Using Language to Promote Sustainable Food Choices
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Psychology
Abstract
The production of animal-based foods has a significant, negative impact on the environment, and shifting diets toward more plant-based foods is crucial to reduce the environmental impact of food production. How can mainstream consumers be encouraged to consume more plant-based foods? More specifically, how can language be used to shift consumption toward more sustainable diets? That is the central question of this collaborative project with the World Resources Institute (WRI), an international not-for-profit think-tank that uses research to influence government policy and industry strategy to sustain the world's natural resources.
We propose to first identify the principles through which existing language increases desire for plant-based dishes, and then test and apply these principles in a series of experiments. Based on the grounded cognition theory of desire (Papies & Barsalou, 2015; Papies et al., 2017), we suggest that food language increases desire if it triggers rewarding simulations of eating the food (i.e., spontaneous re-experiences of eating and enjoying a food through taste, texture, etc.). In other words, food labels that trigger consumption and reward simulations will increase desire over labels simply listing ingredients or labels emphasising health. We will examine existing labels for plant-based foods and assess whether the number of consumption and reward simulation words is associated with participants' buying intentions. Then, we will conduct experiments to test whether simulation-inducing labels for plant-based foods increase desire compared to control labels and health labels.
Our research will provide clear, actionable insights into how language can be used to create desire for plant-based foods. Our collaboration with the WRI will ensure that these insights reach key stakeholders to create change at the industry level.
We propose to first identify the principles through which existing language increases desire for plant-based dishes, and then test and apply these principles in a series of experiments. Based on the grounded cognition theory of desire (Papies & Barsalou, 2015; Papies et al., 2017), we suggest that food language increases desire if it triggers rewarding simulations of eating the food (i.e., spontaneous re-experiences of eating and enjoying a food through taste, texture, etc.). In other words, food labels that trigger consumption and reward simulations will increase desire over labels simply listing ingredients or labels emphasising health. We will examine existing labels for plant-based foods and assess whether the number of consumption and reward simulation words is associated with participants' buying intentions. Then, we will conduct experiments to test whether simulation-inducing labels for plant-based foods increase desire compared to control labels and health labels.
Our research will provide clear, actionable insights into how language can be used to create desire for plant-based foods. Our collaboration with the WRI will ensure that these insights reach key stakeholders to create change at the industry level.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000681/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2286310 | Studentship | ES/P000681/1 | 01/10/2019 | 22/04/2023 | Tess Davis |
| Description | One of the main key findings discovered as a result of this award is that sustainable foods are associated with less rewarding language than non sustainable foods. It was found that on social media, meat foods were associated with language that focuses on the enjoyable, sensory and contextual aspects of food such as 'tasty', 'crunchy' and 'restaurant' (consumption situation language), whereas plant-based foods were associated with language that focuses on the health outcomes, politics and identity-focused aspects of food, like 'vegan', 'healthy and 'climate change' (situation independent language). This suggests that sustainable foods are associated with between 11-17% less rewarding language on social media, and supports previous research where language differences between foods are found on ready-meal packaging in UK supermarkets (Papies et al., 2020). In addition, it was also found that people with different diets talk about sustainable and non-sustainable foods in different ways. Omnivores talk about meat foods with more rewarding, consumption situation language than plant-based foods, that are instead associated with more distant, situation independent language. Vegans display the opposite - they describe plant-based foods with more consumption situation language, and meat foods with more situation independent language, especially words related to socio-political issues (e.g. 'climate change', 'animal welfare'). This suggests that both vegans and omnivores think about their 'own' foods in terms of short-term reward, and about out-group foods in terms of distant, long-term factors. We also found that dishes that were described with more consumption situation language were more likely to be considered attractive and consumed over a 30-day period. Furthermore, we also investigated how people rate popular words associated with sustainable and non-sustainable foods. It was found that in general, omnivores did not rate popular words associated with meat foods more positively than plant-based foods, and vegans did not rate popular words associated with plant-based foods more positively than meat foods. However, when looking at ratings for words specific to the diet (e.g. 'steak' for meat foods; 'dairy-free' for plant-based foods) as opposed to more generalised words (e.g. 'healthy', 'yummy', 'homemade'), both omnivores and vegans rated words specific to their diet more positively than words specific to the other diet. It was also found that omnivores reported feeling 'hungry' after reading popular meat food words, whereas vegans reported feeling 'inspired' after reading popular plant-based food words. Conversely, omnivores reported feeling 'forced' after reading popular plant-based food words, and vegans reported feeling 'disgust' after reading popular meat food words. These findings demonstrate the polarisation between omnivores and vegan groups, and suggests that identity plays a notable role in how the language used to describe sustainable foods is perceived. Lastly, we asked people with different diets to create food 'posts' in a hypothetical social media setting, to measure how omnivores and vegans communicate about food to those with the same diet as them, and those with an opposite diet to them. We found that both groups used more consumption situation language when trying to make a plant-based dish appealing to omnivores than to vegans. Additionally, we found that vegans did not differ from omnivores in how they presented a plant-based dish to a vegan audience. This demonstrated a shared assumption of what is perceived to be appealing for these two different groups. Previous research has found that food language can increase desire if it triggers rewarding memories of eating a food (see Papies et al., 2022). As such, our findings suggest that language is a significant predictor of consumers' associations with different types of food, and sustainable foods are consistently not associated with rewarding aspects by mainstream omnivore consumers. This obstacle can be further perpetuated by labelling sustainable foods with distant, non-rewarding language in typical food settings, social media and amongst dietary groups. Therefore, greater awareness of the power of language in positive and negative evaluations of sustainable foods is necessary to help curb anthropogenic climate change. |
| Exploitation Route | The outcomes of this funding demonstrates that sustainable foods are typically associated with more distant, situation independent language than non-sustainable foods by mainstream omnivore consumers. However, rewarding, consumption situation language can be used as a low-cost, effective strategy to increase appeal towards, and purchase of, sustainable food choices. Furthermore, this work accounts for the role of dietary behaviour on the way that people think about, talk about and promote food. Avoiding language specific to a particular diet on food labelling can help encourage mainstream omnivore consumers to shift towards a more sustainable diet, which is a vital step in reducing global meat consumption emissions that contribute substantially to climate change. In order to break down barriers between omnivores and vegans, there needs to be emphasis on what these groups have in common: a shared motivation to enjoy food. Future research may want to determine if these language differences occur across different cultures, particularly for non-English language consumers and those that do not follow a Western-style diet. In addition, as discussions of implementing mandatory carbon labelling on food products are rising, future research may wish to determine if carbon labels, which are similar in messaging to situation independent language, may discourage purchasing of sustainable products. Furthermore, as habitual dietary behaviours are very difficult to change, future research in the health sector may want to investigate using consumption situation language as an intervention method long-term to encourage healthier food choices among at-risk groups. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Healthcare |