In a US study, social researchers Alex Berke and Kent Larson investigated whether vegetarian and vegan labels deter consumers from choosing those options, through both field studies and an online experiment. 

Using real event registration forms, they asked participants to select their meal preference for an upcoming event they were attending. When people clicked on the link to register, they were randomly redirected to select their meal preference out of two possible options, with one of the options labelled as either “vegan” or “vegetarian.” The forms were then used to conduct a between-subjects experiment comparing the two conditions. 

The result: This study finds that the common practice of adding vegetarian and vegan labels effectively deters consumers from choosing these options; with the negative impact of labels shown to be statistically significant in each of the field studies. They also found that Vegans and Vegetarians were not more likely to choose meat options when labels were absent.

While potentially annoying for those who are vegetarian or vegan, removing these labels may provide an extremely simple and low-cost means for restaurants and other institutions to reduce their environmental impact –, with minimal changes to menus, and without impacting freedom of choice. 

Vegans and vegetarians represent a distinct minority, comprising only about 5% of the population in the US. They are accustomed to investing extra effort to find suitable options on restaurant menus. However, in promoting plant-based dining, it might be more effective to focus on encouraging meat eaters to explore vegan and vegetarian dishes. Nonetheless, the use of labels can inadvertently trigger psychological biases, which makes individuals feel like they’re making a sacrifice or compromising on flavour. By emphasising the deliciousness of these dishes without spotlighting their vegan or vegetarian nature, we can entice a broader audience to make planet-friendly food choices.

Are you aware of any other nudges that promote planet-friendly diets? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Kate Napoli, Behavioural Science & Strategy Director at creative communications agency, alt/shift/, and guest lecturer for The University of Melbourne Masters of Applied Psychology. Her work applies behavioural science to create more effective creative communications, particularly across fields of sustainability, road safety and public health. An avid foodie, Kate is interested in the intersection of behavioural science and sustainable consumption choices. 

In October 2021, Google Maps initiated a noteworthy change to promote environmentally responsible driving decisions. They introduced an eco-friendly route as the default choice for users, effectively embedding a „green nudge“ within their platform. This eco-conscious route is calculated using Google’s innovative routing model, which takes into account variables such as road incline, and traffic congestion, to optimise routes for reduced fuel consumption. In cases where the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the eco-friendly route aligns with that of the fastest route, it is automatically presented as the default option. Even when the fuel-efficient route is not the quickest, users can effortlessly compare fuel savings and time differentials between the two routes with just a few taps.

The result: Since its U.S. and Canada launch, this intervention has already contributed to an annual reduction of over 1 million metric tons of carbon emissions, effectively eliminating the environmental impact of more than 200,000 fuel-powered cars. Notably, this eco-conscious feature has since extended to over 40 European countries as of 2022, including nations like France, Ireland, Spain, and the UK. In these regions, users can now specify their vehicle’s engine type, enabling a more precise estimation of eco-friendly routes.

Are you aware of any other nudges that help to reduce carbon emissions? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Lucas Yew who is a behavioural and experimental economics graduate from the University of East Anglia. He designed a lab experiment to study how information overload affects consumers’ purchasing decisions for his master’s dissertation. Currently, he works as a student opportunities intern at the UEA, where he enhances internship experience for students by applying behavioural insights to the processes. With his background in risk advisory and behavioural science, he welcomes challenges that can drive impactful solutions with behavioural insights.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Chinese policymakers set an ambitious target to reduce SUC usage by 30% in food deliveries by 2025. To comply with city regulations, Alibaba changed its app by using green nudges to reduce single-use cutlery.

Ele.me changed its app interface in the following ways:  (i) by adding a pop-up window that required customers to explicitly choose the number of SUC sets with their orders, (ii) by setting the default for this pop-up window to be “no cutlery,” and (iii) by providing a small non monetary incentive (green points) to those choosing the no-cutlery option. The green points do not have a monetary value, but if one accumulates enough points, they can be redeemed in exchange for planting a real tree (under the customer’s name) in a desert area in China.

The results: Guojun He, Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues (2023) conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate the effectiveness of the green nudges mentioned above in reducing individuals’ SUC consumption. The findings show the following:

1. Increased Non-Cutlery Choices: Green nudges reduce the demand for SUC and exhibit a persistent effect.
2. Diverse Behaviour Impact: Green nudges encourage a significant portion of individuals to make moderate behavioural changes.
3. Positive Business Outcome: Green nudges are cost effective in reducing single-use cutlery (SUC) waste without compromising economic outcomes.
4. Environmental Impact: By extrapolating the results, should China nationwide adopt green nudges, the country alone could save over 21.75 billion SUC sets annually, while conserving 5.44 million trees.

Feel free to check out a different intervention that also aims at reducing plastic cutlery usage here.

Are you aware of any other nudges that promote environmental-friendly behaviour? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com

From Jie Tang, a graduate student studying at the Institute of psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms of attitude-behaviour gaps in sustainable behaviour, and promoting individuals’ pro-environmental decision making and wellbeing.  

From Juhi Jain who is a policy professional with extensive experience in the government and private sector. She has a proven track record of designing and scaling programs globally with an inclusion lens to empower communities. She is a Manager at India’s first Behavioural Insights Unit (Nudge Unit), embedded at NITI Aayog, the apex public policy think-tank of the Government of India.

What unsustainable behavior needs to change: Eating meat is ingrained is Western culture. It stands for power, for nutritional value, it gives you the proteins you need to grow big. Unfortunately, that comes at a price. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, global livestock production makes up 14.5 % of all human caused emissions – 7.1 gigatons of CO2 equivalent / year. And beef is the CO2 champion: Producing a kg of it emits 60kg of CO2 equivalents. Oh, abstract figures. So let’s compare emissions of other food (per kg):  root vegetables and apples both produce 0,4kg, peas 1kg, rice 4kg, tomatoes 1,4kg, nuts 0.3kg or bananas 0.7kg.

We need less meat eaters or more people who eat meat less often. Unfortunately, there are food options that basically always come with meat – like burgers. It’s the default. The established normal. You order a burger – you get one with meat.

The Green Nudge: The objective of Burger King Austria’s “Normal or with meat” experiment in a restaurant in Vienna’s Margaretengürtel aimed to changed the status quo. Those who ordered without explicitly demanding “meat” got a veggie burger. This experiment gained some serious awareness through a campaign that accompanied the experiment. We don’t have data available on how many people picked the plant-based version of the burger and/or come back and ordered it again, but we say it has the potential of being a proper default nudge.

Changing habits is extremely difficult. But establishing a new default might nudge some people to reconsider and try new – ideally more sustainable – options. If the product experience is not worse than the unsustainable option, it has the chance to become a new habit. A new normal.