Patel, V., Mirosa, M. and Buckland, N.J orcid.org/0000-0002-3667-6438 (2024) Testing the effect of descriptive dynamic social norm messages on meatless food purchases in Aotearoa New Zealand and UK university food outlets. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8. 1260343. ISSN 2571-581X
Abstract
A reduction in meat consumption is urgently needed to address multiple harms related to the environment, animal welfare, and human health. Social norm interventions have been found to be feasible and effective at shifting consumer behaviour, however, evidence related to meat reduction behaviour is limited – especially in naturalistic settings. Two social norm interventions were conducted at university food outlets in Aotearoa New Zealand and in the UK, to assess the effect of social norm messages on meat and meatless food purchases. Both interventions consisted of a week-long intervention phase during which descriptive dynamic social norm messages referring to reduced meat intake were displayed in the food outlets (study one and two) and via social media (study two). Meat and meatless food purchases during the interventions were compared to pre- and post-intervention weeks. Surveys were also conducted with a sub-group of customers to assess demographics, dietary habits, and awareness of the social norm message. In both studies, there was no significant effect of the social norm interventions on meat or meatless food purchases, and awareness of the norms message across both studies was low. These findings indicate that social norm interventions alone may be ineffective in encouraging meat reduction. Implications for interventions to reduce meat intake to support pro-environmental food choices are discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 Patel, Mirosa and Buckland. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | social norms; meat reduction; food choice; behavioural intervention; sustainability |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Mar 2024 09:26 |
Last Modified: | 27 Mar 2024 09:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1260343 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:210937 |