GEM

Segmentation of survey respondents is a common tool in environmental communication as it helps to understand opinions of people and to deliver targeted messages. Prior research has segmented people based on their opinions about the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainabilit...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Savin, Ivan|||0000-0002-9469-0510, Drews, Stefan|||0000-0001-6393-3121, Van den Bergh, Jeroen|||0000-0003-3415-3083
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:243354
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/243354
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107092
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Agrowth
Degrowth
Green growth
Machine learning
Public opinion
Descripción
Sumario:Segmentation of survey respondents is a common tool in environmental communication as it helps to understand opinions of people and to deliver targeted messages. Prior research has segmented people based on their opinions about the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. This involved an evaluation of 16 statements, which means considerable survey time and cost, particularly if administered by a third party, as well as cognitive burden on respondents, increasing the chance of incomplete responses. In this study, we apply a machine learning algorithm to results from past surveys among citizens and scientists to identify a robust, minimal set of questions that accurately segments respondents regarding their opinion on growth versus the environment. In particular, we distinguish three groups, called Green growth, Agrowth and Degrowth. To this end, we identify five perceptions, namely regarding 'environmental protection', 'public services', 'life satisfaction', 'stability' and 'development space'. Prediction accuracy ranges between 81% and 89% across surveys and opinion segments. We apply the proposed set of questions on growth-vs-environment to a new survey from 2020 to illustrate its use as an efficient instrument in future surveys.