Essays on Moral-Psychological Rebound Effects and Feedback Interventions for Sustainable Consumer Behavior
This dissertation examines moral-psychological rebound effects and feedback interventions in the context of climate-friendly consumer behavior. While measures such as energy efficiency improvements, sufficiency-oriented consumption, or carbon offsetting aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, their intended effects may be undermined by behavioral responses. Consumers may adjust their behavior in ways that offset or reverse potential environmental benefits, resulting in rebound effects. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective integrating insights from energy economics, industrial ecology, psychology, and consumer research, this dissertation focuses on moral-psychological rebound effects at the consumer level, based on mechanisms such as moral licensing and behavioral spillover. The dissertation comprises six essays and a practice article contributing to tworesearch streams. The first research stream investigates moral-psychological rebound effects, advancing conceptual and empirical understanding. It integrates existing literature, develops a systematic framework for classifying rebound effects, and empirically examines direct and indirect rebound effects consumer level. The second research stream examines feedback as an information-based intervention to promote climate-friendly consumption and mitigate rebound effects. It investigates an indirect feedback approach by assessing cross-domain effects depending on prior climate-friendly behavior. It further examines a direct feedback approach implemented through a self-developed carbon footprint tracking application, focusing on adoption intentions and the effectiveness of feedback in shaping consumption behavior. Overall, this dissertation advances understanding of moral-psychological rebound effects and provides insights on designing feedback-based interventions to promote more sustainable consumption, offering implications for research, practice, and policy.
Rebound effects, Spillover Effects, Moral Licensing, Carbon footprint, Tracking apps
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