Motivating the selfish to stop idling: Self-interest cues can improve environmentally relevant driver behaviour

Van de Vyver, J.; Abrams, D.; Hopthrow, T.; Purewal, K.; Randsley de Moura, G.; Meleady, R.

doi:10.1016/j.trf.2018.01.015

Motivating the selfish to stop idling: Self-interest cues can improve environmentally relevant driver behaviour

Van de Vyver, J.; Abrams, D.; Hopthrow, T.; Purewal, K.; Randsley de Moura, G.; Meleady, R.

Authors

Dr Julie Van De Vyver julie.van-de-vyver@durham.ac.uk
Seminars/Lectures (PTT)

D. Abrams

T. Hopthrow

K. Purewal

G. Randsley de Moura

R. Meleady

Abstract

Air pollution has a huge and negative impact on society, and idling engines are a major contributor to air pollution. The current paper draws on evolutionary models of environmental behaviour to test whether appeals to self-interest can encourage drivers to turn off their engines at long wait stops. Using an experimental design, drivers were shown one of three self-interest appeals (financial, health, kin) while waiting at a congested level-crossing site in the UK. Results showed that all three self-interest appeals increased the chances of drivers turning off their engines compared to the control condition. Specifically, drivers were approximately twice as likely to turn off their engines in the self-interest conditions (39–41% compliance) compared to drivers in the control condition (22% compliance). Thus, self-interest motives can be effective for promoting pro-environmental behavioural compliance. Theoretical and applied implications of this research are discussed.

Citation

Van de Vyver, J., Abrams, D., Hopthrow, T., Purewal, K., Randsley de Moura, G., & Meleady, R. (2018). Motivating the selfish to stop idling: Self-interest cues can improve environmentally relevant driver behaviour. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 54, 79-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.01.015

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 22, 2018
Online Publication Date	Feb 14, 2018
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2018
Deposit Date	Sep 6, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Sep 7, 2018
Journal	Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
Print ISSN	1369-8478
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	54
Pages	79-85
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.01.015
Related Public URLs	http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/31138/

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Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).