Purchases of voluntary carbon offsets (VCOs) are growing tremendously. At the same time, the number of activities and products for which VCOs are available is increasing. Experts discuss whether offering VCOs is exclusively associated with positive effects on the environment or if it instead may lead to increased consumption of environmentally critical products. To date, empirical evidence on such adverse effects is scarce. Therefore, this study uses a randomized controlled trial design to investigate how the availability of VCOs affects consumers' choices for environmentally critical products. The results suggest that when VCOs are available, the likelihood of environmentally critical consumption increases. From a mental accounting perspective, our findings support the theoretical rationale of VCOs as an instrument for moral licensing. Additionally, our results indicate that individuals tend to trivialize the harmfulness of the environmentally critical product and overestimate the effectiveness of VCOs for environmental protection, which we consider strategies for reducing cognitive dissonance and guilt.

中文翻译：

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环境关键产品的自愿碳抵消和消费者选择——一项实验研究

自愿碳补偿 (VCO) 的购买量正在大幅增长。与此同时，可使用 VCO 的活动和产品的数量正在增加。专家们讨论了提供 VCO 是否仅与对环境的积极影响相关，或者它是否可能导致对环境关键产品的消费增加。迄今为止，关于此类不利影响的经验证据很少。因此，本研究使用随机对照试验设计来调查 VCO 的可用性如何影响消费者对环境关键产品的选择。结果表明，当 VCO 可用时，环境临界消耗的可能性会增加。从心理会计的角度来看，我们的研究结果支持 VCO 作为道德许可工具的理论依据。