Abstract
This article discusses how people often neglect the financial costs associated with driving. As a consequence they take trips that are contrary to their own self-interest and cause unnecessary harm to the environment through carbon emissions. Two empirical studies demonstrate that when people do explicitly consider financial costs they are inclined to drive less. The article concludes by offering several solutions to help people learn and account for their driving costs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
AAA (2009) Your driving costs. American Automobile Association, Heathrow
Larrick RP (2004) Debiasing. In Koehler DJ, Harvey N (eds) Blackwell handbook of judgment and decision making. Blackwell, Oxford
Larrick RP, Soll JB (2008) The MPG illusion. Science 320:1593–1594
Lastovicka JL, Bettencourt LA, Hughner RS, Kuntze RJ (1999) Lifestyle of the tight and frugal: theory and measurement. J Consum Res 26:85–98
Rick RI, Cryder CE, Loewenstein G (2008) Tightwads and spendthrifts. J Consum Res 34:767–782
Soman D, Gourville JT (2001) Transaction decoupling: how price bundling affects the decision to consume. J Mark Res 38:30–44
Thaler RH, Sunstein CR (2008) Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press, New Haven
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Feiler, D.C., Soll, J.B. A blind spot in driving decisions: how neglecting costs puts us in overdrive. Climatic Change 98, 285–290 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9759-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9759-z