A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives

Restaurants are characterized by high levels of meat being consumed in this out-of-home setting, while plant-based meat alternatives remain a niche product, thus preserving a high environmental impact of food consumption. We tested whether subtly re-designing the restaurant menu, so that plant-based meat alternatives were perceived as the default to a greater extent, increased consumer selection of plant-based meat alternatives. Consumers' freedom of choice was preserved by leaving all choice options on the menu. An online experiment in The Netherlands showed that consumers choose plant-based meat alternatives more often relative to meat when the plant-based option is framed as the default. In a field experiment in a Dutch restaurant, we found that the amount of ordered plant-based meat alternative dishes substantially increased relative to an equivalent meat dish when implementing a default nudge (bean alternative: from 8.6% to 80.0%; seaweed alternative: from 16.1% to 58.3%). Thus, re-designing the menu in a way that suggests that plant-based meat alternatives are the default, while preserving autonomous decision-making, is a promising route to promote out-of-home adoption of plant-based meat alternatives in restaurants.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Taufik, Danny, Bouwman, Emily P., Reinders, Machiel J., Dagevos, Hans
Format: Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:English
Subjects:Consumer behavior, Default nudge, Meat consumption, Plant-based meat alternatives, Restaurants,
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/a-reversal-of-defaults-implementing-a-menu-based-default-nudge-to
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spelling dig-wur-nl-wurpubs-5976462024-12-16 Taufik, Danny Bouwman, Emily P. Reinders, Machiel J. Dagevos, Hans Article/Letter to editor Appetite 175 (2022) ISSN: 0195-6663 A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives 2022 Restaurants are characterized by high levels of meat being consumed in this out-of-home setting, while plant-based meat alternatives remain a niche product, thus preserving a high environmental impact of food consumption. We tested whether subtly re-designing the restaurant menu, so that plant-based meat alternatives were perceived as the default to a greater extent, increased consumer selection of plant-based meat alternatives. Consumers' freedom of choice was preserved by leaving all choice options on the menu. An online experiment in The Netherlands showed that consumers choose plant-based meat alternatives more often relative to meat when the plant-based option is framed as the default. In a field experiment in a Dutch restaurant, we found that the amount of ordered plant-based meat alternative dishes substantially increased relative to an equivalent meat dish when implementing a default nudge (bean alternative: from 8.6% to 80.0%; seaweed alternative: from 16.1% to 58.3%). Thus, re-designing the menu in a way that suggests that plant-based meat alternatives are the default, while preserving autonomous decision-making, is a promising route to promote out-of-home adoption of plant-based meat alternatives in restaurants. en application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/a-reversal-of-defaults-implementing-a-menu-based-default-nudge-to 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106049 https://edepot.wur.nl/570360 Consumer behavior Default nudge Meat consumption Plant-based meat alternatives Restaurants https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Wageningen University & Research
institution WUR NL
collection DSpace
country Países bajos
countrycode NL
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-wur-nl
tag biblioteca
region Europa del Oeste
libraryname WUR Library Netherlands
language English
topic Consumer behavior
Default nudge
Meat consumption
Plant-based meat alternatives
Restaurants
Consumer behavior
Default nudge
Meat consumption
Plant-based meat alternatives
Restaurants
spellingShingle Consumer behavior
Default nudge
Meat consumption
Plant-based meat alternatives
Restaurants
Consumer behavior
Default nudge
Meat consumption
Plant-based meat alternatives
Restaurants
Taufik, Danny
Bouwman, Emily P.
Reinders, Machiel J.
Dagevos, Hans
A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
description Restaurants are characterized by high levels of meat being consumed in this out-of-home setting, while plant-based meat alternatives remain a niche product, thus preserving a high environmental impact of food consumption. We tested whether subtly re-designing the restaurant menu, so that plant-based meat alternatives were perceived as the default to a greater extent, increased consumer selection of plant-based meat alternatives. Consumers' freedom of choice was preserved by leaving all choice options on the menu. An online experiment in The Netherlands showed that consumers choose plant-based meat alternatives more often relative to meat when the plant-based option is framed as the default. In a field experiment in a Dutch restaurant, we found that the amount of ordered plant-based meat alternative dishes substantially increased relative to an equivalent meat dish when implementing a default nudge (bean alternative: from 8.6% to 80.0%; seaweed alternative: from 16.1% to 58.3%). Thus, re-designing the menu in a way that suggests that plant-based meat alternatives are the default, while preserving autonomous decision-making, is a promising route to promote out-of-home adoption of plant-based meat alternatives in restaurants.
format Article/Letter to editor
topic_facet Consumer behavior
Default nudge
Meat consumption
Plant-based meat alternatives
Restaurants
author Taufik, Danny
Bouwman, Emily P.
Reinders, Machiel J.
Dagevos, Hans
author_facet Taufik, Danny
Bouwman, Emily P.
Reinders, Machiel J.
Dagevos, Hans
author_sort Taufik, Danny
title A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
title_short A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
title_full A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
title_fullStr A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
title_full_unstemmed A reversal of defaults: Implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
title_sort reversal of defaults: implementing a menu-based default nudge to promote out-of-home consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives
url https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/a-reversal-of-defaults-implementing-a-menu-based-default-nudge-to
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