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Field
Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
We implemented a 2*4 between-subject experiment research design. Each
group of respondents was shown a vignette consisting of three main parts: 1) an introduction text about a current climate change mitigation policy in Germany, 2) a randomisation into an elite-cue treatment group (vs. control group with no extra information), 3) a randomisation into one of 4 treatment groups (3 inequality treatment groups and one control group).
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After
We implemented a 2*4 between-subject experiment research design. Each
group of respondents was shown an information treatment consisting of three main parts: 1) an introduction text about a current climate change mitigation policy in Germany, 2) a randomisation into an elite-cue treatment group (vs. control group with no extra information), 3) a randomisation into one of 4 treatment groups (3 inequality treatment groups and one control group).
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Field
Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
We implemented a 2*4 between-subject experiment research design. Each
group of respondents was shown a vignette consisting of three main parts: the first part of
the vignette presented the respondent with a graphical representation of the rise in the Earth’s
temperature. This is included with the aim to bring the severity of climate change to the
respondent’s mind, without biasing the topic in any inequality-related direction by including
text that would otherwise explain related consequences of climate change. After the image,
the respondent is given the following factual text: ”In order to reduce CO2 emissions and
thus combat climate change, the German federal government has decided to set a price per
ton of CO2. This is currently €30 and is to be increased to €55 by 2025. This means that
many everyday expenditures will gradually become more expensive.”. The second part of the
vignette introduced the first experimental variation (the court treatment) in two dimensions.
Respondents were either assigned to a treatment where we highlighted the court’s ruling, orto a control group with no further information (with equal probability): ”Germany’s highest
court, the Federal Constitutional Court, ruled in 2021 that the state is obliged to take more
comprehensive climate protection measures.”. The third part of the vignette introduced the
second experimental variation - the inequality treatment. Before being randomly assigned into
the four dimensions, all four groups receive the additional information that: ”A reduction in
CO2 emissions is necessary if living conditions on our planet are not to deteriorate further.”.
This additional information equally highlights the necessity for a reduction in CO2 emissions
across the groups. The aim of this is to make the treatment groups somewhat more comparable,
so that the emphasis is laid rather on the need for climate change action, than on the potential
inequalities.3 The four randomization groups: 1) a generational inequality treatment group
which highlighted how the carbon taxation policy would benefit future generations (”Thus, the
additional costs incurred now will benefit younger as well as future generations.”); 2) an economic
inequality treatment group, highlighting the likely increase in income inequality following such
carbon taxation policies (”However, people with low incomes have to spend a larger share of
their income on CO2-taxed goods and are thus burdened more than those with high incomes.”);
3) an economic and generational inequality treatment group that combines the two primes from
the first two dimensions. This group is further randomized so that half of the group receives the
economic inequality prime, and then the generational inequality prime, and the second group
receives the same information in the reversed order. The aim of this combined group is to
combat the problem of our rather incomparable treatment groups (generational and economic
inequality). Lastly, dimension 4) is a control group that receives no further priming information.
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After
We implemented a 2*4 between-subject experiment research design. Each group of respondents was shown an information treatment consisting of three main parts: the first part of the survey experiment presented to the respondent is a graphical representation of the rise in the Earth’s temperature. This is included with the aim to bring the severity of climate change to the respondent’s mind, without biasing the topic in any inequality-related direction by including text that would otherwise explain related consequences of climate change. After the image, the respondent is given the following factual text: ”In order to reduce CO2 emissions and thus combat climate change, the German government has decided to set a price per tonne of CO2. This CO2 price will be gradually increased. This means that climate-damaging products will become more expensive.” (in German: “Um CO2-Emissionen zu senken und damit den Klimawandel zu bekämpfen, hat die deutsche Bundesregierung entschieden einen Preis pro Tonne CO2 festzulegen. Dieser CO2 Preis wird nach und nach erhöht. Das bedeutet, dass klimaschädliche Produkte teurer werden.“).
The first part of the information treatment introduces the first experimental variation - the inequality treatment, which has 4 randomization groups.
1) a generational inequality treatment group which highlights how the carbon price policy would benefit future generations (”The additional costs that are now being incurred will primarily benefit younger and future generations.” In German: “Die jetzt anfallenden zusätzlichen Kosten kommen dabei vor allem den jüngeren und zukünftigen Generationen zugute.“)
2) an economic inequality treatment group, highlighting the likely increase in income inequality following such carbon pricing policies (”People with low incomes have to spend a larger share of their income on CO2-priced goods and are thus burdened more than those with high incomes.”. In German: “Dabei müssen Personen mit geringem Einkommen einen größeren Anteil ihres Einkommens für CO2 bepreiste Güter aufwenden und werden dadurch stärker belastet als Gutverdienende.“)
3) an economic and generational inequality treatment group that combines the two primes from the first two dimensions. This group is further randomized so that half of the group receives the economic inequality prime, and then the generational inequality prime, and the second group receives the same information in the reversed order. The aim of this combined group is to combat the problem of our rather incomparable treatment groups (generational and economic inequality). As well as eliminating first-order effects
4) the last group is a control group that receives no further priming information.
The second experiment variation (the court treatment) randomizes respondents into 2 groups. Respondents are either assigned to a treatment where we highlighted the court’s ruling, or to a control group with no further information (with equal probability): ”Germany's highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court, also ruled in 2021 that the state is obliged to take comprehensive climate protection measures.” (in German: “Das höchste deutsche Gericht, das Bundesverfassungsgericht, hat 2021 zudem entschieden, dass der Staat zu umfassenden Klimaschutzmaßnahmen verpflichtet ist.“).
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