Can we prime sustainable food choices? A randomized controlled trial nested within a discrete choice experiment

IF 10.9 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Sustainable Production and Consumption Pub Date : 2025-04-28 DOI:10.1016/j.spc.2025.04.021

Qiuyan Liao , Esther K. Papies , Yuyi Chen , Meijun Chen , Meihong Dong , Wendy Wing Tak Lam

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

To encourage more sustainable food choices, consumers should be informed about the environmental impacts of foods. Labelling schemes that reflect the characteristics of food production are important initiatives to change consumer behaviours. This study was aimed to test whether goal priming can increase the effects of an eco-friendly label relative to other sustainability claims in determining sustainable food choices. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted to measure the importance of an “eco-friendly” label versus a) other sustainability claims, b) taste preference and c) price in impacting preferences for three food categories: meat, vegetables and dairy, among 956 adult participants. To examine the effects of goal priming on the importance of an eco-friendly label, participants were randomized to either a control group or one of the three goal priming conditions: health-benefit priming (HP), environmental-benefit priming (EP), and co-benefit priming (CP), to complete the DCE. We found that EP and CP, compared with HP, had stronger effects on increasing participants' preferences for foods with eco-friendly and organic labels and reducing the importance of taste preference and price in determining food choices. Furthermore, the study found that the effects of HP, EP and CP on increasing the importance of eco-friendly labels were more promising for participants with higher self-transcendence values. This study offers important evidence to support the development of a holistic eco-labelling scheme for foods and highlights the importance of activating the goal of positive environmental impacts or co-benefits for both human and environmental health for promoting sustainable food choices.

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我们能选择可持续的食物吗？一种嵌套在离散选择实验中的随机对照试验

为了鼓励更多的可持续食品选择，消费者应该了解食品对环境的影响。反映食品生产特点的标签制度是改变消费者行为的重要举措。本研究旨在测试目标启动是否可以增加生态友好型标签相对于其他可持续性声明的影响，以确定可持续食品的选择。我们进行了一项离散选择实验（DCE），以衡量“环保”标签与A)其他可持续性声明、b)口味偏好和c)价格在影响肉类、蔬菜和乳制品这三种食品类别偏好方面的重要性。参与者为956名成年人。为了检验目标启动对环保标签重要性的影响，参与者被随机分为对照组或健康利益启动（HP）、环境利益启动（EP）和共同利益启动（CP）三种目标启动条件之一，以完成DCE。我们发现，与HP相比，EP和CP对增加参与者对环保和有机标签食品的偏好有更强的影响，并降低了口味偏好和价格在决定食品选择中的重要性。此外，研究发现，对于自我超越价值较高的参与者，HP、EP和CP对提高环保标签重要性的作用更有希望。本研究为支持食品整体生态标签计划的发展提供了重要证据，并强调了为促进可持续食品选择而激活对人类和环境健康的积极环境影响或共同利益目标的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Sustainable Production and Consumption Environmental Science-Environmental Engineering

CiteScore

17.40

自引率

7.40%

发文量

389

审稿时长

13 days

期刊介绍： Sustainable production and consumption refers to the production and utilization of goods and services in a way that benefits society, is economically viable, and has minimal environmental impact throughout its entire lifespan. Our journal is dedicated to publishing top-notch interdisciplinary research and practical studies in this emerging field. We take a distinctive approach by examining the interplay between technology, consumption patterns, and policy to identify sustainable solutions for both production and consumption systems.