Would you order a vegan burger if the restaurant menu simply indicated that it was free of animal products? Maybe, maybe not. But if that same dish was accompanied by the message "good for the planet," you'd be more likely to select it. That's what the findings of a recent experiment with 6,000 Americans suggest.
That's the conclusion of an experiment conducted by the nonprofit research organization World Resources Institute (WRI). Based on the principle of behavioral science, the study tested the influence of 10 sustainability-themed messages when ordering in a restaurant. Participants were asked to choose between meat and plant-based dishes, such as a beef burrito versus a bean burrito.
Some of the texts delivered strong messages: "Each of us can make a positive difference for the planet," "Your small change can make a big difference." Or: "Swapping just one meat dish for a plant-based one saves greenhouse gas emissions that are equivalent to the energy used to charge your phone for two years."
In 25% of the cases, simply reading these messages prompted participants to choose the vegetarian option. This message alone generated 22% of participants to make vegetarian choices: "90% of Americans are making the choice to eat less meat. Join this growing movement and choose plant-based dishes that have less impact on the climate and are kinder to the planet."
Other messages about the taste of food and the need to protect the planet for future generations also encouraged participants to eat more vegetarian meals, notes the experiment, reported by the British newspaper The Guardian.
Conversely, dishes that were simply labeled "vegan" or "vegetarian" were less likely to result in participants switching to meatless dishes. Hence the importance of the messages displayed on the menus, which can considerably influence our consumption choices, underlines the WRI.
