Abstract
This paper reports the results of a field experiment investigating how attributes of carbon footprint information affect consumer choice in a large dining facility. Our hypotheses and research methods were preregistered via the Journal of Accounting Research’s registration-based editorial process. Manipulating the measurement units and visualizations of carbon footprint information on food labels, we quantify effects on consumers’ food choices. Treated consumers choose less carbon-intensive dishes, reducing their food-related carbon footprint by up to 9.2%, depending on the treatment. Effects are strongest for carbon footprint information expressed in monetary units (“environmental costs”) and color-coded in the familiar traffic-light scheme. A postexperimental survey shows that these effects obtain although few respondents self-report concern for the environmental footprint of their meal choices. Our study contributes to the accounting literature by using an information-processing framework to shed light on the information usage and decision-making processes of an increasingly important user group of accounting information: consumers.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 101-136 |
Number of pages | 36 |
Journal | Journal of Accounting Research |
Volume | 62 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 16 Sept 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2024 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- carbon footprint
- consumers
- decision making
- field experiment
- information processing
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Dive into the research topics of 'How Does Carbon Footprint Information Affect Consumer Choice? : A Field Experiment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Datasets
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trr266/carbonfood: JAR replication package
Beyer, B. (Creator), Chaskel, R. (Creator), Euler, S. (Creator), Gassen, J. (Creator), Großkopf, A.-K. (Creator) & Sellhorn, T. (Creator), Zenodo, 27 Jul 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8188496, https://zenodo.org/record/8188497
Dataset: Software or code