Impact, inspiration, or image: On the trade-offs in pro-environmental behaviors

Which goals do people pursue when they decide to adopt environmentally conscious behaviours?

 

To the point:

• The study examines the drivers of environmentally friendly behavior.
• People care the most about making an environmental impact, followed by the motivation to be a role model for others. Building a green image matters too, but ranks the lowest among the three motivations.
• However, the role model function in voluntary carbon offsetting is limited: observers do not respond to other people's offsetting decisions.

Faced with climate change and the loss of biodiversity, many people are trying to make a difference through everyday choices—for example, through voluntary carbon offsetting. But what exactly motivates these actions? Are people driven mainly by the desire to protect the planet, by the hope of inspiring others, or by wanting to be seen as environmentally responsible? And do visible acts of environmental behaviour actually encourage other people to behave in an environmentally friendly manner as well? A new large-scale study by Raisa Sherif and Sven A. Simon of Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance sheds light on these questions. It identifies the key factors behind individual environmental engagement and examines how others react when they see someone acting green.

Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are just two examples of pressing environmental problems. Many people are not relying solely on government environmental policy, but are taking action themselves. But how do people choose between different environmentally friendly behaviors? And do these behaviors differ in their effect on the environment? In their study, Sherif and Simon investigate what motivates people to engage in environmentally friendly behavior. They also examine how effective visible behavior is—in particular, whether other people are inspired by “green role models.”

What drives environmentally friendly behavior?

In the empirical study, a total of 3,325 participants had the choice of either keeping a bonus for participating in the study for themselves, or investing all or part of it to voluntarily offset carbon emissions. They chose between two wetland protection projects that differed in two aspects. Firstly, the scientists varied how effective each initiative was at reducing emissions. Secondly, they varied whether their contribution was visible to other study participants or not. A unique feature of the study design was that some participants saw others’ offsets before making their own decision, while other participants saw it only after their own decision. This allowed the scientists to separate role-model motivations from purely image-related motives.

Sherif and Simon identified three main motivations:

1. Environmental impact was the strongest driver: 85 percent chose the more effective initiative, provided it did not compete with visible behavior.

2.    But the visibility of the behavior and wanting to be a role model also mattered. 75 percent chose the visible initiative in order to be a role model for others.

3.    Building a green image played a role, though to a lesser degree. 65 percent were motivated by visibility to look environmentally conscious.

Importantly, while these factors influenced which project people chose, they did not affect how much they ultimately decided to offset.

Environmental impact versus visibility – a crowding-out effect at the expense of effectiveness

An interesting question is what happens when the different motivations conflict with each other. Climate actions in the field often involve a trade-off. For example, installing rooftop solar panels is highly visible, while investing in a large solar park is typically more effective but not publicly seen.

In their experiment, Sherif and Simon found that in such a conflict between environmental impact and visibility, there was a crowding-out effect at the expense of effectiveness: nearly 36 percent preferred visible behavior over effective behavior in order to gain a green image. The share of visible behavior rose to 42 percent when participants could also serve as role models to others. Most of these participants believed that they could encourage others to make greater compensations, thereby achieving a higher overall environmental impact. Hence, some people prefer visible behavior solely for image reasons, while others want to influence those around them.   

Do green role models actually inspire others?

In an additional variation of the experiment, the scientists examined how people reacted when they saw someone else’s carbon offsetting decision. First, they investigated whether people’s offsetting decision was influenced by the observed offset – in other words, if people followed role models. Second, they asked these observers whether they considered the observed person environmentally friendly based on the observed carbon offsetting. They found that:

• Low offsets made observers judge the person negatively.
• Higher offsets made the person appear clearly environmentally friendly.
• But observers did not change their own offsetting, even when they saw very high offsets.

In short, visible environmental behavior shapes image but does not motivate others to do more. The “role-model effect” in carbon compensation is limited in this case.

What this means for environmental policy

The study offers potential insights for environmental policy. It is encouraging that people pay attention to effectiveness. Providing better information about which actions have the most environmental impact could lead them toward greener choices. Conversely, placing a strong emphasis on the importance of being a role model could backfire, at least when no positive spillovers on others have been documented. Emphasizing visibility could unintentionally steer people away from more effective actions. Ultimately, however, the self-serving motive of achieving a green image does not necessarily have to be negative: for some people, it may be the very reason to behave in an environmentally friendly manner.