Using an extended theory of planned behaviour to explain willingness towards voluntary carbon offsetting among Chinese consumers

Abstract

Voluntary carbon offsetting (VCO) is an important means of controlling rapidly growing household consumption emissions. To design an effective VCO system, consumers' willingness towards VCO and its relevant determinants are of crucial importance, but are still rather insufficiently studied, especially in developing countries and among high‑carbon-emitting consumers. This paper adopts an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to explore the influencing mechanism of Chinese consumers' willingness to offset. Willingness to pay(WTP) is also estimated to provide monetary value of willingness. Using K-means clustering based on consumption behaviours, high‑carbon-emitting consumers are identified and further investigated. The proposed model was tested empirically using survey data (N = 905) collected from different areas in China. The results show that on average, Chinese consumers are willing to pay 419.2 RMB (61.2 USD) per year for carbon offsetting. The major influencing factor is subjective norm, followed by attitude and personal moral norm. High‑carbon-emitting consumers have better knowledge, stronger perceived control and greater WTP for VCO, and their willingness to offset is directly influenced by subjective norm rather than personal moral norm. The findings shed light on the offsetting behaviours of Chinese consumers and recommendations on the design of a VCO system are further proposed.