What Drives Urban Residents to Participate in the Carbon Generalized System of Preferences? A Value Co-Creation Perspective

Abstract

The Carbon Generalized System of Preferences (CGSP), theoretically rooted in value co-creation, serves as a vital policy tool for household carbon mitigation, yet faces an awareness-behavior gap during implementation. In this study, theoretical and empirical analyses were conducted to reveal the dual-pathway mechanism underlying the residents’ participation in the CGSP. The findings demonstrate that the residents’ participation behavior is positively influenced by the two-way communication between government and residents, as well as the residents’ sense of responsibility. Specifically, these two factors can also enhance participation by fostering egoistic and altruistic values, respectively. Notably, face culture weakens the positive effects of both values on participation, which embodies the paradigm conflict between traditional cultural and modern environmental governance systems. Residents with higher work happiness and women demonstrate significantly higher participation rates. The findings yield three policy recommendations for enhancing CGSP participation and operational sustainability.

Key findings

• ▸Two-way communication between the government and residents positively influences participation behavior.
• ▸A sense of responsibility enhances participation by fostering both egoistic and altruistic values.
• ▸Face culture weakens the positive effects of these values on participation, highlighting a conflict between traditional cultural norms and modern environmental governance.

Keywords

Identifiers

DOI

10.3390/su18052173

Journal

Sustainability

Year

2026