0000000000824420
AUTHOR
Andreas Diekmann
Das Feldexperiment von Best und die Low-Cost-Hypothese. Eine Erwiderung / The Field Study by Best and the Low-Cost Hypothesis. A Reply
Zusammenfassung In unserer Replik auf den Artikel von Best (ZfS 2/2009) skizzieren wir ein einfaches Modell umweltverantwortlicher Entscheidungen. Unter bestimmten Verteilungsannahmen folgt die Low-Cost-Hypothese aus diesem Modell. Es erklärt zudem die diskrepanten Ergebnisse der Studien von Derksen und Gartrell (1993) und Best zum Recyclingverhalten.
Green and Greenback
The low-cost hypothesis predicts that the strength of effects of environmental concern on environmental behavior diminishes with increasing behavioral costs. Thus, environmental concern influences environmental behavior primarily in situations and under conditions connected with low costs and little inconvenience for individual actors. In a first step, we develop and specify this hypothesis. Referring to two procedures, we then test it on the basis of an environmental survey of a random sample of 2307 respondents from the German population. The empirical evidence is positive. The low-cost hypothesis is not confined to the area of environmental research. It points to general limits of attit…
Annoyance due to residential road traffic and aircraft noise: Empirical evidence from two European cities
Based on a study in two European cities, Mainz in Germany and Zurich in Switzerland, the article investigates both acoustical and non-acoustical factors affecting indoor annoyance due to residential road traffic and aircraft noise. We specifically focus on three factors: (1) the role of windows as a feature of the building where people live; (2) the role of individual environmental concern as a general attitude; and (3) the role of household income as an indicator of socioeconomic resources. Empirical results show that closed windows in general and closed high-quality windows in particular are an important barrier against outdoor road traffic and aircraft noise, as well as a helpful subject…