The role of political orientation and value framing in carbon pricing acceptance: Evidence from a representative sample

Abstract

Carbon pricing is a policy instrument for mitigating climate change. For such climate policies to be enforceable and effective, citizen support is crucial. We examined how values and political orientation relate to people's acceptance of carbon pricing using Schwartz's theory of basic human values and a representative online survey of 4091 Austrian residents. The results showed that liberals were more in favor of carbon pricing than conservatives. This effect can partly be explained by the value of universalism (i.e., the value of the welfare of all people and nature) which is more important to liberals than to conservatives. However, presenting messages that emphasized the need for carbon pricing and were framed in accordance with values that fit participants' political orientation did not influence how much people accepted carbon pricing. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and suggest directions for future research.