“It pays to be green”: The role of persuasive communication to foster conservation

Viviana Urueña, Marcela Ibanez, Gerhard Riener

 We experimentally test the effectiveness of narratives and imperatives to promote pro-environmental behavior among rural population in Madagascar. We find support for the predictions by B´enabou et al. (2019) and show that imperatives are more effective at promoting donations for a reforestation project than narratives. Yet, narratives have a larger positive effect for populations with a low level of education. Our results suggest that emphasizing the consequences of environmental degradation on future living conditions (food insecurity, low productivity) is an effective frame to promote environmental efforts among low- income populations. However, this form of communication could crowd out donations among participants with high concerns for future generations.