Psychological and Behavioral Effects of Travel Feedback Program for Travel Behavior Modification

Abstract

The effects of the Travel Feedback Program (TFP) on travel behaviors and psychological factors that may influence automobile use were investigated. TFP was proposed as a method of modifying travel behavior with automobile use into travel behavior without automobile use. In TFP, participants were asked to report their travel activity behavior, after which they received feedback on that behavior, including information about the amount of carbon dioxide emission resulting from the behavior, and comments or suggestions from the program coordinators on how to reduce automobile use. The behavioral and psychological effects produced by TFP were theoretically investigated on the basis of norm activation theory, which describes the psychological process of altruistic behavior proposed in social psychology. From the theory that automobile-use reduction or pro-environmental behavior is influenced by behavioral intention to reduce automobile use, it was hypothesized that behavioral intention is in turn influenced by moral obligation, and moral obligation is in turn influenced by awareness of the negative environmental consequences of automobile use. The psychological and behavioral data confirmed the set of hypotheses of causal relations, and the data indicated that TFP has a significant positive effect on pro-environmental behavior even 1 year after participation in TFP.