IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v229y2025ics0921800924003720.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can improving climate change perception lead to more environmentally friendly choices? Evidence from an immersive virtual environment experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Luzzati, Tommaso
  • Baraldi, Stefano
  • Ermini, Sara
  • Faita, Claudia
  • Faralla, Valeria
  • Guarnieri, Pietro
  • Lusuardi, Luca
  • Santalucia, Vincenzo
  • Scipioni, Sara
  • Sirizzotti, Matteo
  • Innocenti, Alessandro

Abstract

Rational decision theory assumes that individuals have perfect knowledge of the consequences of their choices and actions. However, this assumption often fails to align with reality, particularly in the context of environmental degradation, where the impacts of actions can be distant in both time and space. Will an enhanced perception of those impacts encourage pro-environmental choices?

Suggested Citation

  • Luzzati, Tommaso & Baraldi, Stefano & Ermini, Sara & Faita, Claudia & Faralla, Valeria & Guarnieri, Pietro & Lusuardi, Luca & Santalucia, Vincenzo & Scipioni, Sara & Sirizzotti, Matteo & Innocenti, Al, 2025. "Can improving climate change perception lead to more environmentally friendly choices? Evidence from an immersive virtual environment experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:229:y:2025:i:c:s0921800924003720
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108475
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800924003720
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108475?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Innocenti, Alessandro, 2017. "Virtual reality experiments in economics," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 71-77.
    2. Jantsje M. Mol & Eline C. M. Heijden & Jan J. M. Potters, 2020. "(Not) alone in the world: Cheating in the presence of a virtual observer," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(4), pages 961-978, December.
    3. Tommaso Luzzati & Ilaria Tucci & Pietro Guarnieri, 2022. "Information overload and environmental degradation: learning from H.A. Simon and W. Wenders," Papers 2209.01039, arXiv.org.
    4. Gürerk, Özgür & Bönsch, Andrea & Kittsteiner, Thomas & Staffeldt, Andreas, 2019. "Virtual humans as co-workers: A novel methodology to study peer effects," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 17-29.
    5. Tien Ming Lee & Ezra M. Markowitz & Peter D. Howe & Chia-Ying Ko & Anthony A. Leiserowitz, 2015. "Predictors of public climate change awareness and risk perception around the world," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 1014-1020, November.
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/61ih2qtadc8g1894enmudd2f09 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:cup:judgdm:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:189-214 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Mol, Jantsje M. & Botzen, W. J. Wouter & Blasch, Julia E., 2022. "After the virtual flood: Risk perceptions and flood preparedness after virtual reality risk communication," Judgment and Decision Making, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 189-214, January.
    9. Matteo Coronese & Francesco Lamperti & Klaus Keller & Francesca Chiaromonte & Andrea Roventini, 2019. "Evidence for sharp increase in the economic damages of extreme natural disasters," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(43), pages 21450-21455, October.
    10. Donatella Baiardi, 2023. "What do you think about climate change?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1255-1313, September.
    11. Tommaso Luzzati, 2009. "Human Needs, Sustainable Development and Public Policy: Learning from K.W. Kapp (1910–1976)," Chapters, in: Neri Salvadori & Arrigo Opocher (ed.), Long-run Growth, Social Institutions and Living Standards, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Ezra M. Markowitz & Azim F. Shariff, 2012. "Climate change and moral judgement," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 243-247, April.
    13. Faralla, Valeria & Innocenti, Alessandro & Baraldi, Stefano & Ermini, Sara & Lusuardi, Luca & Masini, Maurizio & Santalucia, Vincenzo & Scaruffi, Diletta & Sirizzotti, Matteo, 2024. "Exposure to immersive virtual environments decreases present bias," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    14. E. M. Fischer & S. Sippel & R. Knutti, 2021. "Increasing probability of record-shattering climate extremes," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(8), pages 689-695, August.
    15. Jantsje M. Mol & W. J. Wouter Botzen & Julia E. Blasch, 2022. "After the virtual flood: Risk perceptions and flood preparedness after virtual reality risk communication," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 17(1), pages 189-214, January.
