Encouraging customers to go paperless

The rapid rise of digital communications ushers new opportunities for corporate environmental responsibility. For instance, online conferencing provides alternatives to air travel for meetings of international colleagues, and online form submission and bill payment schemes reduce requisite paper communications between companies and their patrons. Yet mandating that employees or customers use these options can cause resentment by appearing as a threat to freedom of choice or otherwise leave them worse off, rendering companies justifiably reluctant to dictate customer choices. Can companies drive socially and privately beneficial norm shifts while continuing to ‘put the customer first’? With a spotlight on encouraging opt-in to paperless communications, our research suggests that how companies communicate with customers may influence voluntary enrolment in programs that increase efficiency and resourcefulness.