Funding Conservation Locally: Insights from Behavioral Experiments in Indonesia

Abstract

Proximate stressors such as destructive fishing are key drivers of coral reef degradation. Conservation strategies that marshal local action and are tailored to the preferences of the target group are thus needed to sustain coral resources. We experimentally analyze the behavior of marine resource users in a coastal village in Indonesia to gain insight into whether people prefer to donate time or money to environmental or other charitable causes. Each person is subject to one of four treatments: monetary donation, monetary donation match, volunteer time donation, and volunteer time donation match. Contrasting with the existing literature, we find that participants give significantly more when donating money compared to time. We also find that matching donations increases the percent of people giving but does not increase the amount donated. This research furthers our understanding of what motivates resource users in a developing country to contribute to the provision of public goods.

Evaluating the impact of storytelling in Facebook advertisements on wildlife conservation engagement: Lessons and challenges

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to compare how character and content in ad stories impact social media engagement and donations, and the cost-effectiveness of different ads. It adds to the scarce literature evaluating the behavioral impact of conservation campaigns (Batavia et al, 2018;Nelson, Schlüter, & Vance, 2018;Reddy et al, 2017;Veríssimo & Wan, 2019).…”

Tourist willingness to pay for local green hotel certification

“…In either context, transparency is important as consumers demand information regarding environmental product attributes [ 43 ]. Additionally, the added value of green certification schemes is, presumably, that premium pricing can cover the additional costs of sourcing sustainable products / operational costs or the extra income can directly fund local conservation programs or support local groups [ 44 ]. The important factor for hotels is a focus on remaining competitive in a changing market while seeking a triple bottom line approach.…”

Virtual reality as a tool for environmental conservation and fundraising

“…This gap refers to the general lack of environmental behavior change by individuals or society at large despite increases in communication about environmental problems and heightened public awareness of such issues. According to several studies, communication methods that are successful in bridging this gap involve cognitive and behavioral dimensions [3][4][5][6]. For example, people gain an understanding about an issue, experience an emotional response, such as interest or worry, and actively respond by changing climaterelevant behavior or political action.…”