Paying as you fly: Investigating air passengers’ preferences for voluntary carbon offset in Taiwan via the integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model

Carbon offsets allow individuals to take responsibility for their carbon footprint by participating in emission-mitigation projects. The current low level of participation in voluntary carbon offsets calls for a deeper understanding of air passengers’ preferences for voluntary carbon offset schemes. Since the cobenefits of carbon offsets might encourage scheme participation, this study uses an integrated choice and latent variable model to investigate air passengers’ preferences for carbon offset schemes with cobenefits for business and tourism purposes. A sample of 339 responses collected via a stated preference survey is used for choice model estimation. The results reveal that scheme attributes can increase participation propensity, including three cobenefits (species extinction reduction, air pollution reduction, and premature death reduction), scheme costs, and government certification. The positive effect of attitudes toward carbon offsets on scheme participation is significant for tourism travelers. However, attitudes and altruism do not influence the scheme participation of business travelers. Business travelers’ willingness-to-pay values for scheme attributes are greater than those of tourism travelers. Discussions and empirical implications are provided for the development of voluntary carbon offsets.