The power of active choice: Field experimental evidence on repeated contribution decisions to a carbon offsetting program

Martin Kesternich, Daniel Römer and Florens Flues

European Economic Review, 2019, vol. 114, issue C, 76-91

Abstract: We investigate how the introduction of an Active Choice requirement influences subject proclivity to contribute to an impure public good in one time and repeated interactions. In a large-scale field experiment, we analyze more than 10000 contribution decisions to a carbon offsetting program in the context of online ticket sales for long-distance buses. We find that the simple requirement of an Active Choice – which circumvents the ethical issues posed by an opt-out design – not only increases participation rates by almost 50% in a first booking decision, but also boosts participation in subsequent bookings. At the same time, the introduction of Active Choice does not induce a substantial decline in returning customer rates. Our data support the theoretical assumption that anticipated guilt is a causal mechanism by which Active Choice induces higher contribution rates, as the opportunity for “choice avoidance” that is inherent to opt-in settings may help subjects circumvent feelings of guilt that would otherwise result from explicit free-riding.

Keywords: Voluntary carbon offsets; Randomized field experiment; Default setting; Choice architecture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D03 H41 L92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Working Paper: The power of active choice: Field experimental evidence on repeated contribution decisions to a carbon offsetting program (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:114:y:2019:i:c:p:76-91

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2019.02.001

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