Emissions labels on airline search engines alter very few flight bookings while frequently misleading consumers about the environmental cost of air travel, according to new research.
The study, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute’s Behavioural Research Unit, tested how 1,000 adults completed realistic online holiday-booking tasks under experimental conditions, as RTE.ie reported.
- Baseline Bookings: Exactly 22% of participants shown no climate information picked the lowest-emissions flight, matching the rate for those given absolute carbon estimates.
- Relative Labels: Giving passengers relative emissions data increased low-emission bookings to 27%, though most users misread the underlying benchmarks.
- Long-Haul Blind Spots: Current relative labels cause travellers to mistake efficient long-haul flights for greener options than short-haul alternatives.
Participants were randomly assigned to booking engines displaying no climate data, absolute carbon emission estimates, or relative emissions compared against other options on the same route. While absolute carbon estimates failed to alter booking habits compared to having no data at all, relative labels produced a marginal increase to 27% in low-emission selections, The Irish Times noted.
Yet that small uptick came with substantial confusion regarding the metrics involved. Fewer than one in six participants correctly understood the benchmarks utilized in relative emissions displays, with many incorrectly assuming the system compared flights carrying identical numbers of stops rather than grouping indirect routes to the same destination together, according to ESRI.ie.
The design of current comparative labels actively distorts how consumers weigh short-haul versus long-haul travel distances. Relative route metrics lead customers to believe that a long-haul flight with low relative emissions is more climate-friendly than a short-haul flight with high relative emissions, ignoring the reality that long-distance journeys emit vastly higher total volumes of greenhouse gases.
“Flying is one of the most emissions-intensive activities that people undertake, and a relatively small number of frequent flyers account for a disproportionate share of aviation emissions,” said Dr Shane Timmons, senior research officer at the ESRI and co-author of the study.
“The idea behind emissions labels is that better information allows consumers to make more climate-friendly choices. Our findings show that emissions labels help some consumers to distinguish between flights on the same route, but the impact is small and many consumers do not understand what these labels mean. Reducing emissions from aviation will require more than providing information to passengers,” Dr Timmons added. Shane Timmons
| Information Displayed on Booking Engine | Low-Emissions Flight Selection Rate | Comprehension of Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| No Climate Information | 22% | N/A |
| Absolute Carbon Emissions Estimate | 22% | N/A |
The findings cast doubt on current industry efforts to rely on voluntary carbon labelling as a primary tool for driving sustainable consumer behaviour across online travel platforms.
“This valuable research demonstrates that current flight emission labelling practices do not meaningfully support consumers in choosing lower emission flights and in some cases may increase misperceptions,” said Dr Desmond O’Mahony, scientific officer at the EPA Behavioural Insights Unit.
“Further research is needed to develop emissions labelling that informs rather than confuses consumers about the climate impacts of flying,” Dr O’Mahony stated.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
