Comparing the relative mitigation potential of individual pro-environmental behaviors

Lacroix, Karine

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.068

Cited by 59 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Instead, an attempt is made to divide behaviours according to their relative GHG impact. Recognizing that individuals tend to engage in few PEBs, researchers should focus their efforts on single behaviours that have large potential for reducing GHG emissions and thus helping to mitigate climate change (see Lacroix, 2018). This dissertation will focus on two high-impact behaviours: climate policy support and animal product consumption.…”

Section: Pro-environmental Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They also included having one fewer child in their list of high-action behaviours, but this has been subject to debate (see Basshuysen & Brandstedt, 2018;Pedersen & Lam, 2018;Wynes & Nicholas, 2018a, 2018b. Similarly, Lacroix (2018) concluded that eating fewer animal products and switching to more fuel-efficient vehicles had the largest mitigation potential. Air transportation also had considerable potential, but this varied widely depending on household income and lifestyle.…”

Section: High-impact Climate Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Industrialized nations follow the most GHG-intensive dietary patterns (Pradhan, Reusser, & Kropp, 2013). For the average individual, eating fewer animal products has a larger potential for GHG reductions than, for example, switching to a more fuel-efficient car (Lacroix, 2018). The reductions associated with dietary changes become gradually larger as fewer animal products are consumed; they can amount to a reduction of up to 80% of food-related GHG compared to an average Western diet (Aleksandrowicz, Green, Joy, Smith, & Haines, 2016), or up to 22% of an individual's total (i.e., food, housing, good and services, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Reducing meat consumption: Identifying group-specific inhibitors using latent profile analysis

Lacroix

Gifford

2019

Appetite

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change mitigation requires changes in greenhouse gas emitting behaviours. This dissertation aims to provide insights into the influences of behaviour change for two high-impact pro-environmental behaviours: climate policy support and consumption of animal products. It does so by using quasi-and randomized experiments and by monitoring changes in behaviour over time. Study 1 examined changes in climate policy support and climate change risk perception over the course of a naturally occurring event: seasonal forest fires. It employed growth curve modeling techniques in a structural equation modeling framework to analyze longitudinal relations between these two constructs over time, and to examine growth in climate change risk perception while controlling for the effect of exposure to forest fires and other extreme weather. Indirect exposure to forest fires (e.g., media) had a modest effect on climate change risk perception. Climate change risk perception for individuals with above-mean perceptions of scientific agreement tended to increase faster than for those with below-mean perceptions. Individuals whose climate change risk perception grew at a faster-than-average rate tended to also grow at a faster-than-average rate for climate policy support. Study 2 provided insight into the psychological influences on consumption of animal products and on willingness to reduce. Following a comprehensive literature review, known influences were examined using Latent Profile Analysis to identify groups of individuals with similar perceptions of facilitators of meat consumption and obstacles to reducing it. Three groups were identified: stronghindrance meat eaters, moderate-hindrance meat eaters, and reducers. Validation variables confirmed the practicality of the three profiles: groups differed in their current consumption of animal products and in their willingness to reduce. Using these findings, three group-matched interventions were designed in Study 3. Intervention design was informed by four behaviour-iv change frameworks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control condition, implementation-intention condition, information-and-healthy-recipe condition, and information-and-substitution condition. Then, they completed up to 28 days of food diaries.Multilevel model analyses were employed to examine changes in the consumption of animal products over time. Participants reduced their consumption by 20 grams of CO2 per day on average. Individuals that were randomly assigned to an intervention condition that matched their meat-eater profile reduced their consumption of animal products by 40 grams CO2 per day on average. Taken together, these studies highlight the importance of considering individual differences (i.e., tailoring) when designing pro-environmental behaviour interventions. v

show abstract

Section: Pro-environmental Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: High-impact Climate Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Reducing meat consumption: Identifying group-specific inhibitors using latent profile analysis

