Essl, Andrea; Steffen, Angela; Stähle, Martin (2021). Choose to reuse! The effect of action-close reminders on pro-environmental behavior. Journal of environmental economics and management, 110, p. 102539. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102539
|
Text
1-s2.0-S0095069621001005-main.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works (CC-BY-NC-ND). Download (2MB) | Preview |
In this study, we examine whether reminders are able to overcome limited attention and effectively promote pro-environmental behavior. We conducted a natural field experiment with customers of a Swiss agricultural association that delivers weekly food boxes with vegetables in plastic bags. Treated customers received weekly reminders highlighting the option to return the plastic bags for reuse. Reminders were provided either as a flyer added to the food box or as a sticker directly attached to one of the plastic bags. We find that the flyer and sticker reminders are similarly effective in reducing plastic waste during the intervention period. Importantly, customers are most likely to return those plastic bags marked with an action-close sticker reminder that raises attention at the time of the desired behavioral change. This study provides insights into the attentional mechanisms underlying reminder effects and highlights action-closeness as an opportunity to effectively implement reminders in practice.
Keywords
Limited attention; Reminders; Nudge; Plastic waste; Natural field experiment
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Organization and Human Resource Management > Organisation 03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute for Accounting and Controlling > Financial Accounting |
UniBE Contributor: |
Essl, Andrea, Steffen, Angela, Stähle, Martin |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 650 Management & public relations |
ISSN: |
0095-0696 |
Publisher: |
Elsevier |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Andrea Probst |
Date Deposited: |
26 Jul 2022 11:55 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 16:22 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102539 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/171513 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/171513 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Edit item |