IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v27y2025i2d10.1007_s10668-023-04031-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How does personalized feedback on carbon emissions impact intended climate action?

Author

Listed:
  • Yu Luo

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Brynley Hanson-Wright

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Hadi Dowlatabadi

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Jiaying Zhao

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia)

Abstract

Carbon emissions associated with individual choices are difficult to conceptualize and seldom considered in daily decision making. We examine the impact of personalized feedback on carbon emissions on intended climate action. In a pre-registered experiment (N = 790), participants reported their consumption in 2019 and received personalized feedback on carbon emissions and recommendations for reduction in the feedback condition, or no feedback in the control condition. Subsequently, all participants indicated their consumption intentions in 2023, which was one year from the year the experiment was conducted. After receiving feedback, participants showed a significant emission reduction of 1.42tCO2e (− 12.60%) per capita between 2019 and 2023, whereas those in the control condition increased their emissions by 0.05tCO2e (+ 0.045%). Importantly, there was no impact on intentions to engage in civic climate action. Civic climate intentions were instead associated with eco-guilt and climate concerns. These findings suggest personalized feedback has the potential to reduce carbon emissions without impacting civic climate intentions, providing implications for strategies to encourage climate action.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Luo & Brynley Hanson-Wright & Hadi Dowlatabadi & Jiaying Zhao, 2025. "How does personalized feedback on carbon emissions impact intended climate action?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 3593-3607, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10668-023-04031-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-04031-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-04031-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-023-04031-0?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. Dowd, A. & Ashworth, P. & Carr-Cornish, S. & Stenner, K., 2012. "Energymark: Empowering individual Australians to reduce their energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 264-276.
    2. Sarah E. West & Anne Owen & Katarina Axelsson & Chris D. West, 2016. "Evaluating the Use of a Carbon Footprint Calculator: Communicating Impacts of Consumption at Household Level and Exploring Mitigation Options," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(3), pages 396-409, June.
    3. Stuart Capstick & Lorraine Whitmarsh & Wouter Poortinga & Nick Pidgeon & Paul Upham, 2015. "International trends in public perceptions of climate change over the past quarter century," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 35-61, January.
    4. Diana Ivanova & Konstantin Stadler & Kjartan Steen-Olsen & Richard Wood & Gibran Vita & Arnold Tukker & Edgar G. Hertwich, 2016. "Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(3), pages 526-536, June.
    5. Büchs, Milena & Bahaj, AbuBakr S. & Blunden, Luke & Bourikas, Leonidas & Falkingham, Jane & James, Patrick & Kamanda, Mamusu & Wu, Yue, 2018. "Promoting low carbon behaviours through personalised information? Long-term evaluation of a carbon calculator interview," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 284-293.
    6. Daniel Moran & Richard Wood & Edgar Hertwich & Kim Mattson & Joao F. D. Rodriguez & Karin Schanes & John Barrett, 2020. "Quantifying the potential for consumer-oriented policy to reduce European and foreign carbon emissions," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(S1), pages 28-38, April.
    7. Andrea C. Morales & On Amir & Leonard Lee, 2017. "Keeping It Real in Experimental Research—Understanding When, Where, and How to Enhance Realism and Measure Consumer Behavior," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(2), pages 465-476.
    8. Seth Wynes & Jiaying Zhao & Simon D. Donner, 2020. "How well do people understand the climate impact of individual actions?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 1521-1534, October.
    9. Marcus Sutcliffe & Paul Hooper & Ros Howell, 2008. "Can eco-footprinting analysis be used successfully to encourage more sustainable behaviour at the household level?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 1-16.
    10. Stuart Capstick & Lorraine Whitmarsh & Wouter Poortinga & Nick Pidgeon & Paul Upham, 2015. "International trends in public perceptions of climate change over the past quarter century," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 435-435, July.
