LAUSR

Abstract Learning capacity and social interaction have increasingly become, respectively, the internal core of, and source of external support for, policy response. In this study, the impact of learning capacity and social interaction on the experienced utility of low-carbon lifestyle guiding policies was examined with a sample of 3257 urban residents in eastern China. Ordinary least squares and instrumental variable method were used to test the hypothesis and robustness. It was found that learning capacity positively promoted the experienced utility of the low-carbon lifestyle guiding policies. Social interaction, as measured by structural characteristics, functional characteristics, information characteristics, and relationship characteristics, has an inverted-U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between learning capacity and policy experienced utility. Furthermore, different from the inverted-U-shaped moderating effect of structural, information, and relationship characteristics, functional characteristics positively moderated the relationship between learning capacity and policy experienced utility. We therefore reveal the effect of learning capacity and social interaction on experienced utility of low-carbon lifestyle guiding policies, and provide useful guidance for policy-makers on how to make better use of learning and social interaction to enhance policy experienced utility and promote low-carbon lifestyles.