Field Evidence on Nudging High School Students Towards Pro-Environmental Behavior

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature studying the effect of green nudges on the behavior of young people, particularly adolescents. We conducted a field experiment involving high school students to assess the effectiveness of a nudging strategy that aimed at motivating them to power off computers when they are not used in the classroom. Our nudging strategy resulted in a significant reduction in computer power in the treated high school compared to a control high school. We discuss the relevance of our work for research on young people's pro-environmental behavior as well as the implications in terms of policy-making.