Ecological Footprint and Willingness to Pay for Green Goods: Evidence from the Netherlands

Human consumption of scarce ecological resources is at the heart of the climate
change crisis. Mitigating climate change will require changes in consumer be-
havior. Further, to respond effectively, policymakers need information on the en-
vironmental impact of individuals’ behaviors. In this paper, we study the effect
of socio-demographic characteristics and personality traits on individuals’ en-
vironmental impact measured by their ecological footprint. We also investigate
consumers’ willingness to pay for “green” goods. Using survey data from the
Netherlands, first, we construct individuals’ ecological footprint. The survey also
uses a 50-item personality scale developed by Goldberg (1992) to construct five
personality traits. We find that individuals with higher personal income, less than
a high school education, males, the employed, and people living in rural areas are
associated with a higher EF. We also find that consumers’ WTP and demand are
responsive to price increases in high-emitting goods and personality traits. We
contribute to our understanding of the influence of socio-demographic and per-
sonality characteristics on the actual ecological footprint at the individual level.
Further, we contribute to the economic literature on consumers’ WTP for “green”
products as well as the ongoing discussion on using market-based solutions to
tackle climate change.