The role of norm dynamics for climate relevant behavior: A 2019–2021 panel study of red meat consumption

Abstract

More sustainable consumption is urgently called for but emerging very slowly at best. This paper contributes to the empirical foundation for understanding the role of norms in shaping, reinforcing, and changing consumption patterns. Drawing on institutional and social psychological theories and research, we investigate the development in normative influences on red meat consumption – a climate relevant behavior – over time. We apply cross lagged SEM analyses utilizing survey data from a representative sample of the Norwegian population the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. Red meat consumption is strongly supported by social norms in Norway but seems to be challenged by the societal attention to its negative climate impacts. Such attention may lead people to internalize norms for a climate-friendly diet and thus reduce their red-meat consumption. We find, however, that the influence of pro-climate mitigation norms on red meat consumption is weak and was further weakened in the 2020–21 period, during the Covid19 pandemic. An important question is whether and how policy measures can nurture pro-climate mitigation norms to reach a social “tipping point” regarding meat consumption. Implications for future research on norm dynamics are discussed.