Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/241265 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Citation: 
[Journal:] Business Strategy and the Environment [ISSN:] 1099-0836 [Volume:] 30 [Issue:] 7 [Publisher:] Wiley [Place:] Hoboken, NJ [Year:] 2021 [Pages:] 3009-3024
Publisher: 
Wiley, Hoboken, NJ
Abstract: 
Purchases of voluntary carbon offsets (VCOs) are growing tremendously. At the same time, the number of activities and products for which VCOs are available is increasing. Experts discuss whether offering VCOs is exclusively associated with positive effects on the environment or if it instead may lead to increased consumption of environmentally critical products. To date, empirical evidence on such adverse effects is scarce. Therefore, this study uses a randomized controlled trial design to investigate how the availability of VCOs affects consumers' choices for environmentally critical products. The results suggest that when VCOs are available, the likelihood of environmentally critical consumption increases. From a mental accounting perspective, our findings support the theoretical rationale of VCOs as an instrument for moral licensing. Additionally, our results indicate that individuals tend to trivialize the harmfulness of the environmentally critical product and overestimate the effectiveness of VCOs for environmental protection, which we consider strategies for reducing cognitive dissonance and guilt.
Subjects: 
cognitive dissonance
consumer behavior
mental accounting theory
moral licensing
randomized controlled trial
voluntary carbon offsetting
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.