| 1. |
- Thunström, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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On strategic ignorance of environmental harm and social norms
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Are people strategically ignorant of the negative externalities their activities cause the environment? Herein we examine if people avoid costless information on those externalities and use ignorance as an excuse to reduce pro-environmental behavior. We develop a theoretical framework in which people feel internal pressure (“guilt”) from causing harm to the environment (e.g., emitting carbon dioxide) as well as external pressure to conform to the social norm for pro-environmental behavior (e.g., offsetting carbon emissions). Our model predicts that people may benefit from avoiding information on their harm to the environment, and that they use ignorance as an excuse to engage in less pro-environmental behavior. It also predicts that the cost of ignorance increases if people can learn about the social norm from the information. We test the model predictions empirically using an experiment combined with a stated-preference survey involving a hypothetical long-distance flight and an option to buy offsets for the flight’s carbon footprint. More than half (53 percent) of the subjects choose to ignore information on the carbon footprint alone before deciding their offset purchase, but ignorance significantly decreases (to 29 percent) when the information additionally reveals the share of air travelers who buy carbon offsets. We find evidence that some people use ignorance as an excuse to reduce pro-environmental behavior—ignorance significantly decreases the probability of buying carbon offsets.
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| 2. |
- Edenbrandt, Anna Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Interested, indifferent or active information avoider of climate labels: Cognitive dissonance and ascription of responsibility as motivating factors
- 2020
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Active avoidance of information is gaining attention in behavioral sciences, and recently also its’ relevance from an economic theory perspective. We explore motivations and policy implications of active avoidance of carbon emission information. In a stated preference survey respondents were asked to indicate if they wished to access carbon emission information (info-takers) or not (info-decliners) when selecting protein source in a first stage. In a second stage all respondents were provided carbon emission information. The info-takers reduced their CO2-emissions from their food choices with 32%, while the info-decliners also reduced their CO2 emissions (12%). This provides evidence of active information avoidance among at least some info-decliners. We explore cognitive dissonance and responsibility feelings and personal norms as motivations for actively avoiding carbon emission information on meat products, and how these motivations affect the reaction if imposed information. Our results show that carbon emission information increases choice task uncertainty most among individuals that experience climate related cognitive dissonance and/or responsibility feelings. These findings point to the potential of carbon emission information as a measure for changing food consumption towards less carbon emitting products. The study also highlights the importance of how the information is provided and presented.
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| 3. |
- Nordström, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Strategic Ignorance of Health Risk: Its Causes and Policy Consequences
- 2018
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We examine the causes and policy consequences of strategic (willful) ignorance of risk as an excuse to overengage in risky health behavior. In an experiment on Copenhagen adults, we allow subjects to choose whether to learn the calorie content of a meal before consuming it, and measure their subsequent calorie intake. We find strong evidence of strategic ignorance: 46% of subjects choose to ignore calorie information, and these subjects subsequently consume morecalories on average than they would have had they been informed. We find that strategically ignorant subjects downplay the health risk of their preferred meal being high-calorie, which we formally show is consistent with the theory of optimal expectations about risk. Further, we find that the prevalence of strategic ignorance largely negates the effectiveness of calorie information provision: on average, subjects who have the option to ignore calorie information consume about the same number of calories as subjects who are provided no information.
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| 4. |
- Nordström, Jonas
(författare)
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The Cost of Children: Differences between the Genders
- 2009
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper we estimate the opportunity cost of children. The underlying theoretical model is represented by a household production model. In the empirical analysis, we consider three different cohorts for men and women born between 1955 and 1970. For the women in the two oldest cohorts, the opportunity cost of two children is estimated to 28-29 per cent of full income, which in monetary terms is close to the estimated income difference between women employed in the public and private sector. The opportunity cost of fatherhood is generally positive, but only significantly positive for men born between 1960 and 1965.
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| 5. |
- Nordström, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of price reductions on on individuals’ choice of healthy meals away from home
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Food high in energy but low in nutritional value is an important contributor to several serious illnesses, and one type of food that is particularly high in energy but low in nutrition is food consumed away from home. In this paper, we examine the demand and willingness to pay for healthy, Keyhole-labelled meals. A Keyhole-labelled meal is particularly low in calories, fat, sugar and salt, but particularly high in fibre. The results suggest that to get the majority of individuals to choose the healthy option regularly it would be necessary to alter the relativeprice between healthy and less healthy meals. Generally groups of individuals with a poor nutritional intake require a larger compensation (subsidy) before they choose the healthy alternative. About one third of respondents would choose the healthy option regularly if the prices for a healthy and less healthy meal were the same. In particular groups of individuals who already have a relatively good nutritional intake would select the healthy option. Groups with a generally poor nutritional intake (men and individuals with lower education and lower income) would gain health benefits from a subsidy of Keyhole-labelled meals.
