How Does Carbon Footprint Information Affect Consumer Choice? A Field Experiment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Beyer, Bianca; Chaskel, Rico; Euler, Simone; Gassen, Joachim; Grosskopf, Ann-kristin; Sellhorn, Thorsten
• 署名单位: Aalto University; Humboldt University of Berlin; University of Munich
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-8456
• DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12505
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 101-136
• 关键词: Cash flows; food; restaurant; DECISION; IMPACT; perceptions; color

摘要

This paper reports the results of a field experiment investigating how attributes of carbon footprint information affect consumer choice in a large dining facility. Our hypotheses and research methods were preregistered via the Journal of Accounting Research's registration-based editorial process. Manipulating the measurement units and visualizations of carbon footprint information on food labels, we quantify effects on consumers' food choices. Treated consumers choose less carbon-intensive dishes, reducing their food-related carbon footprint by up to 9.2%, depending on the treatment. Effects are strongest for carbon footprint information expressed in monetary units (environmental costs) and color-coded in the familiar traffic-light scheme. A postexperimental survey shows that these effects obtain although few respondents self-report concern for the environmental footprint of their meal choices. Our study contributes to the accounting literature by using an information-processing framework to shed light on the information usage and decision-making processes of an increasingly important user group of accounting information: consumers.