terminal and Other Computer Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing Computer, computer peripheral and pre-packaged software merchant wholesalers Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing Computer printers keyword: C93 D03 Default option Moral appeal Natural field experiment Q50 Resource conservation C93 D03 Default option Moral appeal Natural field experiment Q50 Resource conservation ab: We conducted a natural field experiment to evaluate two resource conservation programs. One intervention consisted of a moral appeal message asking university employees to cut back on printing in general, and to use double-sided printing whenever possible. The other intervention tested whether people׳s tendency to stick with pre-set alternatives is applicable to resource use: at random points in time we changed the default setting on the university printers, from single-sided to double-sided printing. Whereas the moral appeal had no impact, the default change cut paper use by 15 percent. Further analysis adds two important insights. First, we show that defaults influence behavior also in the longer run. Second, we present results indicating that resource efficient defaults have the advantage of avoiding unintended behavioral responses. Overall, our findings send a clear message to anyone concerned about resource conservation: there are potentially large gains to be made from small interventions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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