Towards more sustainable online consumption: The impact of default and informational nudging on consumers’ choice of delivery mode

The increasing CO2 emissions from e-commerce deliveries present a pressing environmental concern. If half of all consumers decided to have their online order delivered to a pick-up point instead of at home, this could vastly reduce CO2 emissions of e-commerce. This study investigated (a) whether nudging could help consumers shift towards pick-up point delivery as a more sustainable choice, and (b) which type of nudging would be most effective. An RCT was conducted with a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 1213). In an online store setting, participants selected a product and completed the check-out process – selecting between more and less sustainable delivery options. Their selection had real consequences as the gift would be delivered with the selected delivery method. Four different nudging conditions were contrasted: a default nudge, in which the most sustainable option (i.e., delivery to pick-up point) was selected automatically, and three decision-information nudges, in which CO2 emissions for the delivery options was displayed. The decision-information nudges varied in complexity, from high complexity (emissions in grams of CO2 for each delivery option) to medium (percentage of CO2 reduction for the most sustainable option) and low complexity (a green leaf next to the most sustainable option). Relative to control, the default nudge was the most effective at steering participants towards the most sustainable delivery choice, followed by the medium- and low-informational nudging conditions. In addition, instead of steering them towards the most sustainable delivery option, the high-informational nudge appeared to steer participants away from the two most polluting delivery options – thereby potentially saving more greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) than the other conditions. In sum, this study provides substantial evidence for the use of behavioral strategies in quest towards more sustainable online consumption.