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| 6. |
- Nordström, Jonas
(författare)
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Valuation of health inputs and convenience in new products
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The prevalence of illnesses related to the modern diet and a more sedentary lifestyle has increased markedly over the last few decades. There is therefore a need for effective strategies to promote health and to reduce the prevalence of diet-related diseases. In this paper, we study the willingness to pay for a new concept, healthy canteen takeaways. In the analysis, we depart from a household production model. To control for possible endogeneity of the health state, we use a control function approach. The result suggests that health inputs, such as low-fat meat and a larger amount of vegetables, increase respondents’ utility. Respondents’ valuations of the convenience attribute are very heterogenous, with both positive and negative values. From a policy perspective, the IV estimation turns out to be of importance, with a sign change in the valuation of low-fat meals for individuals with a poor health state (high BMI).
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| 7. |
- Thunström, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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A Note on the Impact on Sales from Introducing Healthy Labeled Meals on the Lunch Menu
- 2012
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Menu labeling of prepared meals away from home is a policy designed to help consumers make healthier food choices. In this paper, we use a field experiment to analyze if a restaurant benefits from introducing a healthy labeled meal on its menu by experiencing an overall increase in sales. We cannot reject the hypothesis that sales are the same before and after the introduction of a healthy labeled meal on the menu, i.e., our data does not support the idea that restaurants increase their sales from supplying a healthy labeled meal.
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| 8. |
- Thunström, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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Can Taste and Nudging Impact Healthy Meal Consumption? Evidence from a Lunch Restaurant Field Experiment
- 2012
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Previous research shows that taste is one of the most important factors in determining food choices, and that food choices may be affected by ”nudging”. We analyze how taste, as determined by meal attributes, and nudging affects consumption of a healthy labeled meal. Our analysis is based on a field experiment in a lunch restaurant and our results imply that sales of the healthy labelled meal, and its market share, is greatly impacted by its taste. Nudging, as in order of display on the menu, does not impact sales of the healthy labelled meal in our experiment. We conclude that supplying tasty healthy meals may be key to significantly impact healthy eating, superior to other policy measures aimed at encouraging healthier food choices, such as information, nudging and food tax reforms.
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| 9. |
- Thunström, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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The Importance of Taste for Food Demand and the Experienced Taste Effect of Healthy Labels – An Experiment on Potato Chips and Bread
- 2014
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper quantitatively analyzes the importance of taste versus health in food demand,as well as the effect on consumers’ experienced taste of the non-intrinsic value of healthy labels. Our analysis is based on taste experiments and Vickrey second price auctions on potato chips and bread. Our findings imply a large positive effect on demand for potato chips from higher taste scores: when consumers’ experienced taste from potato chips improves by one unit, the average willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a 150 gram bag of chips increases by 25 euro cents. The estimated effect from taste on bread demand is smaller, but may be sizeable for subgroups of consumers. Our evidence suggests that demand for chips and bread is unaffected by nutrition – the effect of the healthy label on WTP is not statistically significant. Finally, we find that consumers’ experienced taste of a food is unaffected by the food carrying a healthy label.
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| 10. |
- Thunström, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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The Importance of Taste for Food Demand and the Experienced Taste Effect of Healthy Labels - An experiment on potato chips and bread
- 2012
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper quantitatively analyzes the importance of taste versus health in food demand, as well as the effect on consumers’ experienced taste of the non-intrinsic value of healthy labels. Our analysis is based on taste experiments and Vickrey second price auctions on potato chips and bread. Our findings imply a large positive effect on demand for potato chips from higher taste scores: when consumers’ experienced taste from potato chips improves by one unit, the average WTP for a 150 gram bag of chips increases by 20 euro cents. The effect from taste on bread demand seems smaller, but may be sizeable for subgroups of consumers. Our evidence suggests that a better nutritional content, as indicated by a healthy label, may also positively affect food demand, but the effect is small and not statistically significant. Finally, we find that consumers’ experienced taste of a food is unaffected by the food carrying a healthy label.
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