Evaluating the Effectiveness of Climate Warning Labels on Gas Pumps

 Effective communication about the risks that different behaviors pose for increasing anthropogenic climate change is important for raising awareness for the issue and reducing one’s contribution to it. Via a collaboration between the Social Influence and Social Change Lab and the non-profit Think Beyond The Pump (TBTP) we will examine the effects of climate labels on gas pumps. The main goals of this collaborative research effort are to (a) design a climate warning label which can be placed on gas pumps to warn Americans about the dangers of using gasoline and diesel, relying on extensive theoretical argumentation on effective climate communication, and (b) evaluate the how seeing this label influences consumers’ attitudes, beliefs and behavioral intentions. The resulting climate label will be evaluated through a series of experiments to determine whether it influences public perceptions about the risks of using/burning gasoline.