Public acceptability and political feasibility of consumer-related regulations

The Oeko-Institut's own-funded project pursues the following research questions:

- Which factors influence public acceptability and thus political feasibility of proposals for consumption-related regulatory law ("command & control" instruments)?

- (How) can the factors be weighted in terms of their importance?

- In which constellations do proposed measures meet with relatively strong public support?

- (How) can public acceptability and political feasibility be increased?

The project starts by reviewing and summarising existing research literature on the factors influencing the acceptability of consum

er-related regulatory policy measures. While the focus is on environmental and climate policy, lessons from related fields, especially public health, are taken into account.

Moreover, the researchers conduct two explorative case studies on concrete regulatory measures in the fields of building energy and mobility. The results of the project are  case-specific but also general recommendations for increasing public acceptability of ecologically reasonable regulatory measures.