Rebiasing Heuristics and Biases: A Novel Framework for Risk Perception and Decision-Making

Despite urgent need for sustainable solutions, many individuals resist sustainability innovations such as plant-based diets or genetically modified organisms. This sustainability behavior gap stems partly from misaligned risk perceptions: individuals rely on heuristics that generate cognitive biases, whereas experts use statistical probabilities. Existing interventions often fail to produce lasting effects because they neglect underlying cognitive drivers of risk perception. We introduce rebiasing, a novel strategy that leverages cognitive biases to realign risk perceptions. Across seven studies (N = 2,213), we show that (1) opposing heuristics and biases can neutralize each other, reverting perceptions to baseline; (2) rebiasing can be tailored to individuals with either high or low risk perceptions to better align with expert views; and (3) adjusted perceptions influence downstream sustainability behaviors, though context-dependently. Our findings advance theory on bias interaction and offer actionable insights for marketers, policymakers, and advocates seeking to close the sustainability behavior gap.