Does recalling energy efficiency measures reduce subsequent climate-friendly behavior? An experimental study of moral licensing rebound effects

Abstract

Energy efficiency measures are a key element in the fight against climate change. However, their effectiveness is threatened by so-called rebound effects—behavioral changes that lead to increased use and thus to lower-than-expected absolute savings. The moral licensing bias might cause rebound effects on the individual level: When people implement energy efficiency measures, they may feel that they have done something good for the climate and thus license themselves to less climate-friendly behavior later on. We test this prediction with three pre-registered experiments (total n = 2315). While our manipulated efficiency does increase the feeling of having done something good for the climate, no negative effects emerge on subsequent climate-friendly behavior—contrary to the predictions derived from the moral licensing literature. Climate-friendly behavior is thus not hampered by prior energy efficiency behavior; rather, demographics (women and older people act in a more climate-friendly manner) and environmental attitude determine it. Our results imply that the literature suggesting moral licensing is probably not transferable to the field of energy efficiency, and thus moral licensing may not lead to rebound effects in this context. We discuss possible explanations, implications for climate policy making, and needs for future research.