Correcting Consumer Misperceptions about CO2 Emissions

Taisuke Imai, Davide D. Pace, Peter Schwardmann and Joël J. van der Weele

Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2026, vol. 13, issue 5, 1399 - 1435

Abstract: Policymakers frequently champion information provision about carbon impact on the premise that consumers are willing to mitigate their emissions but are poorly informed about how to do so. We empirically test this argument and reject it. We collect an extensive new dataset and find both large misperceptions of the carbon impact of different consumption behaviors and clear preferences for mitigation. Yet, in two separate experiments, we show that correcting beliefs has no effect on consumption in large representative samples. Our null results are well powered and informative, as we target information for maximal impact. These results call into question the potential of correcting carbon footprint misperceptions as a tool to fight climate change.

Date: 2026
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