STUDY: Does meat-free pledging work?
Pledging can be an effective way to promote meat reduction, particularly in countries where plant-based eating is popular. However, the authors argue that pledging mainly serves as a temporary way to reduce meat intake.
SUZANNE LIEBERMAN: Pledging — that is, committing to act in a certain way — is one means of reducing meat consumption. Pledging has successfully changed human behavior in recycling, seatbelt use, and quitting smoking. Although pledges are increasingly popular tools for getting people to eat less meat, there are few studies of their effectiveness. The studies that do exist often explain behavior change as a result of factors beyond the pledge itself, such as a consumer’s motivation to sign up in the first place.
In this study, researchers explored how a smartphone pledge program impacted consumers’ meat intake over a period of 28 days. They hypothesized that people who experience the “omnivore conflict” would be more successful with the pledge; that pledgers would eat and crave less meat than those in the control group; and that people who took the pledge would be less committed to meat and meat justifications by the end of the study.
The authors randomly assigned 325 participants (127 from the U.K.; 142 from Germany; 56 from Australia) to either a pledge group or a control group… Consumers were asked to fill out a survey at the beginning and end of the study, then one month later to see how the pledge impacted their meat consumption and attitudes…
One month out from the study, all participants reduced their beliefs in the 4Ns (natural, necessary, normal, or nice) of meat consumption, even if they were in the control group. Contrary to the authors’ predictions, however, pledgers experienced more meat cravings than those in the control group, and the pledge did not impact overall meat consumption and attitudes toward meat one month after the study ended…
As this study shows, pledging can be an effective way to promote meat reduction, particularly in countries where plant-based eating is popular. However, the authors argue that pledging mainly serves as a temporary way to reduce meat intake. To make pledges more successful, advocates may consider targeting individuals who already show interest in changing their diet. Furthermore, individuals need additional tools and resources beyond the pledge itself to sustain commitments over the long term. SOURCE…
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