What shapes public support for climate change mitigation policies? The role of descriptive social norms and elite cues

Abstract

What are the roles of bottom-up and top-down signals in the formation of climate change policy preferences? Using a large sample of American residents (n = 1520) and combining an experimental manipulation of descriptive social norms with two choice experiments, we investigate the effects of descriptive norms and policy endorsements by key political actors on climate policy support. We study these questions in two areas considered to be central in a number of decarbonization pathways: the phase-out of fossil fuel-powered cars and the deployment of carbon capture and storage. Our study provides two important results. First, social norm interventions may be no silver bullet for increasing citizens’ support for ambitious climate policies. In fact, we not only find that climate policy support is unaffected by norm messages communicating an increased diffusion of pro-environmental behaviors, but also that norm messages communicating the prevalence of non-sustainable behaviors decrease policy support. Second, in the presence of policy endorsements by political parties, citizens’ trust in these parties influences their support for climate policies. This study contributes to research in behavioral climate policy by examining the impact of descriptive norms and elite cues on climate policy support.

Understanding the effects of partisan identity on climate change

“…Thus, if your political party supports a policy or the out-group opposes it, you are more likely to also endorse it, independent from the content of the policy [12]. This phenomenon is amplified when information is endorsed/opposed by trusted political elites [13]. In fact, before the media and political elites depicted climate change as a partisan issue, it was met with relatively bipartisan support [14].…”

Understanding the effects of partisan identity on climate change

“…Thus, if your political party supports a policy, and the out-group opposes it, you are more likely to also endorse it, independently from the content of the policy [12]. This phenomena is amplified when information is endorsed/opposed by trusted political elites [13]. In fact, before the media and political elites depicted climate change as a partisan issue, it was met with relatively bipartisan support [14].…”

“…It should however be noted that trust likely plays an important role. If a cue comes from a trusted elite, it can significantly increase climate policy support (for both Democrats and Republicans), but if that information comes from an untrusted source, it may actually backfire and reduce support [13].…”

“…This effect has been shown across multiple types of norms, including injunctive norms (which highlight what is approved of), and various descriptive norms (i.e. both positive, and negative; see [3,13,23]). For example the use of a positive American social norm conveying citizen's increased pro-environmental behavior, had no effect on influencing climate policy support, while a negative social norm conveying increased destructive-environmental behavior actually decreased policy support [13].…”

“…both positive, and negative; see [3,13,23]). For example the use of a positive American social norm conveying citizen's increased pro-environmental behavior, had no effect on influencing climate policy support, while a negative social norm conveying increased destructive-environmental behavior actually decreased policy support [13]. However, one promising technique may be to utilize dynamic norms, which highlight how people are beginning to change their behavior.…”