Factors influencing the willingness to pay for aviation voluntary carbon offsets: А literature review

Abstract

One measure to mitigate the carbon emissions created from air travel is voluntary carbon offsets (VCO). As a voluntary measure, the question of whether there is willingness to pay (WTP) for VCOs and due to what factors is as old as the concept itself. A vast amount of literature has studied the factors influencing WTP for VCOs, producing diverse but also contradictory results. In order to shed new light on the question of which factors influence air passengers’ WTP, a systematic quantitative literature review assessing the existing literature on this topic was conducted. Out of 332 studies, 47 articles published between 2004 and 2020 were selected and analysed. The results showed that the highest WTP can be found among young, high-income and highly educated air travellers that are aware of aviation’s contribution to climate change and feel personally responsible for their own contribution to it. Gender played no role in WPT. In terms of the offsetting programs themselves, they should be built to create trust in their effectiveness, establish a clear link between customers’ paying and the positive outcome for the environment, be transparent, not be priced too high and, most importantly, air passengers should be made aware of their existence.