Conference Agenda

We conducted a contextualized laboratory experiment to determine whether competition between wood buyers affects pro-environmental behaviour, that is, the adoption of new sustainable biomass harvesting practices. We also tested the effect of a non-monetary incentive, that is signing a declaration that commits wood buyers who voluntarily sign it to act in a sustainable manner, on pro-environmental behaviour. Our results provide evidence that competition between wood buyers has an adverse effect on pro-environmental behaviour. Nevertheless, presenting a declaration to sign is effective in inducing wood buyers to act in a sustainable manner as it tends to correct unsustainable behaviour that emerges from competition.

This paper examines the effects of negative emotions and emotional relevance on pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Utilizing emotionally relevant content in communication can amplify its persuasive impact and effectiveness in fostering PEB. Through a laboratory experiment employing the Pro-Environmental Behavior Task (PEBT; Lange et al., 2018; Lange & Dewitte, 2020, 2021), with a trade-off between a green travelling choice and a brown travelling choice through an opportunity cost and real environmental consequences (carbon emissions link to the brown choice), we analyze how controlled emotional induction affects individuals' engagement in PEB. Our findings reveal that participants exposed to relevant environmental stimuli displayed significantly greater engagement in PEB compared to those exposed to irrelevant stimuli. However, contrary to expectations, individuals experiencing negative emotions did not show higher PEB engagement than those in a neutral emotional state. These results suggest that while contextually relevant information effectively promotes PEB, simply inducing negative emotions may not be sufficient. A deeper understanding of emotional relevance could strengthen the impact of environmental campaigns and interventions.

Greenwashing, despite being regulated by truth-in-advertising laws, continues to be a significant issue, posing challenges to consumer protection and fair competition. Even with these regulations, difficulties in detection and inconsistent enforcement impede a solution to the problem. This paper explores greenwashing through a variation of a sender-receiver game, incorporating a random inspector responsible for detecting false claims. Using signalling theory, we predict the behaviour of sellers and buyers based on each other’s beliefs. We then test these predictions in a laboratory setting with real products and consequential purchasing decisions, examining how different detection probabilities influence greenwashing as well as consumption behaviour and beliefs. Not surprisingly, our findings indicate that enforcement primarily acts as a deterrent for sellers. Interestingly, buyers repeatedly purchase green products even when greenwashing can be foreseen. This evidence goes against the “market for lemons” theory in the context of everyday product consumption. Policymakers should address greenwashing differently depending on the weight they give to consumer surplus and environmental concerns.

The global Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) comprises a diverse range of carbon credits, of heterogeneous quality and purchased by a broad spectrum of buyers. Our paper aims to shed light on buyers preferences for voluntary carbon credits (VCC). The level of retirements of carbon offsetting projects is used to capture the cross-sectional variation of buyers’ willingness-to-claim certificates associated with project attributes and context characteristics. For this, it is estimated a random-effect tobit model for panel data on a subset of the Voluntary Registry Offsets Database in the period from 2010 to 2023. Key findings reveal that buyers’ willingness to claim voluntary carbon credits is influenced by certification standards, project vintage, and the socioeconomic and governance contexts of project locations. Specifically, Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) projects and newer vintages (2015–2021) are preferred, while projects in low human development index countries with strong rule of law see higher claim rates. The RE-Tobit model's robustness highlights the importance of capturing unobserved heterogeneity in analyzing buyer preferences in voluntary carbon markets.