Normative social influence on meat consumption

Arbeitspapier

Studies from various disciplines show that including more meat-free dishes in our diets benefits our environment and our health while also promoting animal welfare. However, little is known about what encourages the adoption of more meat-free meal choices into our everyday diets. This paper focuses on the role of normative social influence on food choice as a potential answer to this question. In a real-world setting and based on the combination of a field and a survey experiment in seven German university dining halls, I analyze the impact of social norms on meat consumption in a single meal choice situation. I distinguish between descriptive and injunctive norms as well as between remote and direct norms. In a first step, descriptive and injunctive remote norm message interventions promoting a vegetarian diet were implemented. In a second step, the influence of direct social norms, i.e., the influence of vegetarian peers on non-vegetarians' meal choice, was assessed. I find that neither type of remote eating norm influences food choice, while direct normative influence leads to convergence towards vegetarian meal choices in a university setting. I summarize the implications of these findings, discuss their limitations, and point to directions for future research.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: MPIfG Discussion Paper ; No. 20/1

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie, Anthropologie
• Subject: descriptive norms ; field experiment ; food choice ; injunctive norms ; meat consumption ; social influence ; vegetarianism ; deskriptive Normen ; Ernährung ; Feldexperiment ; Fleischkonsum ; präskriptive Normen ; soziale Normen ; Vegetarismus

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Einhorn, Laura
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
• (where): Cologne
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215424
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET