Information framing and willingness to pay for climate policy: evidence from a cross-national survey experiment

Purpose We investigate the impact of various climate message framings on environmental willingness to pay (WTP) across two countries, the USA and the Netherlands, chosen for their differing economic, cultural and environmental contexts. Design/methodology/approach Based on the theories of environmental communication and message framing, we conducted a randomized survey experiment (N = 1,511) exposing participants to four different informational messages: no information, general climate information, specific climate health impact, behavioral impact, and a combination of health and behavioral impact. After receiving the messages, participants indicate their WTP for climate policy. Findings On an average, we find no treatment effects in either country. A pooled model with treatment-by-knowledge interactions, combined with a correction for multiple hypothesis testing, reveals that effects are concentrated in a single subgroup: in the Netherlands, the General Info and Combined Info treatments significantly increase the WTP among moderately informed respondents, while no treatment effect survives correction in the USA. Originality/value These findings suggest that the effectiveness of climate communication is contingent on the interaction between message content, audience prior knowledge and national context, rather than reflecting a uniform response to information provision. Because the effects are concentrated within one knowledge subgroup in one country, the results should be read as suggestive evidence that motivates more targeted communication strategies, rather than as a basis for broad policy prescriptions.