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Information Nudges and Consumer Willingness to Invest in Microplastic-Free Water
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This study design tests whether providing consumers with specific information about microplastic concentrations in their primary drinking water source increases their willingness to pay for a certified microplastic-removing water filter, using a randomized online choice experiment. Understanding the behavioral economics of microplastic risk communication is important for designing effective public health messaging and identifying market demand for filtration solutions.
The average person consumes up to five grams of microplastics, plastics smaller than 5mm in size, a week, primarily through tap and bottled water. Filtration devices on the market work to remove microplastics, but it is unknown how much people utilize these technologies and which factors influence their willingness to adopt and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for them. In this study, we examine the effect of an information nudge on consumers’ WTP for a water filter that removes microplastics in their drinking water. We will recruit respondents through the Prolific platform to complete online surveys designed and administered in Qualtrics. The first survey intends to identify respondents' primary source of drinking water: tap, bottled, or filtered water. Those who do not already have a microplastic-removing water filter will be invited to participate in a second survey, which will randomly assign survey respondents to the control group, which receives a simple definition of microplastics, and the treatment group which receives a message that includes information about the potential concentration of microplastics in their primary drinking water source. Then, all participants will be asked to select one out of two water filter options with different hypothetical attributes through a choice experiment. The attributes include water filter type, microplastic removal, certification by the NSF, and price. We hypothesize increased WTP for microplastic removal by respondents who receive the nudge. If effective, information nudges could prove an affordable tool for policymakers to encourage uptake of microplastic-removing technologies.
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