    16. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/61ih2qtadc8g1894enmudd2f09 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Luzzati, Tommaso & Tucci, Ilaria & Guarnieri, Pietro, 2022. "Information overload and environmental degradation: Learning from H.A. Simon and W. Wenders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    18. Mol, Jantsje M., 2019. "Goggles in the lab: Economic experiments in immersive virtual environments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 155-164.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Faralla, Valeria & Innocenti, Alessandro & Baraldi, Stefano & Ermini, Sara & Lusuardi, Luca & Masini, Maurizio & Santalucia, Vincenzo & Scaruffi, Diletta & Sirizzotti, Matteo, 2024. "Exposure to immersive virtual environments decreases present bias," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Jantsje M. Mol & Eline C. M. Heijden & Jan J. M. Potters, 2020. "(Not) alone in the world: Cheating in the presence of a virtual observer," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(4), pages 961-978, December.
    3. Kaloyana Naneva, 2024. "Can We 'Solve' Anonymity in Economic Experiments? Virtual Humans in High-Immersive Environments as a Method of Identification," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 8(S1), pages 33-39, December.
    4. Graff, Frederik & Grund, Christian & Harbring, Christine, 2021. "Competing on the Holodeck - The effect of virtual peers and heterogeneity in dynamic tournaments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Donatella Baiardi, 2021. "What do you think about climate change?," Working Papers 477, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2021.
    6. repec:cup:judgdm:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:189-214 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Mol, Jantsje M., 2019. "Goggles in the lab: Economic experiments in immersive virtual environments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 155-164.
    8. Giuseppe Attanasi & Barbara Buljat Raymond & Agnès Festré & Andrea Guido, 2023. "Augmented Reality Technology as a Tool for Promoting Pro-environmental Behavior and Attitudes," GREDEG Working Papers 2023-15, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    9. Horky, Florian & Krell, Felix & Fidrmuc, Jarko, 2023. "Setting the stage: Fairness behavior in virtual reality dictator games," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    10. Shashi, & Centobelli, Piera & Cerchione, Roberto & Jhamb, Deepika, 2023. "Double-edged circularity: Comparative assessment of circular and non-circular consumers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    11. Vittoria Socci & Eleonora Vitanza & Chiara Mocenni, 2025. "An agent-based model to foster citizens’ sustainable behavior in the Italian city of Siena," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 98(4), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Hayam Elshirbiny & Wokje Abrahamse, 2020. "Public risk perception of climate change in Egypt: a mixed methods study of predictors and implications," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 10(3), pages 242-254, September.
    13. Jantsje M. Mol & W. J. Wouter Botzen & Julia E. Blasch, 2022. "After the virtual flood: Risk perceptions and flood preparedness after virtual reality risk communication," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 17(1), pages 189-214, January.
    14. Renata Dagiliūtė, 2023. "Environmental Information: Different Sources Different Levels of Pro-Environmental Behaviours?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-14, October.
    15. Donatella Baiardi, 2023. "What do you think about climate change?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1255-1313, September.
    16. Donatella Baiardi, 2021. "What do you think about climate change?," Working Paper series 21-16, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    17. Han, Myat Su & Zhang, Yiwen & Liu, Cinnie, 2025. "How do two facets of social media interaction shape waste sorting behaviour? Empirical evidence from Beijing, China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    18. Drews, Stefan, 2025. "Towards systems-oriented behavioral ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    19. Abinash Bhattachan & Matthew D. Jurjonas & Priscilla R. Morris & Paul J. Taillie & Lindsey S. Smart & Ryan E. Emanuel & Erin L. Seekamp, 2019. "Linking residential saltwater intrusion risk perceptions to physical exposure of climate change impacts in rural coastal communities of North Carolina," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 97(3), pages 1277-1295, July.
    20. Han-Shen Chen, 2020. "The Construction and Validation of a Sustainable Tourism Development Evaluation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-20, October.
    21. Federica Alfani & Vasco Molini & Giacomo Pallante & Alessandro PalmaGran, 2024. "Job displacement and reallocation failure. Evidence from climate shocks in Morocco," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 51(1), pages 1-31.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:229:y:2025:i:c:s0921800924003720. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.