Don’t Call It Vegan: Labels negatively impact choosing sustainable meals
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Reducing our collective consumption of animal products is an important shift to help mitigate the climate crisis. Despite this, meals containing meat are often presented as the default, rather than more environmentally sustainable vegetarian or vegan options. This is a particularly critical issue in the US, where per capita meat consumption is among the highest in the world.
The Green Nudge:
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.
Promoting greener driving: Google Maps‘ fuel-efficient routes
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
Despite significant technological advancements and growing environmental consciousness, carbon emissions continue to be the predominant problem in the realm of mobility. Frequently, individuals tend to prioritise convenience and speed over critical considerations such as fuel efficiency and reducing their carbon footprint when selecting transportation routes. Unfortunately, this widespread tendency can result in elevated carbon emissions– consequently posing a grave threat to our environment.
There are several psychological biases and forces underlying this unsustainable behaviour in transportation. The most prominent is “inertia,” where people tend to stick to habitual routes rather than actively seeking more eco-friendly alternatives. “Present bias” is another issue, with people favouring short-term benefits (shorter travel times) over long-term gains (reduced environmental impact). There is also a lack of awareness about the environmental impact of one’s choices, and the false perception that eco-friendly routes are less efficient; of which the latter is influenced by past experiences (anchoring bias).
The Green Nudge:
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.
How gamification is changing wasteful dishwashing habits
What unsustainable behavior needs to change:
In the U.S., the widespread practice of pre-rinsing dishes before using the dishwasher stems from ingrained beliefs and poses a significant concern for water conservation. Each pre-rinse consumes up to 20 gallons of water. When scaled nationally, this amounts to an alarming potential wastage of 150 billion gallons annually. In a country where 40 out of 50 states anticipate water shortages and half of the freshwater basins might struggle to meet monthly demands by 2071, such practices demand rethinking.
Several cognitive biases could potentially cloud people’s decision-making processes. Misinformation and a lack of knowledge often lead them to believe that dried-on food won’t come off without pre-rinsing. They can also be influenced by the “anchoring effect,” which causes undue importance to be given to initial information – such as the belief that pre-rinsing is necessary. Moreover, the “effort justification bias” might cause some to rationalise the additional work involved in pre-rinsing. Later, these beliefs are reinforced by the status-quo bias and social norms bias, leading many to adhere to the practice and follow perceived societal norms, thereby perpetuating this water-wasting routine.
The Green Nudge:
The dishwasher brand, “Finish” launched the „Skip the Rinse“ campaign to nudge people away from pre-rinsing. To maximise the reach and impact of their message, they partnered with influential organisations like National Geographic, WWF or The Nature Conservancy.
To debunk the pre-rinsing myth, Finish introduced a gamified approach: the ‚Finish 24-Hour Challenge.‘ Consumers were asked to cook a lasagne, leave it to dry for 24 hours, and then load it into the dishwasher. If their product didn’t completely remove 24-hour dried-on stains, the company committed to covering the cost of the meal. Through gamifying the process, they aimed to challenge existing misconceptions and engage consumers in a fun and interactive way.
The result: The „Skip the Rinse“ campaign has effectively driven behavioural change and aligns with Reckitt’s larger sustainability goals. From 2015, there’s been a 5% decline in their water usage per tonne of production, showing consistent movement towards their 2025 objective. Notably, although manufacturing accounts for less than 1% of their water footprint, a significant 94% comes from direct consumer use. This highlights how campaigns like „Skip The Rinse“ can play a key role in shaping consumer habits, leading to more substantial conservation outcomes.
Are you aware of any other nudges that use gamification to conserve water? Feel free to comment or get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com
From Swati Gupta who is graduate in behavioural and economic science from the University of Warwick, Swati went on to join the Warwick Behavioural Insights Team (WBIT) as a researcher. There, her focus was on using behavioural science techniques to improve student sleep patterns. With a foundation in grassroots education through Teach for India, she is passionate about merging sustainability governance, reporting, and assurance with the principles of behavioural science.