A better carbon footprint label

Abstract

Based on insights from behavioral economics, it is suggested to extend carbon footprint labeling with information about relative performance, using the well-known "traffic light" color scheme to communicate relative performance. To test this proposition, the impact of a carbon footprint label on Danish consumers' choice of ground coffee was tested in a 3 price levels x 3 levels of carbon emission x 3 certifying organizations x 2 organic labeling conditions discrete choice experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to two slightly different variants of the experiment: In one condition, participants saw the original Carbon Trust label and in the other condition they saw the same label, but with traffic light colors added to communicate the product's relative performance in terms of carbon footprint. All included attributes were found to have a significant impact on consumer choices. As expected, price and carbon footprint were negatively related to choice. Further, participants preferred organic to non-organic coffee and certification by a public authority. The effect of the carbon label is significantly stronger the more environmentally concerned the consumer is. Using colors to indicate relative carbon footprint significantly increases carbon label effectiveness. Hence, a carbon footprint label is more effective if it uses traffic light colors to communicate the product's relative performance.

A Social Norms Intervention Going Wrong: Boomerang Effects from Descriptive Norms Information

“…The use of labels and symbols to identify sustainable products has shown good results in the past [1]. However, the design and placement of labels and symbols need to be based on a thorough understanding of how consumers make choices in the product category [26,75]. Also, such a label or symbol needs to be promoted in a way that makes the actual logo and its core meaning easily accessible in the consumers' minds in the moment of decision, preferably more accessible than other product characteristics.…”

Carbon labels on restaurant menus: do people pay attention to them?

“…A red bar indicated carbon emissions in the relatively high range, and a green bar indicated carbon emissions in the relatively low range. Traffic light colours increase the effectiveness of carbon labels (Thøgersen & Nielsen, 2016) because they are commonly understood (Berry et al, 2008;R€ o€ os & Tj€ arnemo, 2011) and help consumers categorize food options (Cadario & Chandon, 2017).…”

Consumer Preferences for Different Designs of Carbon Footprint Labelling on Tomatoes in Germany—Does Design Matter?

“…In the case of carbon-labeled products, studies identified a number of socio-demographic factors, which have an effect on to the willingness to pay for these products, such as occupation and income level [5]. Additionally, consumers significantly differ with respect to education and age [6], and the effect of carbon labelling has been found to be significantly stronger the more environmentally concerned consumers [2].In general, the overall objective of a label, such as the carbon footprint label, is to reduce the information asymmetry between producers and consumers [7]. In particular, consumer at the POS cannot verify the credence attributes, such as climate friendliness [8].…”