Conspicuous conservation: The Prius halo and willingness to pay for environmental bona fides
This paper develops a theory of conspicuous conservation, a phenomenon related to conspicuous consumption in which individuals seek status through displays of austerity amid growing concern about environmental protection. We identify a statistically and economically significant conspicuous conservation effect in vehicle purchase decisions and estimate a mean willingness to pay for the green signal provided by the distinctively designed Toyota Prius in the range of $430-4200 depending upon the owner's location. Results are related to the growing literature on green markets and suggest that policy should target less conspicuous conservation investments that will be under-provided relative to those that confer a status benefit. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.
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- Agricultural Economics & Policy
- 3801 Applied economics
- 1402 Applied Economics
- 1401 Economic Theory
- 0502 Environmental Science and Management
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Agricultural Economics & Policy
- 3801 Applied economics
- 1402 Applied Economics
- 1401 Economic Theory
- 0502 Environmental Science and Management