How and when financial incentives crowd out pro-environmental motivation: A longitudinal quasi-experimental study

Using financial incentives to induce pro-environmental behavior may reduce pro-environmental motivation, but it remains unclear how and when such “motivation crowding out” would occur. This longitudinal quasi-experimental study investigated motivation crowding in an incentivized recycling program in Anji, China, focusing primarily on its psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions. The program reduced residents’ pro-environmental motivation both in the short (after six months) and in the long run (after fifteen months), although this negative effect attenuated over time. The decrease in environmental self-identity, perceived social norms, self-efficacy, and personal ecological norms mediated the short-term crowding out effect, whereas the first three pathways declined over time. Crowding out occurred among most participants initially but persisted among people with high baseline pro-environmental motivation or self-transcendent value prioritization, and those embedded within strong local conservation norms. These findings demonstrate the demotivating influence of incentive-based environmental policies and illuminate its evolution pattern.