Understanding the willingness–behavior gap in the participation of Carbon Generalized System of Preferences: empirical evidence from China’s tier-one cities

Designed as a crucial policy instrument for downstream emission reduction, the Carbon Generalized System of Preferences (CGSP) nonetheless suffers from a problem of “strong willingness but weak practice” among residents, thereby undermining its long-term effectiveness. In this study, fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis was employed to investigate the antecedent configurational pathways to residents’ participation willingness–behavior gap from a three-dimensional perspective of “psychology–policy–society.” The findings indicate that the willingness–behavior gap in urban residents’ CGSP participation stands at 55.07%. This gap is most pronounced among female residents with lower educational attainment and those in older age groups. Furthermore, the participation willingness–behavior gap can be synergistically influenced by multiple factors, with no single necessary factor capable of independently explaining this gap. Three configurational pathways were identified: first, the value consensus deficit pathway, wherein residents fail to internalize the core value of CGSP; second, the policy transmission obstruction pathway, hindered by a “last-mile” bottleneck between policy design and implementation; third, the incentive-response disconnect pathway, driven by a misalignment between provided incentives and residents’ perceived value. This study demonstrates the multiple configurations behind the willingness–behavior gap in CGSP participation, providing critical theoretical and practical insights for bridging this gap, thereby contributing to the long-term success of CGSP and the reduction of downstream carbon emissions.