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Climate change poses a key threat to today's societies and is caused by greenhouse gas emissions, mainly carbon dioxide emissions. Capture and Utilization of Carbon Dioxide (CCU) is a technological approach to reduce CO 2 emissions. Coincidentally, the approach also reduces the depletion of limited fossil resources by incorporating CO 2 as a raw material in the manufacture of products (e.g., plastics), thereby replacing fossil resources such as conventionally used oil. Even though some CCU products are nearing market maturity, systematic research on the acceptance of these products, especially regarding the (dis)trust in the companies that produce them, is still in its initial phase. Since a lack of trust could lead to a rejection of innovative products and technologies, the present study empirically investigates (dis)trust factors related to the acceptance of CCU plastic products. In a first step, interviews were carried out and analyzed to reveal relevant (dis)trust criteria for credibility of companies, desired information and marketing issues, and how CCU products are perceived. Afterwards, an online survey (n = 127) was conducted to identify and quantify important (dis)trust dimensions, and their connection to the acceptance of CCU products. The results showed that the participants had a slightly positive attitude toward CCU, and potential environmental, sustainability related, and economic benefits were acknowledged. In addition, potential barriers of CCU (sustainability risks, unknown risks, and health concerns) were rated rather neutrally and were thus not perceived as real barriers of CCU. When comparing companies to other institutions (e.g., research institutions, NGOs), the participants reported to trust companies least. Furthermore, four relevant trust (e.g., customer relationship) and distrust (e.g., bad customer orientation) dimensions were identified using CCU companies as an example of companies which manufacture innovative products. Finally, some first insights concerning the connection between the identified trust factors, CCU perception, credibility of the information sources, and the marketing of innovative products, are presented. The results enable deriving user-specific CCU product communication and information strategies. Keywords: carbon dioxide capture and utilization (CCU), acceptance, perception, trust, user diversity, CO 2 derived products 2015)]. Innovative technological approaches aim to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO 2) emissions by emitting no, or considerably less, CO 2 and by replacing the use of fossil resources (Adger et al., 2013), e.g., through energy generated by renewable resources (Twidell and Weir, 2015) or advancements in the field of electromobility (Held and Baumann, 2011). Despite these efforts, considerable amounts of CO 2 emissions are currently still being ejected-particularly by power plants. Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization (CCU) is an option for the capture of CO 2 emissions from power plants, after which these are used as carbon feedstock for the manufacture ...

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One approach to mitigate the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is the development of CO2-based products, such as fuels for road traffic and aviation. Since the acceptance of sustainable product innovations such as CO2-based fuels depends on an individual’s acceptance decision based on perceived risks and benefits, this study focuses on subjective risk perceptions of fuel toxicity. An online survey was conducted to assess risk evaluations of CO2-based fuels regarding various risk targets, exposure characteristics, negative outcomes for health and environment, and frequency of health impairments. CO2-based fuels were significantly more positively perceived than conventional fuels and were found to be perceived to pose less risks regarding types of exposure and properties leading to toxic effects. For both aviation and road traffic the acceptance of CO2-based fuels increased with decreasing fear of health and environmental consequences and the less frequently health effects were assessed. The findings allow to derive implications for risk assessment and communication strategies in the development and roll-out of CO2-based fuels.

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