My company is green, so am I:the relationship between perceived environmental responsibility of organisations and government, environmental self-identity, and pro-environmental behaviours

To reduce environmental problems, citizens, governments, and organisations need to take action to reduce their environmental impact. In the current paper, we tested if and how perceived environmental responsibility of organisations and government is related to pro-environmental behaviour and acceptability of pro-environmental policies among employees, customers, and citizens. We hypothesised that the stronger perceived environmental responsibility of organisations and government, the stronger the environmental self-identity of employees, customers, and citizens because they are a part of that organisation. We hypothesised that a stronger environmental self-identity, in turn, is positively related to a range of pro-environmental actions as well as acceptability of pro-environmental policies. We tested our hypotheses in three studies. We found that a stronger perceived environmental responsibility of organisations is indeed related to a stronger environmental self-identity among employees and customers of the organisation. A stronger environmental self-identity was in turn related to a range of pro-environmental actions. An alternative explanation for our findings is that those with a stronger environmental self-identity are more likely to become a customer at an organisation with a strong perceived environmental responsibility. However, we found support for our hypotheses among those who chose and among those who did not freely choose to be a customer of the organisation, suggesting that the alternative explanation does not fully explain our findings. Furthermore, we found that citizens report a stronger environmental self-identity when perceived environmental responsibility of their government is stronger. A stronger environmental self-identity was in turn related to a higher acceptability of policies aiming to promote energy savings. Our findings are in line with social identity theory, which states that people partly infer how they see themselves based on the groups to which they belong. Furthermore, our findings have important practical implications for organisations and governments aiming to promote pro-environmental behaviour. Specifically, if organisations and government reduce their environmental impact and clearly communicate this, citizens, employees, and customers may also be more likely to do so

The effects of a financial incentive on motives and intentions to commute to work with public transport in the short and long term

The present research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a three-week free public transport card in encouraging people to commute to work using public transport both in the short term (while the incentive is in place) and long term (after the incentive is removed). Moreover, we tested effects of the free public transport card on motivations to use public transport. Findings from our longitudinal field study showed that participants had strong intentions to use public transport while the incentive was in place, but intentions to commute to work using public transport decreased in the long-term, suggesting that the incentive was effective while in place, but not when it was removed. Moreover, participants rated the financial motives to commute to work using public transport as less important after the incentive was removed, suggesting that financial incentives provide people with a temporary motive to engage in the desired behaviour, which may explain the short-term effectiveness of the incentive. We did not observe that the free public transport card crowded out participants’ intrinsic motivation to travel by public transport. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

What influences public acceptability of sustainable energy policies? The crucial role of funding and who benefits

Public acceptance of sustainable energy policies is critical for successfully transitioning towards a sustainable energy system. However, relatively little is known about when and why people find energy policies acceptable. We examined to what extent policy characteristics and individual motivational factors influence sustainable energy policy acceptability among a representative sample in the Netherlands. Using a within-participants experimental design, 261 respondents rated the acceptability of 24 energy policies which systematically varied based on the energy behaviour targeted by the policy, whether the policy was a push or pull design, and whether the policies indicated they would generate funds from or allocate funds to individuals, an environmental fund, or a general fund of pooled finances. We replicated previous findings that the stronger people's biospheric values, the more acceptable they find sustainable energy policies. Moreover, we found that a policy's target behaviour may influence acceptability, but that this is no longer the case when controlling for biospheric values. Lastly, we found push policies were considered more acceptable when revenues benefited individuals or the environment instead of general funds, and pull policies were more acceptable when they were paid for by general funds and to a lesser extent environmental funds, compared to being paid for by individuals, and that these results held when controlling for people's biospheric values. Overall, our findings suggest sustainable energy policy acceptability depends on the extent to which individuals benefit from the policy. However, importantly, acceptability also strongly depends on the extent to which the environment benefits

Beyond purchasing: Electric vehicle adoption motivation and consistent sustainable energy behaviour in The Netherlands

