Structuring Communication Effectively—The Causal Effects of Communication Elements on Cooperation in Social Dilemmas

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Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)683-712
Number of pages30
JournalEnvironmental and Resource Economics
Volume79
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2021
Externally publishedYes

Abstract

Many environmental problems represent social dilemma situations where individually rational behaviour leads to collectively suboptimal outcomes. Communication has been found to alleviate the dilemma and stimulate cooperation in these situations. Yet, the knowledge of the basic elements, i.e. the types of information that need to be provided and exchanged to make communication effective, is still incomplete. Previous research relies on ex post methods, i.e. after conducting an experiment researchers analyse what information was shared during the communication phase. By nature, this ex post categorization is endogenous. In this study, we identify the basic elements of effective communication ex ante and evaluate their impact in a more controlled way. Based on the findings of previous studies, we identify four cooperation-enhancing elements of communication: (i) problem awareness, (ii) identification of strategies, (iii) agreement, and (iv) ratification. In a laboratory experiment with 560 participants, we implement interventions representing these components and contrast the resulting levels of cooperation with the outcomes under free (unstructured) or no communication. We find that the intervention facilitating agreement on a common strategy (combination of (ii) and (iii)) is particularly powerful in boosting cooperation. And if this is combined with interventions promoting problem awareness and ratification, similar cooperation levels as in settings with free-form communication can be reached. Our results are relevant not only from an analytical perspective, but also provide insights for social dilemma situations in which effective communication processes cannot be successfully self-organized, calling for some form of external, structured facilitation or moderation.

Keywords

    Cooperation, Deliberation, Effective communication, Public good, Social dilemma

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Structuring Communication Effectively—The Causal Effects of Communication Elements on Cooperation in Social Dilemmas. / Koessler, Ann Kathrin; Ortiz-Riomalo, Juan Felipe; Janke, Mathias et al.
In: Environmental and Resource Economics, Vol. 79, No. 4, 08.2021, p. 683-712.

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title = "Structuring Communication Effectively—The Causal Effects of Communication Elements on Cooperation in Social Dilemmas",
abstract = "Many environmental problems represent social dilemma situations where individually rational behaviour leads to collectively suboptimal outcomes. Communication has been found to alleviate the dilemma and stimulate cooperation in these situations. Yet, the knowledge of the basic elements, i.e. the types of information that need to be provided and exchanged to make communication effective, is still incomplete. Previous research relies on ex post methods, i.e. after conducting an experiment researchers analyse what information was shared during the communication phase. By nature, this ex post categorization is endogenous. In this study, we identify the basic elements of effective communication ex ante and evaluate their impact in a more controlled way. Based on the findings of previous studies, we identify four cooperation-enhancing elements of communication: (i) problem awareness, (ii) identification of strategies, (iii) agreement, and (iv) ratification. In a laboratory experiment with 560 participants, we implement interventions representing these components and contrast the resulting levels of cooperation with the outcomes under free (unstructured) or no communication. We find that the intervention facilitating agreement on a common strategy (combination of (ii) and (iii)) is particularly powerful in boosting cooperation. And if this is combined with interventions promoting problem awareness and ratification, similar cooperation levels as in settings with free-form communication can be reached. Our results are relevant not only from an analytical perspective, but also provide insights for social dilemma situations in which effective communication processes cannot be successfully self-organized, calling for some form of external, structured facilitation or moderation.",
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author = "Koessler, {Ann Kathrin} and Ortiz-Riomalo, {Juan Felipe} and Mathias Janke and Stefanie Engel",
note = "Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Funding for this research was provided by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation in the framework of the Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship endowed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, as well as by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Germany). We thank Imke L{\"u}decke, Lea Kolb, Dominik Kohl and Peter Naeve for their valuable support as research assistants, Fabian Thomas for his help in programming the experiment, and the participants of the LEEP conference 2019 as well as the 4th Workshop on Experimental Economics for the Environment in M{\"u}nster for the discussion. Lastly, we would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful feedback. ",
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AU - Koessler, Ann Kathrin

AU - Ortiz-Riomalo, Juan Felipe

AU - Janke, Mathias

AU - Engel, Stefanie

N1 - Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Funding for this research was provided by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation in the framework of the Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship endowed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, as well as by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (Germany). We thank Imke Lüdecke, Lea Kolb, Dominik Kohl and Peter Naeve for their valuable support as research assistants, Fabian Thomas for his help in programming the experiment, and the participants of the LEEP conference 2019 as well as the 4th Workshop on Experimental Economics for the Environment in Münster for the discussion. Lastly, we would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful feedback.

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