Coercion, Volition, and Willingness to Pay: Exploring the Effectiveness of Three Strategies to Reduce Environmental Damage of Individual Internet Usage

Internet usage causes significant environmental harm through emissions from its infrastructure. This study investigated the impacts of willingness to pay a premium and green motivation on intention to reduce internet usage. A survey experiment with 376 subjects found that learning about internet pollution increases both autonomous and controlled motivations, heightening the intention to reduce internet usage. However, when offered the option to pay for environmental damage, the impact of autonomous motivation decreased, controlled motivation improved, and the intention to reduce internet use slightly decreased. The findings contribute to enhance knowledge on corrective information system use, green motivation, and willingness to pay in the context of the internet.