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Several studies have suggested that people might be less likely to engage in proenvironmental behavior subsequent to their prior engagement in proenvironmental behavior. We have conducted a preregistered replication of one such recent study of within-domain licensing in the area of environmental protection. Our replication was extended with an analysis of self-perception as a potential mediator of licensing and environmental attitude as its moderator. The results of our web-based experiment (N = 1,765) show that recollection of past proenvironmental behavior does not diminish subsequent support of a proenvironmental energy policy or proenvironmental intention, and that environmental attitude does not moderate licensing. We only found some evidence of an indirect effect of recollection on subsequent policy support and proenvironmental intention, mediated by self-perception; the pattern of mediation is, however, inconsistent with the licensing theory. We have not replicated the licensing effect observed in the original study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that moral licensing by observers makes observers more lenient in their judgment of subsequent immoral behaviors committed by a person. Environmental behavior is generally perceived as moral behavior, but it is not known whether it can trigger moral licensing by observers. In two pre-registered experimental laboratory studies (N 1 = 198, N 2 = 501), we have tested whether prior engagement in pro-environmental behavior triggers licensing by observers and thus makes observers judge more positively actors' subsequent immoral behavior (Study 1) and their subsequent anti- and pro-environmental behaviors (Study 2). We found that people engaging in pro-environmental behavior were subsequently rated as more pro-environmental and moral, and their subsequent pro- and anti-environmental behaviors (but not outright immoral behavior) were rated as more moral by observers. As these effects also concern subsequent pro-environmental behaviors, they are broader than what licensing theory suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various measures have been proposed and validated to assess environmental motivation and explain peoples' consumer behavior. However, most of the measures are rather complex, sometimes comprising dozens of items. In order to overcome the associated response burden, the goal of our research is to validate a much simpler measure of environmental motivation, namely the measure of Climate Change-Stage of Change. To do so we analyze data from a discrete choice experiment in which drivers decide to purchase a car with different levels of CO2 emissions and we also measure their environmental motivation with three alternative measures. The results show that environmental motivation assessed with Climate Change-Stage of Change explains the choices in the experiment as well as with more complex measures. Our findings have substantial implications for researchers as they may be able to assess climate-relevant motivation – a significant factor for many consumer choices – with a single question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to concerns related to climate change, and an attempt to encourage more sustainable behavior, individuals are often provided with information on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) of consumer items, such as personal vehicles. Currently in the US, information on vehicle efficiency is provided as grams of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) per mile. Previous research presenting CO 2 as a mass and testing willingness-to-pay through Discrete Choice Experiment has found that such information can influence vehicle choice. However, other research has questioned whether how this information is presented might affect choice. That research argues that CO 2 emission information generally lacks contextualization that allows for interpretation. As well, it argues that the type of contextualization may affect choices. That research though did not test willingness-to-pay and the strength of its influence is not clear. In addition, research exists that argues that using pro-social, as opposed to financial, contextualization might be more influential on people’s choices. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to build on these previous findings on how CO 2 emissions are presented to determine whether changing how that information impacts vehicle choice with a Discrete Choice Experiment of vehicle choice analyzed using latent class modeling. No previous study has so robustly studied the influence that different framings might have on vehicle purchase. Five different methods of presenting CO 2 information are tested in this experiment: CO 2 emissions as grams per mile (current method), CO 2 emissions as pounds per year (consistent imperial units), CO 2 emissions as tons per year (yearly contextualization), an annual tax on CO 2 (yearly financial contextualization), and CO 2 as a percentage of the 2025 US EPA reduction target of 26% from 2005 levels (social goal contextualization). Results demonstrate that the current method results in lowest willingness to pay for CO 2 emission reductions, while the social goal contextualization results in the highest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]