Not Only for the Money: Nudging SMEs to Promote Environmental Sustainability

37 Pages Posted: 8 Feb 2023 Last revised: 30 Apr 2024

See all articles by Manuel Grieder

Manuel Grieder

UniDistance Suisse; Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)

Deborah Kistler

ETH Zurich Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS)

Felix Schlüter

UniDistance Suisse

Jan Schmitz

Radboud University Nijmegen - Department of Economics

Date Written: April 29, 2024

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the knowledge and the resources necessary to implement best practices in environmental management. This makes them a relevant target for public policy measures trying to promote ecological sustainability. This paper reports the results of a field experiment in Switzerland investigating behavioral economic interventions for promoting an environmental consulting program to SMEs. The experiment tested the effectiveness of appealing to the environmental vs. financial benefits of environmental consulting to promote the program to SMEs and of loss vs. gain framed nudges. The results indicate that loss frames are not more effective than gain frames. Unlike suggested by previous approaches, appealing to the environmental benefits of sustainability measures is just as effective as underlining the financial benefits for the SMEs. Evidence from two surveys with SME decision makers corroborates this latter result: SMEs indicate that personal motivations of owners or managers and long-term environmental impact---rather than potential financial benefits---are the most important factors determining whether SMEs are willing to implement additional environmental sustainability measures.

Keywords: SMEs, nudging, environmental policies, environmental management, environmental consulting, sustainability, field experiment, environmental appeal, moral appeal, loss frame

JEL Classification: D03, D04, D22, C93, Q01

Suggested Citation

Grieder, Manuel and Kistler, Deborah and Schlüter, Felix and Schmitz, Jan, Not Only for the Money: Nudging SMEs to Promote Environmental Sustainability (April 29, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4351587 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4351587

Manuel Grieder (Contact Author)

UniDistance Suisse ( email )

Schinerstrasse 18
Brig, 3900
Switzerland

Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)

Center for Energy and the Environment
School of Management and Law
Winterthur, CH 8401
Switzerland

Deborah Kistler

ETH Zurich Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (GESS) ( email )

Zürich
Switzerland

Felix Schlüter

UniDistance Suisse

Jan Schmitz

Radboud University Nijmegen - Department of Economics ( email )

Nijmegen, 6500 HK
Netherlands

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