Daily reminders about the animal-welfare, environmental and health consequences of meat and their main and moderated effects on meat consumption

Abstract

Due to the negative impacts of meat consumption, finding ways to reduce individual meat intake is an urgent issue. The present study tested whether daily mobile-phone text message reminders about the animal welfare, environmental, and health consequences of meat would reduce peoples' meat consumption. The study further investigated the role of a range of potential moderators, such as values and attitudes, for the effectiveness of these reminders. Results showed a significant, unexpected increase in meat consumption over the course of the one-week intervention. Neither animal welfare, environmental, nor health reminders reduced daily meat consumption during this period. Only one moderated effect was observed. On days in which participants received reminders of the animal welfare consequences of meat consumption, those who scored higher on disgust propensity ate less red meat. Text-based interventions may have limited effects in changing people's meat consumption, but further research is needed to establish their effectiveness or lack thereof.