title: Political ideology affects energy-efficiency attitudes and choices.
abstract: This research demonstrates how promoting the environment can negatively affect adoption of energy efficiency in the United States because of the political polarization surrounding environmental issues. Study 1 demonstrated that more politically conservative individuals were less in favor of investment in energy-efficient technology than were those who were more politically liberal. This finding was driven primarily by the lessened psychological value that more conservative individuals placed on reducing carbon emissions. Study 2 showed that this difference has consequences: In a real-choice context, more conservative individuals were less likely to purchase a more expensive energy-efficient light bulb when it was labeled with an environmental message than when it was unlabeled. These results highlight the importance of taking into account psychological value-based considerations in the individual adoption of energy-efficient technology in the United States and beyond.
authors: Operations and Information Management Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. denag@wharton.upenn.edu
authors: Dena M
authors: DM
authors: Gromet
authors: Howard
authors: H
authors: Kunreuther
authors: Richard P
authors: RP
authors: Larrick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D057231:Climate Change; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011057:Politics; D011593:Psychology, Social; D012945:Social Values; D014481:United States
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