Pluralistic ignorance and climate policies: Information provision experiment

Abstract

This study explores the impact of informational interventions on individuals' private and public climate actions. Addressing the phenomenon of pluralistic ignorance (individuals' misperception of others' support for climate policies), we conducted an online experiment with US participants, testing whether providing accurate information about public support for carbon taxation influences climate action. Results reveal that while such information reduced misperceptions, it marginally, though not statistically significantly, reduced private climate action, measured by donations to an organization lobbying for climate policies. The intervention did not affect the behavior of those who underestimated the actual support for carbon taxation but negatively impacted the donation decisions of those who overestimated support, suggesting a boomerang effect. The intervention increased public climate action, measured by the minimum reward required to attend climate policy discussions with peers.

Keywords: climate policies, climate behavior, pluralistic ignorance, misperception, boomerang effect, social norms, information experiment JEL codes: C91, D83, D91, Q54, Q58, Z13