Lacroix

Gifford

2019

Appetite

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(Wynes and Nicholas found that switching to green energy was sometimes but not always a high-impact action depending on policy design; we focus here on reducing household energy use, which is widely studied, and includes some actions, like washing clothes in cold water, classified as achieving moderate emissions reductions (Wynes and Nicholas 2017).) Personal vehicle use accounts for 26% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by a typical household in the United States, with household energy accounting for 23%, meat consumption for 6% (Jones and Kammen 2011) and air travel accounting for almost 5% in an average household, but closer to 28% in a high income household (Lacroix 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring what works: quantifying greenhouse gas emission reductions of behavioural interventions to reduce driving, meat consumption, and household energy use

Wynes

Nicholas

Zhao

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Interventions that promote pro-environmental behaviours are increasingly necessary in reducing use of high-emissions goods and services to meet international climate change targets. Here we assess the greenhouse gas emissions reductions associated with behavioural interventions in three high-emitting domains (personal vehicle use, meat consumption, and household energy use) based on an analysis of the peer-reviewed literature. We examined 40 studies from 1991-2018 involving 886 576 subjects. We found that some of the most robust interventions shown to reduce emissions were financial incentives for personal vehicles, defaults for reduced meat consumption, and feedback for home energy use. We estimate mean annual reductions of 571 kgCO 2 e per vehicle driver for reduced vehicle use, 51 kgCO 2 e per individual for reduced meat consumption, and 149 kgCO 2 e per household for reduced energy use. Despite substantial attention to behavioural interventions in the literature, we find that few studies are suitable for quantifying emissions reductions (N=6 for diet, N=5 for personal vehicles) and few (N=3) are conducted outside OECD countries. Due to this imbalance in the literature, we focus our findings on western economies. We find substantial variation in the emission reductions achieved with different interventions within each domain; interventions in diet ranged from reductions of 231 kgCO 2 e to increases of 116 kgCO 2 e per person per year (both statistically significant). Further, emissions reductions are sensitive to external factors, such as the emissions intensity of the electrical grid, which may change over time. Key gaps in the literature include a lack of studies conducted using randomized controlled trials or follow-ups, and in high-impact areas for emissions reductions including air travel. We highlight promising areas of intervention, such as habit changes to promote mode shifts in personal transportation, which would benefit from an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions reductions in future research.

show abstract

“…Recently, pro-environmental consumption behavior has been receiving increasing attention in the literature (Lacroix, 2018;Lange & Dewitte, 2019;Mainieri et al, 1997;Maio & Wei, 2013;Moser, 2015;Steinhorst & Klöckner, 2018;Urban et al, 2019;Welsch & Kühling, 2009). This focus is consistent with an increasingly broader interest in understanding pro-environmental behavior that has persisted for several decades (e.g., Hines et al, 1987;Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002;Lange et al, 2018).…”

Section: Pro-environmental Consumption Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Green Consumption Value on Consumption Intention in a Pro-Environmental Setting: The Mediating Role of Approach and Avoidance Motivation

Wang

Gao

2020

SAGE Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Based on the theory of consumer values, this study aimed to examine the relationship between green consumption values and pro-environmental consumption intention by establishing a “value-motivation-intention” model and to check the moderation effect of green involvement. In total, 741 shoppers were recruited. Data analyses showed that (a) green consumption values positively influenced pro-environmental consumption intention; (b) the behavioral approach system positively influenced pro-environmental consumption intention, but the behavioral inhibition system did not; (c) the behavioral approach system positively mediated the relationship between green consumption values and pro-environmental consumption intention; and (d) green involvement positively moderated the relationship between green consumption values and pro-environmental consumption intention.

show abstract

Comparing the relative mitigation potential of individual pro-environmental behaviors

Cited by 59 publications

References 41 publications

Reducing meat consumption: Identifying group-specific inhibitors using latent profile analysis

Reducing meat consumption: Identifying group-specific inhibitors using latent profile analysis

Measuring what works: quantifying greenhouse gas emission reductions of behavioural interventions to reduce driving, meat consumption, and household energy use

Effect of Green Consumption Value on Consumption Intention in a Pro-Environmental Setting: The Mediating Role of Approach and Avoidance Motivation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About