DISEI/BEELab+ research seminar - February 27th

Consumers’ environmental awareness has remarkably increased in recent decades, thereby impacting responsible consumption choices. A growing number of consumers now declare they are willing to pay more for environmentally responsible goods, leading to the implementation of various practices to orient consumption towards sustainable products. To further investigates the behavioural aspects of what makes consumers greener, we conduct a series of experiments. In a laboratory experiment, we investigate the role of cash-mobs--groups of responsible consumers supporting a given product--on overall consumption. In two field experiments conducted in several supermarkets in Tuscany, Italy, we study how consumption is affected by 1) public rankings on social and environmental responsibility, 2) simultaneous green nudges on multiple products, and 3) a price premium for the environmental feature. Our findings show a significant positive effect of existing responsible consumers and clearer information on environmentally responsible consumption. We also document that large company not publicly ranked reduce their market shares when public rankings are displayed.