The Role of Cultural Worldviews in Willingness to Pay for Environmental Policy

Abstract

Recent research in the social psychology literature suggests that personally held beliefs may play a pivotal role in individuals' acceptance of environmental policy. We extend previous work in this area by providing a contingent valuation method (CVM) framework that examines the interaction between cultural worldviews and willingness to pay for a policy that mitigates environmental risk. Results from a bivariate probit model indicate that individuals with communitarian and egalitarian worldviews are willing to pay significantly more for the environmental policy. We further investigate the role of cultural worldview on individuals' support for, and valuation of, environmental policies that differ by their underlying cause. Again, cultural worldview is important and point estimates of mean willingness to pay increase if the proposed policy is designed to mitigate the effects of climate change-related issues as opposed to a more local pollution threat. Finally, results indicate that cultural worldviews also influence respondents' perceived consequentiality with potentially important ramifications for eliciting stated preferences in a CVM framework.

Citizens' attitudes towards climate mitigation policies: The role of occupational exposure in EU countries

“…More generally, the individuals' willingness to sacrifice (and, ultimately, to contribute) for pro-climate policies is strictly related to subjective factors (e.g., knowledge about climate change, personal norms and values, attitudes towards climate issues, risk perception, cultural worldview) as well as to external factors (e.g., perceived policy effectiveness, trust in others' efforts, trust in institutions, the degree of coercion of policies), as suggested by previous studies (Drews & Van den Bergh, 2016;Echavarren et al, 2019;Hindsley & Ashton Morgan, 2022;Kountouris & Remoundou, 2016;Poortinga et al, 2019;Tobler et al, 2012).…”

Acceptability of a sustainable technological innovation applied to traditional soft cheese: Information concerning the benefits for health and the environment can compensate for a lower hedonic appreciation

“…However, despite various benefits in terms of health and the environment, food innovations often generate some reluctance among part of the population (Siegrist and Hartmann, 2020). Several factors explain this reluctance, such as new taste linked to a breakthrough process, fear of a loss of naturalness or traditional character, distrust of new technologies, and cultural habits with specific perceptions (Yang and Hobbs, 2020;Hindsley and Ashton Morgan, 2022). To improve the acceptability of innovative products that meet the challenges of tomorrow's food in terms of health and sustainability, it is necessary to better understand consumer reactions regarding these new foods and to highlight some possibilities allowing compensating for this reluctance (Guiné et al, 2020).…”