How lack of knowledge on emissions and psychological biases deter consumers from taking effective action to mitigate climate change

Karen Page Winterich (), Rebecca Walker Reczek () and Tamar Makov ()
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Karen Page Winterich: Pennsylvania State University
Rebecca Walker Reczek: The Ohio State University
Tamar Makov: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2024, vol. 52, issue 5, No 12, 1475-1494

Abstract: Abstract In this research, we document knowledge gaps between consumers and experts about what consumer actions most effectively help mitigate climate change. We then identify three sources for lack of consumer knowledge on greenhouse gas emissions associated with consumption: carbon emissions labeling, awareness of indirect versus direct emissions, and orders of magnitude differences in carbon intensity across behaviors. We further propose that this lack of knowledge and several cognitive and motivational biases lead consumers away from effective climate actions, including the tendency to focus on first- versus second-order effects of “green” behaviors, motivated reasoning that easier, more accessible actions are more impactful, and a focus on individual behavior versus systemic changes. We close with a research agenda designed to address the lack of knowledge and biases we identify, while acknowledging that shifting marketers and consumers to focus on systemic changes may be both most challenging and most impactful.

Keywords: Climate change; Responsibilization; Recycling; Sustainability; Emissions; Carbon footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11747-023-00981-z

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