The Effects of Money and Testimonials on Persistence of Pro-Environmental Behavior
Date
2020-05
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University of Delaware
Abstract
Identifying strategies that encourage sustained adoption of environmentally beneficial practices over time is critical in order to improve our environment. With the focus of residential landscaping’s impact on nutrient pollution, this study’s goal is to identify ways to encourage urban and suburban residents to sustain environmentally beneficial lawn care behavior over time. Specifically, we test strategies to encourage sustained adoption of native plants which provide numerous environmental benefits, including reducing nutrient pollution. In the first part of the study, we conducted an economic field experiment to test how financial incentives and testimonials impacted participants’ willingness to pay for native plants. Some participants received native plants to plant within the landscapes of their home. The remaining parts of the study examined the behavior of participants who received the native plants. In the second part of the study, participants were asked to confirm that they planted their native plants by texting a photo of the plant in the ground within one week of receiving the plant and again after four months to confirm maintenance and survival of the plants. In the third part of the study, home visits were scheduled with willing participants to observe the condition of the native plants. We find that the testimonial had no statistically significant impact on participants’ behavior throughout the study. Additionally, we find that the $5 incentive for self-reporting had no impact on reporting behavior; however, participants who received the incentive were more willing to allow researchers to visit their homes to confirm the condition of their plants. These results suggest that slight incentives of this nature do not have much of an impact on adoption of an environmentally beneficial behavior that is sustained over time.
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Keywords
economics, money, testimonials, pro-environmental behavior