Environmental Labels May Discourage Conservatives from Buying Energy-Efficient Products

Prof Rick Larrick looks at how political ideology affects how people buy energy-efficient products

April 30, 2013

When it comes to deciding which light bulb to buy, a label touting the product's environmental benefit may actually discourage politically conservative shoppers.

Dena Gromet and Howard Kunreuther at The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Rick Larrick at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business conducted two studies to determine how political ideology affected a person's choice to buy energy-efficient products in the United States.