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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2020

ADRIAN RINSCHEID Open the ORCID record for ADRIAN RINSCHEID [Opens in a new window] ,
SILVIA PIANTA Open the ORCID record for SILVIA PIANTA [Opens in a new window]  and
ELKE U. WEBER
ADRIAN RINSCHEID*
Affiliation:
University of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland and Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
SILVIA PIANTA
Affiliation:
Bocconi University, Milan, Italy and RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment, Milan, Italy and Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
ELKE U. WEBER
Affiliation:
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
*
*Correspondence to: University of St.Gallen, Müller-Friedberg-Strasse 6/8, 9000 St.Gallen, Switzerland. E-mail: adrian.rinscheid@unisg.ch
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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.

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Type
Article
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Behavioural Public Policy , Volume 5 , Special Issue 4: Behavioural Climate Policy , October 2021 , pp. 503 - 527
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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