    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. D. Liliana González-Hernández & Raúl A. Aguirre-Gamboa & Erik W. Meijles, 2023. "The role of climate change perceptions and sociodemographics on reported mitigation efforts and performance among households in northeastern Mexico," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 1853-1875, February.
    2. Iwowari Beatrice Dute, 2020. "The Influence of Cross-Cultural Language and Background on Climate Change Perception – An Empirical Investigation," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 7(9), pages 50-55, September.
    3. Douenne, Thomas & Fabre, Adrien, 2020. "French attitudes on climate change, carbon taxation and other climate policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Jacob Dice & Mallick Hossain & David Rodziewicz, 2024. "Flood Risk Exposures and Mortgage-Backed Security Asset Performance and Risk Sharing," Research Working Paper RWP 24-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    5. Sam Crawley & Hilde Coffé & Ralph Chapman, 2022. "Climate Belief and Issue Salience: Comparing Two Dimensions of Public Opinion on Climate Change in the EU," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 307-325, July.
    6. Byungdoo Kim & David L. Kay & Jonathon P. Schuldt, 2021. "Will I have to move because of climate change? Perceived likelihood of weather- or climate-related relocation among the US public," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-8, March.
    7. Cheng, Xiu & Wu, Fan & Li, Wenbo & Yang, Jiameng & Long, Ruyin, 2024. "What maintains low-carbon consumption behaviors: Evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    8. Audronė Minelgaitė & Genovaitė Liobikienė, 2021. "Changes in pro-environmental behaviour and its determinants during long-term period in a transition country as Lithuania," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16083-16099, November.
    9. Upendra Bom & John Tiefenbacher & Shashidhar Belbase, 2023. "Individual and community perceptions of climate change in Lower Mustang, Nepal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 5997-6031, July.
    10. Yauheniya Shershunovich & Alisher Mirzabaev, 2024. "Social cost of household emissions: cross-country comparison across the economic development spectrum," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(6), pages 15285-15305, June.
    11. Umar, Shayan & Waqas, Adeel & Tanveer, Waqas & Shahzad, Nadia & Janjua, Abdul Kashif & Dehghan, Maziar & Qureshi, Muhammad Salik & Shakir, Sehar, 2023. "A building integrated solar PV surface-cleaning setup to optimize the electricity output of PV modules in a polluted atmosphere," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    12. Hoffmann, Stefan & Lasarov, Wassili & Reimers, Hanna, 2022. "Carbon footprint tracking apps. What drives consumers' adoption intention?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Cheng, Xiu & Long, Ruyin & Wu, Fan & Geng, Jichao & Yang, Jiameng, 2023. "How social interaction shapes habitual and occasional low-carbon consumption behaviors: Evidence from ten cities in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    14. Lasarov, Wassili & Hoffmann, Stefan & Mai, Robert & Schleich, Joachim, 2024. "Carbon footprint tracking apps: The spillover effects of feedback and goal-activating appeals," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    15. Andrew G. Meyer, 2022. "Do economic conditions affect climate change beliefs and support for climate action? Evidence from the US in the wake of the Great Recession," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 64-86, January.
    16. Kevin Grecksch & Carola Klöck, 0. "Access and allocation in climate change adaptation," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-16.
    17. Hein, Walter & Wilson, Clevo & Lee, Boon & Rajapaksa, Darshana & de Moel, Hans & Athukorala, Wasantha & Managi, Shunsuke, 2019. "Climate change and natural disasters: Government mitigation activities and public property demand response," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 436-443.
    18. Cafferata, Alessia & Dávila-Fernández, Marwil J. & Sordi, Serena, 2021. "Seeing what can(not) be seen: Confirmation bias, employment dynamics and climate change," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 567-586.
    19. Kevin Grecksch & Carola Klöck, 2020. "Access and allocation in climate change adaptation," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 271-286, June.
    20. Baranyai, Eszter & Kolozsi, Pál Péter & Neszveda, Gábor & Lehmann, Kristóf & Banai, Ádám, 2025. "The impact of the green direction in central banking on the general public's trust: Evidence from Hungary," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

    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:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10668-023-04031-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.