In an effort to gain expanded insights into the dark side of the sharing economy, the current research investigates direct and indirect negative rebound effects, or sustainability issues, created by ...users of access-based services (ABS). An initial analysis of 31 interviews of ABS users in the clothing industry reveals multiple, different (in)direct positive and negative rebound effects; it also indicates the relevance of considering the beneficiary (self or others) and suggests several potential underlying psychological concepts. Next, a segmentation study with 499 ABS-users establishes five consumer segments that exhibit varying levels of direct, indirect, positive, and/or negative rebound effects. Two distinct psychological patterns emerge that are associated with negative rebound effects. Ultimately, the findings challenge the assumption that ABS unequivocally and consistently drive positive behavioral adjustments. Instead, a non-negligible portion of ABS consumers exhibit increased consumption, with detrimental environmental implications.
•Energy sufficiency actions are associated with rebounds and spillovers.•Rebounds erode a significant proportion of the energy/emission savings.•Sufficiency actions have little influence on aggregate ...energy use.•Time-use rebounds can erode the energy savings from downshifting.
‘Energy sufficiency’ involves reducing consumption of energy services in order to minimise the associated environmental impacts. This may either be through individual actions, such as reducing car travel, or through reducing working time, income and aggregate consumption (‘downshifting’). However, the environmental benefits of both strategies may be less than anticipated. First, people may save money that they can spend on other goods and services that require energy to provide (rebounds). Second, people may feel they have ‘done her bit’ for the environment and can spend time and money on more energy-intensive goods and activities (spillovers). Third, people may save time that they can spend on other activities that require energy to participate in (time-use rebounds). This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on rebounds and spillovers from sufficiency actions, and on time-use rebounds from downshifting. It concludes that: first, rebound effects can erode a significant proportion of the anticipated energy and emission savings from sufficiency actions; second, that such actions appear to have a very limited influence on aggregate energy use and emissions; and third, that downshifting should reduce energy use and emissions, but by proportionately less than the reduction in working hours and income.
The majority of global energy scenarios anticipate a structural break in the relationship between energy consumption and gross domestic product (GDP), with several scenarios projecting absolute ...decoupling, where energy use falls while GDP continues to grow. However, there are few precedents for absolute decoupling, and current global trends are in the opposite direction. This paper explores one possible explanation for the historical close relationship between energy consumption and GDP, namely that the economy-wide rebound effects from improved energy efficiency are larger than is commonly assumed. We review the evidence on the size of economy-wide rebound effects and explore whether and how such effects are taken into account within the models used to produce global energy scenarios. We find the evidence base to be growing in size and quality, but remarkably diverse in terms of the methodologies employed, assumptions used, and rebound mechanisms included. Despite this diversity, the results are broadly consistent and suggest that economy-wide rebound effects may erode more than half of the expected energy savings from improved energy efficiency. We also find that many of the mechanisms driving rebound effects are overlooked by integrated assessment and global energy models. We therefore conclude that global energy scenarios may underestimate the future rate of growth of global energy demand.
•Many global energy scenarios show a structural break in the energy-GDP relationship.•However there is no precedent for absolute decoupling at the global level.•Large economy-wide rebound is one explanation for the historical close coupling.•Evidence from 33 studies suggests economy-wide rebound effects typically exceed 50%.•By neglecting these effects, global models may underestimate future energy demand.
Innovations in the mobility industry such as automated and connected cars could significantly reduce congestion and emissions by allowing the traffic to flow more freely and reducing the number of ...vehicles according to some researchers. However, the effectiveness of these sustainable product and service innovations is often limited by unexpected changes in consumption: some researchers thus hypothesize that the higher comfort and improved quality of time in driverless cars could lead to an increase in demand for driving with autonomous vehicles. So far, there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting either one or other of these hypotheses. To analyze the influence of autonomous driving on mobility behavior and to uncover user preferences, which serve as indicators for future travel mode choices, we conducted an online survey with a paired comparison of current and future travel modes with 302 participants in Germany. The results do not confirm the hypothesis that ownership will become an outdated model in the future. Instead they suggest that private cars, whether conventional or fully automated, will remain the preferred travel mode. At the same time, carsharing will benefit from full automation more than private cars. However, the findings indicate that the growth of carsharing will mainly be at the expense of public transport, showing that more emphasis should be placed in making public transport more attractive if sustainable mobility is to be developed.
