Hostname: page-component-7b9c58cd5d-g9frx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-14T23:55:02.522Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nudging à la carte: a field experiment on climate-friendly food choice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2019

CHRISTINA GRAVERT Open the ORCID record for CHRISTINA GRAVERT [Opens in a new window]  and
VERENA KURZ
CHRISTINA GRAVERT*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
VERENA KURZ
Affiliation:
Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food, Bonn, Germany
*
*Correspondence to: Christina Gravert, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Email: cag@econ.ku.dk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Global food consumption threatens climate stability and ecosystem resilience. Because hard regulation of food choice through taxes and bans is politically difficult, behavioral approaches provide a promising alternative, given that they influence food choice to a meaningful extent. We test the effect of framing of a menu on the choice of ordering climate-friendly dishes in a randomized controlled experiment. Rearranging the menu in favor of vegetarian food has a large and significant effect on the willingness to order a vegetarian dish instead of meat. Our results demonstrate that small, inexpensive interventions can be used toward decreasing carbon emissions from food consumption.

Type
Article
Information
Behavioural Public Policy , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , July 2021 , pp. 378 - 395
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angelucci, M., Prina, S., Royer, H. and Samek, A. (2015), When Incentives Backfire: Spillover Effects in Food Choice (Working Paper No. 21481). National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ariely, D. and Levav, J. (2000), ‘Sequential Choice in Group Settings: Taking the Road Less Traveled and Less Enjoyed’, Journal of Consumer Research, 27: 279–290. doi:10.1086/317585CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryngelsson, D., Wirsenius, S., Hedenus, F. and Sonesson, U. (2016), ‘How can the EU climate targets be met? A combined analysis of technological and demand-side changes in food and agriculture’, Food Policy, 59: 152–164. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.12.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlsson, F., Gravert, C., Johansson-Stenman, O. and Kurz, V. (2019), Nudging as an Environmental Policy Instrument, Working Papers in Economics 756. Gothenburg University.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellison, B., Lusk, J.L. and Davis, D. (2014), ‘The Impact of Restaurant Calorie Labels on Food Choice: Results from a Field Experiment’, Economic Inquiry, 52: 666–681. doi:10.1111/ecin.12069CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IPCC (2018), Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. Summary for Policymakers. http://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdfGoogle Scholar
Just, D.R. (2009), ‘Smarter lunchrooms: using behavioral economics to improve meal selection’, CHOICES, 24: 1.Google Scholar
Kurz, V. (2018), ‘Nudging to reduce meat consumption: Immediate and persistent effects of an intervention at a university restaurant’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 90: 317–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2018.06.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Löfgren, Å., Martinsson, P., Hennlock, M. and Sterner, T. (2012), ‘Are experienced people affected by a pre-set default option – results from a field experiment’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 63: 66–72. doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2011.06.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lombardini, C. and Lankoski, L. (2013), ‘Forced Choice Restriction in Promoting Sustainable Food Consumption: Intended and Unintended Effects of the Mandatory Vegetarian Day in Helsinki Schools’, J Consum Policy, 36: 159–178. doi:10.1007/s10603-013-9221-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Policastro, P., Smith, Z. and Chapman, G. (2015), ‘Put the healthy item first: Order of ingredient listing influences consumer selection’, J Health Psychol, 1359105315617328. doi:10.1177/1359105315617328Google ScholarPubMed
Röös, E. (2014), Mat-klimat-listan (Report No. 77). Uppsala.Google Scholar
Säll, S. and Gren, I.-M. (2015), ‘Effects of an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden’, Food Policy, 55: 41–53. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.05.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sainani, K. (2010), ‘The importance of accounting for correlated observations’, PM&R, 2(9): 858–861.Google ScholarPubMed
Springmann, M., Godfray, H.C.J., Rayner, M. and Scarborough, P. (2016), ‘Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change’, PNAS, 113: 4146–4151. doi:10.1073/pnas.1523119113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Springmann, M., Clark, M., Mason-D'Croz, D., Wiebe, K., Bodirsky, B., Lassaletta, L., de Vries, W., Vermeulen, S., Herrero, M., Carlson, K., Jonell, M., Troell, M., DeClerck, F., Gordon, L., Zurayk, R., Scarborough, P., Rayner, M., Loken, B., Fanzo, J., Godfray, H., Tilman, T., Rockström, J., Willett, W. (2018), ‘Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits’, Nature, 1.Google Scholar
Thaler, R.H. and Sunstein, C.R. (2008), Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness, New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Tilman, D. and Clark, M. (2014), ‘Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health’, Nature, 515: 518–522. doi:10.1038/nature13959CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westhoek, H., Lesschen, J.P., Rood, T., Wagner, S., De Marco, A., Murphy-Bokern, D., Leip, A., van Grinsven, H., Sutton, M.A. and Oenema, O. (2014), ‘Food choices, health and environment: Effects of cutting Europe's meat and dairy intake’, Global Environmental Change, 26: 196–205. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.02.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wirsenius, S., Hedenus, F. and Mohlin, K. (2011), ‘Greenhouse gas taxes on animal food products: rationale, tax scheme and climate mitigation effects’, Climatic Change, 108: 159–184. doi:10.1007/s10584-010-9971-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wisdom, J., Downs, J.S. and Loewenstein, G. (2010), ‘Promoting Healthy Choices: Information versus Convenience’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2: 164–78. doi:10.1257/app.2.2.164Google Scholar
Wood, W. and Neal, D.T. (2009), ‘The habitual consumer’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19: 579–592. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2009.08.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar