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Nudging pro-environmental behavior: evidence and opportunities

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Byerly, Hilary 
Ferraro, Paul J 
Wagner, Courtney Hammond 
Palchak, Elizabeth 

Abstract

jats:pHuman behavior is responsible for many of our greatest environmental challenges. The accumulated effects of many individual and household decisions have major negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem health. Human behavioral science blends psychology and economics to understand how people respond to the context in which they make decisions (eg who presents the information and how it is framed). Behavioral insights have informed new strategies to improve personal health and financial choices. However, less is known about whether and how these insights can encourage choices that are better for the environment. We review 160 experimental interventions that attempt to alter behavior in six domains in which decisions have major environmental impacts: family planning, land management, meat consumption, transportation choices, waste production, and water use. The evidence suggests that social influence and simple adjustments to decision settings can influence pro‐environmental decisions. We identify four important gaps in the evidence that provide opportunities for future research. To address these gaps, we encourage collaborations between researchers and practitioners that look at the effects of embedding tests of behavior‐change interventions within environmental programs.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics, Behavioral and Social Science, 15 Life on Land

Journal Title

FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1540-9295
1540-9309

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Wiley
Sponsorship
We thank the Gund Institute for Environment for their Collaboration Grant to BF which made this work possible. Thanks to the University of Vermont’s James Marsh Professor-at-Large and Burack Distinguished Lecture Series for supporting SP and AB respectively.