Adoption of smart energy technologies, such as electric vehicles (EVs), can significantly reduce fossil energy use, provided that adopters of an EV also use the EV in a sustainable way. Hence, it is key to understand which factors affect the likelihood that the adoption of EVs promotes the sustainable use of EVs, and promote consistent sustainable energy behaviours. We argue that the motivation to adopt an EV plays a key role in this respect. When people adopt an EV for environmental reasons, this will signal that they are a pro-environmental person, thereby strengthening environmental self-identity and promoting consistent sustainable energy behaviours. We conducted two cross-sectional studies among EV adopters to test our reasoning. As expected, the more people adopted an EV for environmental reasons, the stronger their environmental self-identity, in turn increasing the likelihood that they engaged in other sustainable energy behaviours. In contrast, adopting an EV for financial or technological reasons was not consistently related to environmental self-identity and sustainable energy behaviours. These results suggest that the motivation for adopting an EV is crucial for the likelihood that people engage in sustainable energy behaviour consistently, which is key to realise a sustainable energy transition

The psychology of participation and interest in smart energy systems:Comparing the value-belief-norm theory and the value-identity-personal norm model

AbstractEnvironmental problems can be reduced if people would participate in smart energy systems. Little is known about which factors motivate people to actually participate in smart energy systems. We tested the factors that influence individuals’ interest and actual participation in smart energy systems. We compared the predictive power of the value-belief-norm theory with a novel model to explain pro-environmental actions: the value-identity-personal norm model. Both focus on normative considerations in explaining behaviour, but the VIP model focuses on general rather than behaviour-specific antecedents. Our results show that both models explained a similar amount of variance in interest and actual participation in smart energy systems. This suggests that the value-identity-personal norm model is a promising model to explain and promote pro-environmental actions such as participation in smart grids. Further, it is more parsimonious than the value-belief-norm theory and focuses on general factors that are likely to predict other environmental behaviours as well. The value-identity-personal norm model is therefore a particularly promising model in promoting a range of environmental behaviours

Spillover Benefits:Emphasizing Different Benefits of Environmental Behavior and Its Effects on Spillover

To reduce environmental problems, people need to consistently engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Many environmentally friendly actions not only benefit the environment, but can also save money. Research suggests that emphasizing monetary benefits of pro-environmental behavior may hinder positive spillover to other pro-environmental behaviors. Yet, it is unclear why and under which circumstances this is the case. We propose that spillover effects depend on how emphasizing different types of benefits affects environmental self-identity, as a stronger environmental self-identity is more likely to lead to other pro-environmental actions. We hypothesize that emphasizing monetary benefits of pro-environmental behavior is less likely to strengthen environmental self-identity than emphasizing environmental benefits, and therefore not likely to lead to positive spillover. We tested our hypotheses in four experiments. In Study 1, we found that emphasizing the environmental benefits of pro-environmental behavior strengthened environmental self-identity, and resulted in positive spillover compared to not emphasizing any benefits or emphasizing monetary benefits. However, these results were not replicated in Study 2 that included a larger student sample. Yet, Study 3, including a large sample of the general population, showed that emphasizing monetary benefits weakens environmental self-identity and thereby leads to less spillover than emphasizing environmental benefits or not emphasizing any benefits. Similarly, Study 4 suggests that emphasizing monetary benefits may weaken environmental self-identity and decrease positive spillover compared to emphasizing environmental benefits or no benefits. Our findings suggest that environmental self-identity is not easily influenced by emphasizing different types of benefits of behavior, and consequently, spillover behavior is not easily promoted or inhibited. Yet, emphasizing monetary benefits may be a risk in some cases, as it may inhibit positive spillover

Waste minimization by households – A unique informational strategy in the Netherlands

Households can minimize residual waste and increase the volume of materials recycled by improving waste separation and changing purchasing behaviour. Informational strategies may provide people information on reasons to minimize waste and information on how to minimize waste. However, a meta-analysis found that the effect of informational strategies on waste minimization is small to medium. While some studies find effects, others do not. To improve the effectiveness of informational strategies to promote waste minimization, it is important to better understand the underlying processes. We proposed and tested if an intervention, consisting of an innovative informational strategy, strengthens the variables from the norm activation model, i.e. increased awareness of consequences, outcome efficacy and personal norms. We conducted a field study in collaboration with a waste collection company. The current study not only tested if the intervention increased the separation of waste, but also whether households changed their purchase behaviour and if they reduced the volume of residual waste. We included self-reported as well as actual behaviour and tested long term effects after the programme ended. Our findings show that the informational strategy effectively reduced households’ waste. Furthermore, the intervention changed waste behaviour partly via the variables from the norm activation model. Particularly, awareness of consequences and outcome efficacy explained the influence of the intervention on waste minimization. Our findings suggest that informational strategies may be effective in minimizing household waste when awareness of consequences and outcomes efficacy are increased by the information