IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v107y2023ics2214804323001313.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of future-time referencing on pro-environmental behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Essl, Andrea
  • Suter, Manuel
  • von Bieberstein, Frauke

Abstract

Can the way a language encodes time influence speakers’ pro-environmental behavior? In a controlled experimental setting, we take advantage of a linguistic feature of the German language that allows speakers to use either the present or future tense when referring to an event in the future. Depending on the treatment, participants read a text about the future impacts of climate change and tree planting written in either the present or future tense. We then measured pro-environmental behavior using an incentivized task that represents a trade-off between individual immediate financial rewards and planting trees as long-term environmental gains. The results reveal a positive effect of future tense marking on the number of trees planted. We discuss construal level theory, timing precision, future orientation, and certainty of the occurrence of future climate events as potential mechanisms to explain why future-time referencing might affect individual pro-environmental behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Essl, Andrea & Suter, Manuel & von Bieberstein, Frauke, 2023. "The effect of future-time referencing on pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:107:y:2023:i:c:s2214804323001313
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2023.102105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804323001313
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2023.102105?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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Linguistic-savings hypothesis; Future-time reference; Pro-environmental behavior; Language; Laboratory experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:soceco:v:107:y:2023:i:c:s2214804323001313. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/inca/620175 .

    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.