The impact of nature video exposure on pro-environmental behavior: An experimental investigation

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 11; p. e0275806
• Main Authors: Ibanez, Lisette, Roussel, Sébastien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 08.11.2022
• Subjects: Action; Behavior; Biodiversity; Biology and Life Sciences; Cooperation; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Economics and Finance; Energy consumption; Engineering and Technology; Environmental aspects; Environmental behavior; Environmental impact; Environmental policy; Environmental testing; Evaluation; Experiments; Exposure; Headphones; Human acts; Human behavior; Humanities and Social Sciences; Laboratories; Natural environment; Nature; Nature conservation; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Physical Sciences; Recycling; Social Sciences; France
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275806

We analyze whether exposure to a nature documentary increases pro-environmental behavior (PEB). We test this causal link in an experiment where subjects viewed a video featuring either an urban (control treatment) or a nature setting (nature treatment). We consider two types of behavior: a monetary donation to an environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO) that we call an eco-donation, and subsequently, a non-monetary decision (i.e., recycle or not recycle headphone protectors) that we call an eco-action. We find that virtual exposure to nature boosts both eco-donation and eco-action. Interestingly, the increase in PEB only occurs for individuals who express low environmental values. We did not find any negative or positive spillover effects on the eco-action. We finally provide robustness checks and discuss policy implications.