Please don't throw me in the briar patch! Empirical evidence on the role of instructional cues on eco-label usage in fish consumption decisions.

While contributing to the conservation of natural fish stocks, the aquaculture sector imposes environmental repercussions. The growing popularity of colour-graded eco-labels in promoting pro-environmental practices in food production underscores the need for scientific insights into consumer responses to such labels, particularly with the imminent prospect of a harmonized European labelling framework. The existing literature, although limited and divergent, advocates for real-life testing with fresh, perishable food products, emphasizing the inadequacy of standalone labels and the necessity for complementary measures. Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying how consumers process multi-coloured Front-of-Pack (FOP) labels remain ambiguous, with uncertainties regarding induced consumption shifts stemming from both deliberate information processing and less deliberate associations. This article presents findings from a randomized control trial conducted in a simulated fishmonger store in Derio, Bizkaia, Spain, involving 200 consumers. Participants selected various sea bass products out of multiple options. This task was subject to a 2 (Enviroscore: with vs without) x 2 (Supporting info on Enviroscore: with vs without) between-subject design, resulting in four treatment groups. A 16% increase in the likelihood of selecting lower-impact products was observed. Notably, this effect was evident only in the absence of supporting information on Enviroscore, and the observed impact could not be attributed to any indirect attention effect. In conclusion, Enviroscore exhibits potential in steering consumer choices toward more environmentally friendly aquaculture fish options, even in physical retail settings. However, these effects may be rooted in unconscious responses rather than deliberate environmental considerations, raising questions about the suitability of envisaged policy orientations encompassing disaggregated environmental, nutritional, animal welfare, and social welfare scores. Generalization of these findings warrants validation through further research encompassing a more comprehensive range of products.

Digital nudges to stimulate healthy and pro-environmental food choices in E-groceries.

In response to the detrimental health- and environmental impacts of European consumers' dietary patterns, Nutri-Scores and Eco-Scores have been introduced on packages as guidance for choices. Whereas the scores are promising to improve food choices from a nutritional point of view, the scant available literature suggests very limited effects on the environmental impact of food choices. Therefore, there remains a need to explore ways to bring about improvements in both areas. As a growing share of consumers buys food groceries online, new opportunities to steer food choices are being created. This article explores the potential of several digital functionalities to further stimulate healthier and pro-environmental food choices amongst consumers. These functionalities included product recommendation agents, product scores, a real-time average impact score of the chosen food basket and a personalised social norm. Those were tested in a two-stage randomized controlled trial with 1000 Belgian household food decision makers in a mock-up E-grocery. Indices reflecting the nutritional quality (NQI) and environmental impact (EII) of the selected food baskets were calculated. The results indicate that at first, displaying a combined Nutri- and Eco-Score at product level led to improved NQI's, but not EII's. However, the scores also led to shifting behaviour in EII's when facilitated with recommendation agents. The display of the average impact scores of the selected basket and of social norms did not lead to additional improvements. Hence, a combined Nutri- and Eco-Score labelling system is recommended, but an enabling environment to consider both scores is important to realise a shift towards more healthy and environmentally friendly food choices. Apart from manifesting healthier and environmentally friendly products with a centralised labelling system, improving their accessibility should be considered at least as important for behavioural changes.

No lockdown in the kitchen: How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected food-related behaviours.

The COVID-19 pandemic and especially the lockdowns coming with it have been a disruptive event also for food consumption. In order to study the impact of the pandemic on eating habits, self-reported changes in food-related behaviours were investigated in ten European countries by means of an online survey. A latent class cluster analysis distinguished five clusters and showed that different types of consumers can be distinguished based on how they react to the pandemic as regards their eating habits. While food-related behaviours were resilient for 60% of the sample, another 35% reported more enjoyment in cooking and eating, more time in the kitchen and more family meals. Among those, a slight majority also showed signs of more mindful eating, as indicated by more deliberate choices and increased consumption of healthy food, whereas a slight minority reported more consumption of indulgence food. Only 5% indicated less involvement with food. As the COVID-19 pandemic is a disruptive event, some of these changes may have habit-breaking properties and open up new opportunities and challenges for food policy and food industry.