Do People Respond to the Climate Impact of their Behavior? The Effect of Carbon Footprint Information on Grocery Purchases

Toke R. Fosgaard (), Alice Pizzo () and Sally Sadoff
Additional contact information
Toke R. Fosgaard: University of Copenhagen
Alice Pizzo: Copenhagen Business School
Sally Sadoff: University of California San Diego

Environmental & Resource Economics, 2024, vol. 87, issue 7, No 7, 1847-1886

Abstract: Abstract Food production is a primary contributor to climate change, and one way to mitigate its effect is through consumption choices. Finding the most effective way to achieve emissions reduction via consumers behavioral change has recently raised policy-makers' interest but experimental evidence about this is still scarce. In this study, we examine the impact of individualized information about greenhouse gas emissions on grocery purchases. Using a randomized field experiment, we compare the effects of individualized information on the carbon footprint of grocery purchases to individualized information on grocery spending provided through a smartphone app. Compared to the spending information, the carbon footprint information decreases emissions from groceries by 27% in the first month of treatment, with 45% reductions in emissions from beef, the highest emissions food group. Treatment effects fade in the longer run along with app engagement but persist among those engaged with the app. Our results suggest that the provision of emissions information, in particular when paired with sufficient engagement, is a promising avenue for policies to turn food consumption greener.

Keywords: Field Experiment; Pro-environmental Behavior; Carbon Footprint; Food Consumption; Consumer Behavior; Sustainable Consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D11 D91 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10640-024-00873-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:enreec:v:87:y:2024:i:7:d:10.1007_s10640-024-00873-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... al/journal/10640/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10640-024-00873-y

Access Statistics for this article

Environmental & Resource Economics is currently edited by Ian J. Bateman

More articles in Environmental & Resource Economics from Springer, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().