Explicit and Implicit Attitudes to Low and High Carbon Footprint Products

Abstract

This paper will outline new research carried out at the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester, England, into how to measure both implicit and explicit attitudes to sustainability. The specific focus of the research are attitudes to the size of carbon footprint associated with a range of consumer products, as measured using explicit measures like the feeling thermometer and a Likert scale and implicit measures like the Implicit Association Test. The research identifies exactly how positively people feel about low carbon footprint products using a range of measures and highlights individuals who appear to be strongly pro-low carbon on the basis of explicit measures but are less positive on the basis of implicit measures, the so-called ‘green fakers’.