Data Center Opinion Project - Study 4: Comparing NIMBYism infrastructure projects

Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions and evaluated the prospect of a facility being built in their community:

  • Data centers
  • Landfills
  • Distribution warehouses
  • Nuclear Power Plants

Manipulation

Imagine a company is interested in building a [data center / landfill / nuclear power plant / distribution warehouse] within 10 miles of your home to [support AI technology / manage household and commercial waste from the surrounding region / generate electricity for the regional power grid / store and ship products to consumers and businesses]

Would you favor or oppose the construction of this new ${e://Field/projectType} in your local area?

Measures

Price for support

Those who did not report support for the local project build responded to the following:

Imagine a company is interested in building a ${e://Field/projectType} in your community. They are willing to negotiate terms with the local residents. They are in talks with your local government to offer a one-time payment to all residents within a 10-mile radius of the newly constructed ${e://Field/projectType}.

You indicated that you ${q://QID1220560088/ChoiceGroup/SelectedChoices} ${e://Field/about}the construction of a ${e://Field/projectType} in your local area to ${e://Field/projectRole}. Under what conditions - in terms of a one-time payment - would you be willing to say that you support the construction of this ${e://Field/projectType} in your community?

Indicate the dollar amount that the company should offer to local residents to gain your support.

Free response

You indicated that you ${q://QID1220560088/ChoiceGroup/SelectedChoices} ${e://Field/about}the construction of a ${e://Field/projectType} in your local area to ${e://Field/projectRole}.

Write down some thoughts you had as you arrived at your judgment.

Benefit

Consider there is a new ${e://Field/projectType} being built within 10 miles of your home. How much direct benefit do you think it would provide to each of the following? [no benefit/slight benefit/moderate benefit/great benefit]

  • You personally
  • Your neighborhood
  • Your town/city
  • Your state
  • The country

Benefit - free response

Those that reported anything other than “no benefit” to the above question were then given an opportunity to expand on their thinking for that particular beneficiary.

Importance

How important is it that the country has more [project type]s? [not at all important/somewhat important/very important]

Perceived Opportunism

adapted from

  • perceived opportunism: Hsieh, P. L. (2013). Perceived opportunism (PO) in e‐return service encounters. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 23(2), 96-110.

  • benevolence: Mayer, R. C., & Davis, J. H. (1999). The effect of the performance appraisal system on trust for management: A field quasi-experiment. Journal of applied psychology, 84(1), 123.

These questions are about the company that is interested in building a ${e://Field/projectType} in your community. Think about the company or the type of company that came to mind when you thought about the hypothetical ${e://Field/projectType}.

How much would you agree or disagree with the following statements about that type of company? [strongly disagree/disagree/neither or not sure/agree/strongly agree]

  • This is the type of company that would alter facts slightly in order to get what it needs
  • This is the type of company that would promise to do things without actually doing them later
  • This type of company would not knowingly do anything to hurt me or the local people
  • This type of company fails to provide the support it should
  • This type of company breaks formal or informal agreements to its own benefit
  • This type of company is honest

Trust in institutions

Below is a list of institutions in American society. Rate how much trust you have in each one. [strongly distrust/somewhat distrust/not sure/somewhat trust/strongly trust]

  • Large technology companies
  • Big business
  • The federal government
  • Your local government

AI use

How often do you use AI? [never/less than once a month/a few times a month/daily]