Mitigating Public Concerns About Recycled Drinking Water: Leveraging the Power of Voting and Communication

Abstract

This research studies the perceptions of individuals concerning reused drinking water. Individuals' visceral responses may stigmatize reused water as the water's immediate origin is too clear. In this context, we show how individuals grow more accepting of reused water when their decisions consider others, as opposed to just themselves. First, differences between private and public decision making are quantified using willingness to accept (WTA) data collected in economic experiments. Adult participants first made decisions in a second-price auction (private rounds) followed by majority-rule voting (public rounds) on the median price collected in the private rounds. Our results show that participants in the public rounds significantly reduce their WTA. Moreover, a communication treatment using chat boxes further reduced participants' WTA. The recorded chat indicated that particularly messages related to humor and persuasion were powerful influences on participants' voting decisions. The results have applications for sustainable, cost-effective recycled water projects.