A study has found that adding cigarette-style warnings to meat products could help to put off consumers from buying the products and therefore reduce meat consumption.
The research took place at Durham University. The participants were less likely to choose a meal which included meat when they were presented with a variety of warning labels which linked meat consumption to pandemics, climate change and poor health.
The study included 1001 participants. They were asked whether the warnings worried them and whether they were believable and how they felt about the warnings.
The various types of warning resulted in a 7-10% reduction in the likelihood of a participant choosing a meat-based meal.
The study has been published in the journal Appetite.
Comment: an appropriate name because this test seems to have established that one’s appetite for meat is reduced when presented with a warning.
It appears that the warnings are described as “nudged tactics”. I’m going to guess that this means that the purpose is to nudge people’s attitudes away from the mainstream and to start thinking differently.
A professor of behavioural science at Warwick University, Ivo Vlaev, said that these sorts of labels would have to be applied fairly.
He added that: “One could reasonably envision an organic chicken farmer in Shropshire taking issue with a label suggesting [his products led to] deforestation in the Amazon. Ensuring fairness in application, given the diversity of products and their varying impacts, presents a significant challenge.”
Each warning is linked to a source.
