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Do eco-communication strategies provide a road to sustainability? Evidence from the passenger vehicle market. Mario F. Teisl, Jonathan Rubin and Caroline L. Noblet Project funded by U.S. EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program; Grant number 83098801 . Presentation outline.
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Do eco-communication strategies provide a road to sustainability? Evidence from the passenger vehicle market Mario F. Teisl, Jonathan Rubin andCaroline L. Noblet Project funded by U.S. EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program; Grant number 83098801
Presentation outline • Motivate & describe project • Motivate & describe paper objectives • Results • Future directions
Why worry about vehicle exhaust? • Air pollution is common and vehicle exhaust is a major culprit
Health effects of exhaust • Irritates the eyes • Reduces lung function • Damages lungs • Aggravates respiratory problems • (e.g., asthma, emphysema bronchitis) • Potentially causes cancer • Reduces flow of O2 in bloodstream • Decreased lifespan
Visibility: 320 km 48 km Eco-effects of exhaust Acid rain Haze
Why use information approaches? • Current C&C policies relatively ineffective • e.g., shift from cars to light duty trucks • Research can design more effective programs • Several states planning or implementing eco-labeling
Project objective • Design and test an eco-marketing & labeling strategy for vehicles
Project description • Baseline (test) data collected • Survey and market-based • Eco-marketing & labeling designed/used • Split ‘sample’ design (treatment-control) • Retest data collected
Marketing components • Labels • Brochures • Website • Newspaper • Radio ads
How we measure effects • Study of vehicle dealers • Campaign website activity • Consumer mail survey
Study of vehicle dealers • Visit 134 car/truck dealers from 24.6 to 22.7, 2005. • 89 visited for a 66 % visitation rate. • Recorded whether dealer displayed: • eco-labels on qualifying vehicles • eco-brochure • Recorded salesperson awareness: • about relevant websites • about the Campaign in general
Analysis • Document level of dealer participation • descriptive statistics: help determine the relative importance of dealer-based eco-labeling versus eco-marketing • Analyze factors influencing dealer participation and staff knowledge KNOW = α + LBL + BROC + TRT
Campaign website activity • The website (www.levforme.com) consisted of a several content areas
Analysis • Use descriptive statistics to analyze the following: • number of unique visitors • number of hits • length of visit • pages visited
Consumer mail survey • Sample • 1.4 million vehicle registrations in Maine • Samples of 1,148 (2004) and 1,163 (2005) • Survey Administration • Three-round Dillman • 60 and 64% response rates • SECs representative
Consumer mail survey • Instrument design • Sections I and II: perception variables • Section III: current vehicle type and use • Section IV: search/use of eco-information • Sections V: label test experiment • Sections VI: vehicle choice experiment • Section VII: SECs.
Analysis DEP = α + YEAR + MKT + ΣSEC + ΣREC • Exposure to the Campaign (SEE) • Behavioral measure (SEARCH) • Perceptual measures • LIKE, DLR, IMP • CONC, AQUAL • LSTYLE, 2HARD, LAWS, MOST, WTP, TRST • ALLS, LPERF, and COST
Participation by vehicle dealers • 11 % displayed eco-stickers • 11 % had eco-brochure available • 4 % had both
Sales personnel knowledge • 2% and 4% of salespeople knew about campaign or DEP websites • 25 % had some Campaign awareness • 15 % knew about CA emission standards
5000 350 4500 300 4000 250 3500 3000 200 Hits Visitors Hits 2500 Unique Visitors 150 2000 1500 100 1000 50 500 0 0 July Nov. April Feb. Feb. June Dec. May Aug. Oct. Sept. March Jan. 06 Jan. 05 Campaign website activity
Did it work? Somewhat • Increase in recognition • Changes in psychological precursors • FIO and PCE increase • TRST in government increases • No change in CONC; decline in perceived air quality • No change in ALLS perception
Next steps: project • Survey (consumer segmentation) • Measure change in Market behavior • Market changes >> emission changes >> health impacts • Explain dealer behavior • Spatial analysis of information dissemination • Dealers • Spread of hybrids (word of mouth)