How to reduce agri-environmental impacts on ecosystem services: the role of nudging techniques to increase purchase of plant-based meat substitutes

Abstract

European livestock systems are characterised by high meat production to accommodate high consumer demands and global prices. The production of meat, especially meat from highly intensive livestock farming, requires many resources and is inconsistent with sustainability and climate objectives. Unsustainable livestock production heavily impacts regulatory and supporting ecosystem services, which makes the meat production system a key driver of global environmental change. Lowering consumers’ demand for meat could improve the sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. To realize this transition, meat can be substituted with meat imitating plant-based alternatives; production of these substitutes has a lower carbon footprint, needs less land and uses less water compared to regular meat production. Retailers can facilitate this shift by redesigning their stores to nudge consumers towards these substitutes. The goal of this study was to analyse whether nudging techniques can increase sales of plant-based meat substitutes in a supermarket environment. We combined two nudging techniques into one intervention: (1) adding meat substitutes in the butchery section, (2) and placing them next to their equivalent meat products. Results show a significant increase of 67% in meat substitute sales when the nudging intervention was present whereas sales in the control supermarkets (without nudging intervention) did not change during the intervention period. Once the intervention was removed, sales dropped again. Future research should investigate which factors influence the transition from short-term nudging effects towards long-term behaviour change. We discuss the role of nudging as a strategy to reduce negative impacts of the livestock production systems on ecosystem services.