Stop sending me messages!: The negative impact of persuasive messages on green transportation

Abstract

Persuasive information and communication technology has been used to persuade people to choose fuel-efficient transportation (i.e., green transportation), for example, by sending messages to the public. Many factors may influence the effect of such messages. In this exploratory we report a social experiment, in which participants received persuasive messages from social and non-social approaches. To our surprise, results seem to show a negative impact on green transportation, meaning participants receiving the messages used less green transportation modes. This suggests that messages may not be as an effective way to persuade the public as many organizations’ practice assumes and other persuasive techniques such as real-time feedback and awareness raising techniques may be needed in causing the desired changes.