Does hedonic framing improve people’s willingness-to-pay for vehicle greenhouse gas emissions?

Abstract

• GHG information framings on vehicle labels affect vehicle choices. • Hedonic, gain, and normative framings of GHG emissions are tested. • Color and emoticons can further increase the influence of GHG information. • Willingness-to-pay (WTP) for GHG emissions varies by climate change stage of change. • WTP for GHG emissions varies by region and social-demographic attributes. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of framing of greenhouse gas emissions information on people’s willingness-to-pay for transportation emissions reductions. Six different framing techniques were developed following goal framing theory and applied to the current Natural Resources Canada vehicle labels for gasoline, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles. Previous work applied gain and norm framing. In this experiment, two hedonic framings (e.g., color, emoticons) are added. Discrete choice experiments with 1985 Canadian drivers were used to determine willingness-to-pay for CO 2 emissions reductions. Of the frames tested, the two hedonic additions of color and emoticons resulted in the greatest increases in willingness-to-pay. Carbon tax framing was the least influential. Various socio-demographic variables and regional influences were found. The results improve upon previous research and will help policy and decision makers improve the likelihood of environmentally friendly choices being made.