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Climate Change and Individual Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Bernard, René
  • Tzamourani, Panagiota
  • Weber, Michael

Abstract

Climate change poses large economic costs to governments and societies. Reducing individuals' CO2 footprints is central in mitigating climate change. In a new paper, we show that providing information on combating climate change motivates individuals to take costly actions to offset CO2 emissions. Presenting the information as the result of scientific research is as effective as framing it as the behaviour of other people. Individuals' responses vary depending on their socio-demographic characteristics and attitudes towards climate change. Furthermore, individuals choose information that aligns with their views. Individuals who actively gather information about climate change have a higher willingness to pay for carbon offsets.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernard, René & Tzamourani, Panagiota & Weber, Michael, 2022. "Climate Change and Individual Behavior," EconStor Research Reports 253548, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esrepo:253548
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    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/253548/1/SUERF%20Policy%20Brief.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Schleich, Joachim & Alsheimer, Sven, 2024. "The relationship between willingness to pay and carbon footprint knowledge: Are individuals willing to pay more to offset their carbon footprint if they learn about its size and distance to the 1.5 °C," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    2. Engler, Daniel & Gutsche, Gunnar & Simixhiu, Amantia & Ziegler, Andreas, 2025. "Social norms and individual climate protection activities: A survey experiment for Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    3. Meinerding, Christoph & Poinelli, Andrea & Schüler, Yves, 2022. "Inflation expectations and climate concern," Discussion Papers 12/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    4. Gleue, Marvin & Luigs, Theresa & Ziegler, Andreas, 2025. "The relevance of non-state climate protection activities as motivation for individual climate protection: Results from a framed field experiment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Mayer, Maximilian, 2023. "Climate change concerns and information spillovers from socially-connected friends," IWH Discussion Papers 2/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    6. Schleich, Joachim & Alsheimer, Sven, 2022. "How much are individuals willing to pay to offset their carbon footprint? The role of information disclosure and social norms," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S10/2022, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    7. Golin, M. & Rauh, C., 2022. "The Impact of Fear of Automation," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2269, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    8. Meinerding, Christoph & Poinelli, Andrea & Schüler, Yves, 2023. "Households’ inflation expectations and concern about climate change," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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