Can State Regulation of Car Use Activate a Moral Obligation to Use Sustainable Modes of Transport?

ABSTRACT

This study proposed and tested the following hypothesis: the introduction of a law to prohibit defective behavior with regard to choice of transport mode would activate moral obligation to cooperate without increasing awareness of the consequences of the behavior. This hypothesis implies that a coercive regulative law or a transportation demand management measure such as car restriction might activate moral motivation to refrain from car use. We conducted a scenario experiment (n = 1200) in which participants were asked to evaluate their moral obligation to prohibit their car use and their awareness of the consequences of car use. The data supported our hypothesis.

Key Words:

• moral obligation
• transportation demand management
• travel behavior change

Notes

Scale endpoints for all items: “I think so” and “I do not think so.”

¹The results of post hoc tests for which conditions that differ from each other can be obtained from the author.

p value is bold if p < .05.