nep-nud New Economics Papers
on Nudge and Boosting
Issue of 2024‒04‒01
two papers chosen by



  1. Nudges and Monetary Incentives: A Green Partnership? By Maris, Robbie; Zack, Dorner; Carlsson, Fredrik
  2. It's a pleasure to stay sustainably: Leveraging hedonic appeals in tourism and hospitality By M. Trabandt; W. Lasarov; G. Viglia

  1. By: Maris, Robbie (Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London (UCL)); Zack, Dorner (Department of Environmental Management, Lincoln University); Carlsson, Fredrik (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)
    Abstract: Shifting individual behaviour is an important tool for addressing environmental issues and there is a wide literature evaluating interventions to encourage pro-environmental behaviour. One important but under-researched area is the effect of combining interventions to affect behaviour. In this paper, we evaluate the effects of two interventions – monetary incentives and nudges – on nature restoration volunteering. We use a two-by-two treatment design to evaluate the individual and combined effects of the interventions in a field experiment setting. We find that the monetary incentive significantly increases volunteering behaviour, despite concerns incentives may crowd out motivation, but that nudging alone is ineffective at shifting behaviour. However, there are considerable positive synergies between the monetary incentive and nudge. The monetary incentive becomes more than twice as effective when it is combined with a nudge. We find support for our theoretical prediction that this synergy arises because the nudge reduces motivational crowding out effects from the incentive. Our results have important policy implications, showing that concerns around motivation crowding out from monetary incentives could be mitigated by simple, low-cost nudges.
    Keywords: Field experiment; incentive; nature restoration; nudge; PEB; pro-environmental behaviour; synergy; volunteering
    JEL: C93 D91 Q57
    Date: 2024–03–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0842&r=nud
  2. By: M. Trabandt; W. Lasarov (Audencia Business School); G. Viglia
    Abstract: The tourism sector is actively exploring methods to reduce its adverse environmental impact. Our study introduces hedonic appeals as a novel approach to encourage guests to reduce their room cleaning requests. We contend that combining this approach with sustainable appeals is at least as effective as the previously identified most effective strategy, namely providing guests with financial incentives. The effectiveness of hedonic appeals is channeled through guest value creation. Our empirical evidence – involving a field experiment at a European hotel and a lab experiment – supports the proposed effects and explanation mechanisms. We also demonstrate that our new strategy is the most profitable by introducing a profitability index that considers room cleaning requests, monetary investments, and side effects. We therefore recommend hotels to adopt this cost-effective strategy to reduce room cleaning requests without affecting overall guest satisfaction.
    Keywords: Sustainable tourism, Field experiment, Room cleaning practices, Hedonic appeals, Financial incentives, Sustainable appeals, Guest value, Guest behavior
    Date: 2024–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04464032&r=nud

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