•we reviewed circular economy rebounds (CERs) from lessors and lessees of a P2P boat sharing platform.•almost a third of users experienced backfire.•increases in personal use of the shared boat and ...increases in air travel were the largest contributors to CERs.•Primary production and the substitution of air travel for the leasing of a boat created the main reductions in emissions.•Non-economic incentives tailored to lessors and lessees are needed to address CERs.
Renting instead of buying new products may be seen as the most efficient strategies of the circular economy. However, changes in the consumption inevitably liberates or binds scarce production or consumption factors such as raw materials, money and time which can potentially limit the potential to save resources. This phenomenon is known as environmental rebound effect and is currently under-researched in the context of resource sharing. This paper reviews the magnitude and tendency of environmental rebound effects of peer-to-peer boat sharing platform using a double-spending model (i.e. for lessors as well lessees). We found that environmental rebound effect was experienced by every lessee surveyed (n = 104) and in one-third of lessors (n = 29). 60 % of lessees experienced a rebound of over 20 %, losing one-fifth of the potential reductions in emissions through subsequent consumption behaviour enabled by the economic savings created by sharing resources. International air travel and increases in personal use of the boat were the biggest contributing factors towards environmental rebound effect. Users that increased consumption in these ways experienced a backfire effect in which their annual emissions actually increased. This backfire was experienced by 29 % of lessees with the worst scenario increasing emissions by a factor of over eight. We found statistically significant differences in the rebound of lessors and lessees. Greater awareness and non-economic mechanisms (such as symbolic rewards, information provision and nudging) tailored for lessors and lessees are needed to help prevent the likelihood of occurrence and the magnitude of environmental rebound effects from sharing resources.
Car-sharing platforms provide access to a shared rather than a private fleet of automobiles distributed in the region. Participation in such services induces changes in mobility behaviour as well as ...vehicle ownership patterns that could have positive environmental impacts. This study contributes to the understanding of the total mobility-related greenhouse gas emissions reduction related to business-to-consumer car-sharing participation. A comprehensive model which takes into account distances travelled annually by the major urban transport modes as well as their life-cycle emissions factors is proposed, and the before-and-after analysis is conducted for an average car-sharing member in three geographical cases (Netherlands, San Francisco, Calgary). In addition to non-operational emissions for all the transport modes involved, this approach considers the rebound effects associated with the modal shift effect (substituting driving distances with alternative modes) and the lifetime shift effect for the shared automobiles, phenomena which have been barely analysed in the previous studies. As a result, in contrast to the previous impact assessments in the field, a significantly more modest reduction of the annual total mobility-related life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions caused by car-sharing participation has been estimated, 3–18% for three geographical case studies investigated (versus up to 67% estimated previously). This suggests the significance of the newly considered effects and provides with the practical implications for improved assessments in the future.
•Modal shift effect has a strong rebound impact on environmental benefits of CS.•Lifetime shift effect could preserve manufacturing emissions while sharing cars.•LCA approach accounts for such effects if all transport modes are considered.•CS participation reduces annual mobility emissions by 3–18% for the average member.
Abstract Despite its importance, the understanding of the behavioural mechanisms underlying rebound effects triggered by sustainable design is still limited. Through a systematic literature review, ...this study analyses and discusses 18 behavioural mechanisms. The key gaps of behavioural research on rebound effects are (1) limited in-depth analysis of different mechanisms (2); lack of clearly defined concepts; and (3) neglect of various research topics. To bring the behavioural understanding of rebound effects and sustainable design to a higher level, four key steps for future research are suggested.
