A Comparison of Tourists’ Valuation of Climate Change Policy Using Different Pricing Frames

Abstract

Tourism destinations are increasingly concerned about global climate change and considering to become involved in the adoption of mitigation policies that reduce global emissions. On the other hand, behavioral sciences have shown that consumers’ choices may be significantly influenced by the way that they are framed. In this article, we test the impact of alternative ways to frame the pricing of climate change policies on the values and preferences of tourists. The evidence comes from three different experiments on a proposal to mitigate climate change through a carbon offset program using both an opt-out pricing frame and in an opt-in pricing frame. The results show that the opt-out frame led to a larger probability of accepting to pay the price for a carbon offset policy proposal. The main implication is that destinations’ climate change policies should take into account the designs of the frame in which policies are posed.