Promoting Methane Reductions Through Behavioural Nudges and Informational Boosts: A Field Choice Experiment in Japanese Rice Farming
通过对2219名日本稻农的实地选择实验，研究了社会规范、损失厌恶等行为助推和信息增强对延长排水期这一甲烷减排措施采纳意愿的影响，发现损失厌恶和信息增强结合提醒能显著提升采纳概率，尤其当补贴较低时效果更明显。
ABSTRACT Agricultural methane emissions represent a significant contributor to global climate change, with irrigated rice cultivation being one of the primary sources. Despite the availability of effective mitigation technologies, their adoption often remains limited due to behavioural and institutional constraints. Water management practice that extends drainage periods during cultivation can curb methane emissions from irrigated rice at low cost, yet uptake among Japanese farmers remains modest. We surveyed 2219 rice producers in Shiga Prefecture using a labelled choice experiment that embedded two behavioural nudges (social norm and loss aversion) and one informational boost (knowledge enhancement), presented with or without a reminder. Farmers most favoured a 7‐day drainage extension. Social‐norm messages did not robustly shift adoption intentions, but loss‐aversion and knowledge enhancement paired with reminders increased the probability of choosing water management practice by 5–10 percentage points, particularly when financial incentives were modest. The added value of nudges and boosts faded once subsidies approached prevailing ceiling levels, suggesting diminishing marginal returns to stacking instruments. These findings suggest that timely, low‐cost behavioural interventions can effectively complement agri‐environmental payments in resource‐constrained settings, providing a scalable and context‐sensitive strategy to accelerate the adoption of climate‐smart rice practices.