Reframing greenhouse gas emissions information presentation on the Environmental Protection Agency's new-vehicle labels to increase willingness to pay

This study will investigate how information on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG-E) is presented can significantly influence the response strength when choosing a new vehicle. Five different labels, based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) vehicle labels, are designed and tested in a discrete choice experiment considering the combining effects of society goal and individual impacts such as a carbon tax. Using a sample of 2400 car-owning American residents, the EPA's current framing was tested against these five different framings. To estimate the strength of response, the willingness-to-pay (WTP) was estimated by generating three models, i.e. a conditional logit model, a latent-class logit model with constant assignment, and a latent-class logit model considering socio-demographic and climate change stage of change (CC.SoC) effects. Measurable differences can be observed with respect to the framing type. The most effective framing (WTP of roughly $280/ton) was found to be where the GHG-E are presented with respect to a societal goal, with the financial impact of having a carbon tax included in the fuel costs. The findings of this research provide an improved solution to increase people's environmental sensitivity and gives policy suggestions to address the problem of climate change. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study examines how the presentation of greenhouse gas emission information can influence the response strength in choosing a new vehicle. Different framings were tested, with the most effective one being the presentation of GHG-E in relation to a societal goal, including the financial impact of a carbon tax. The research findings offer an improved solution to increase environmental sensitivity and provide policy suggestions for addressing climate change.