Global resource use and related emissions continue to rise despite decades of public and private sector marketing efforts to encourage more sustainable consumption. One question seldom addressed in ...the sustainability literature is the degree to which sustainable marketing mixes might paradoxically encourage higher levels of consumption by reducing purchase related guilt and costs. The current research examines fast fashion sustainability initiatives and finds evidence of moral self licensing and rebound effects that lead to higher predicted sales even among the most environmentally conscious consumers. Implications for sustainability researchers and practitioners are then discussed.
•We provide a review of research on pro-environmental behavior spillover.•We forward a unifying framework that accounts for existing mixed results.•We propose that affect-based decisions lead to ...negative spillover.•We propose that role-based decisions lead to positive spillover.•We identify literature gaps and highlight the need for policy-relevant research.
A recent surge of research has investigated the potential of pro-environmental behavior interventions to affect other pro-environmental behaviors not initially targeted by the intervention. The evidence evaluating these spillover effects has been mixed, with some studies finding evidence for positive spillover (i.e., one pro-environmental behavior increases the likelihood of performing additional pro-environmental behaviors) and others finding negative spillover (i.e., one pro-environmental behavior decreases the likelihood of additional pro-environmental behaviors). Different academic disciplines have investigated this question, employing different methodologies and arriving at divergent findings. This paper provides a unifying theoretical framework and uses the framework to review the existing research on pro-environmental behavior spillover. Our framework identifies different decision modes as competing mechanisms that drive adoption of initial pro-environmental behaviors, with different consequences for subsequent pro-environmental behaviors, leading to positive, negative, or no spillover. Attribution of the initial pro-environmental behavior to either an external motivator (e.g., a price signal) or internal motivator (e.g., self-identity) also matters. In addition, the characteristics of and similarity between initial and subsequent pro-environmental behaviors can be expected to moderate predicted spillover effects. We explore the implications of our model for policymakers and practitioners, and suggest key areas where future research on the topic would be most beneficial.
•We analyse 15-years of data from the English National travel survey.•We identify associations between teleworking frequency and distance travelled, while controlling for a range of variables.•We ...find that the majority of teleworkers travel farther each week than non-teleworkers, despite taking fewer trips.•We find that the total weekly travel of all household members is greater in households where one member is teleworking.•We find that the majority of teleworkers travel farther for business each week than non-teleworkers.
The global pandemic has revived debates about the contribution of teleworking to reducing travel, air pollution and carbon emissions. However, previous research suggests that the availability of teleworking may encourage people to move farther from their place of work, creating the risk that longer commutes will offset the benefits of fewer commutes. In addition, teleworking may encourage additional non-work travel by the teleworker, and/or influence the travel behaviour of other household members. These complex interactions make the overall impacts of teleworking difficult to predict.
In this context, we use data from the English National Travel Survey to estimate the impact of teleworking on the travel patterns of English households over the period 2005–2019. We compare the number of trips and distance travelled by teleworkers each week with the number of trips and distance travelled by non-teleworkers, controlling for a range of socio-economic, demographic and regional variables. We estimate the impact of teleworking on travel by purpose (commuting, non-work and business) and by mode (car, public transport and active travel) and investigate the impact on the travel patterns of other household members.
Our results provide little support for the claim that teleworking reduces travel. Indeed, after controlling for a range of variables, we find that the majority of English teleworkers travel farther each week than non-teleworkers. This results from a combination of longer commutes and additional non-work travel. There appears to be a ‘tipping point’, however. If people telework three or more times a week, their weekly private travel (commuting + non-work) is less than that of non-teleworkers. We also find that the total weekly travel of all household members is greater in households where one member is teleworking, suggesting the presence of intra-household effects that further erode the benefits of fewer commutes. We additionally find that teleworkers engage in more business travel than non-teleworkers, although the reasons for this association are unclear. We discuss the factors contributing to these results and indicate priorities for further research.
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