Environmental knowledge and consumer communication
It is no secret, that we are in the middle of an environmental crisis. Natural habitats are lost all over the world, species become extinct at tremendous speed and the signs of climate change are more visible than ever. But to induce change and reduce the dimension of the already inevitable disaster, everyone has to take responsibility.
Environmental responsibility and power
The responsibility, however, is only embraced with hesitation - passing the buck is the rather common strategy. It is shifted from one nation to the next, from the ordinary man to the person in power, from voter to politician and back again.
This pattern can also be observed in the food sector: Consumers expect an exclusively sustainable product range, provided by retailers and farmers. The farmers however are bound by the retail prices and demand. And the retailers argue that they don't want to patronize their customers and curtail their freedom. Ultimately most of the responsibility is laid on the shoulders of the consumers, who should, by daily decisions, shape the market for a brighter, sustainable future.
If the consumers can bear the transferred responsibility, remains an open question. For effective behavior change, not only a well-developed moral compass is needed, but also adequate knowledge to distinguish between right and wrong.
The current state
In our recent study (Link), we assessed if the average consumer possesses the knowledge to make sustainable choices. Participants of all educational backgrounds and age groups were asked to compare the environmental friendliness of different food products. The task was to select the product with the lower environmental impact in a series of pairs of two. In the test group, the participants received products labeled with a fictional environmental impact label. The label was based on a cumulation of several environmental indicators acquired through exhaustive life cycle assessment (UBP = Short for Umweltbelastungspunkte - environmental impact points). It allowed product impact differentiation through a scale of seven gradations (A-G).
Subsequently, the participant’s choices were compared with the empirical environmental impact dataset. The control group, who received no help, achieved a share of correct choices only slightly above the share by chance of 0.5 (0.57 to be precise). The test group, on the other hand, receiving the guidance of the impact label, achieved a much higher share of correct choices. We conclude, that currently, the average consumer lacks the required knowledge and needs additional guidance to make the sustainable choice.
Across category borders
The low share of correct choices can be explained by our choice of products. In contrast to other similar studies, cross-category comparisons had to be made, for example comparing Swiss beef with strawberries from Egypt. It is expected that consumers are far better trained in making same-category comparisons and lack the knowledge in cross-category comparisons. For example, season and production origin heuristics may lead the way through the vegetable shelves towards a sustainable purchase but are no help for comparisons across category borders: In terms of environmental friendliness, Egyptian strawberries, even when transported by air, easily beat Swiss beef. Although air transportation is an important factor for the environmental impact calculation, the short flight and the relatively low impact of strawberry production are dwarfed by the massive environmental impact of beef.
Comparison between the environmental impacts of imported strawberries and local beef (Photos: Marius Dihr)
Usually, the difference in environmental impact is far smaller between different items of the same category than the difference between categories. Thus, for effective behavior change, cross-category exchanges and the avoidance of especially harmful categories, such as meats, are key. However, the most efficient consumer behavior changes are usually the most difficult ones to achieve and on top, oftentimes politically charged. Therefore, it is tempting, to focus on the small, innocuous behavior changes, rather than targeting the most efficient ones – a strategy used in various other consumer sectors. Vehicles, for example, are categorized in weight classes and measured with different benchmarks. Consumers are therefore encouraged to choose the most efficient car within a category, rather than to switch to lighter models (Link to study).
The big picture
Aiming for small easy achievable behavior changes without giving any frame of reference can be dangerous. If consumers are only informed about the small levers and are rewarded regardless of the actual impact difference, we could end up with a society blind for the bigger picture.
In the personal conversation with the individual consumer misjudgments related to the absent frame of reference can be observed: Some consumers would rate the switch from plastic to cotton bags as important, would choose local meat over imported lentils, will consume eggs and chicken carefree but despise the use of soy in tofu and worry about the impact of the packaging rather than feed imports and foreign land-use changes. Since there is no comprehensive information, consumers have to rely on isolated, oftentimes very specific chunks of information, rather than the comprehensive overview needed for effective change.
The role of science
Most of the study’s participants rated the proposed label as valuable and stated that they would appreciate its introduction. This can be seen as evidence that consumers not only need, but also appreciate scientific consumption guidance. On a larger scale, our study can be regarded as a general motivation for citizen-tailored, science-based initiatives.
The current environmental challenges ask for bold behavior changes of every one of us. Science has to play a crucial role in the needed transition and its approachability and applicability are more important than ever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marius Dihr has studied environmental sciences at ETH Zurich. During the master's program he has focused on sustainable consumption and food production and dedicated his master thesis and his first publication to this field. Currently, he is working for the city of Zurich and is busy with the implementation of the sustainability strategy for food and nutrition.
Literature
Dihr, M., Berthold, A., Siegrist, M., Sütterlin, B. (2021). Consumers’ knowledge gain through a cross-category environmental label. Journal of Cleaner Production, 319, 128688.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128688
Waechter, S., Sütterlin, B., Siegrist, M., 2015. The misleading effect of energy efficiency information on perceived energy friendliness of electric goods. Journal of Cleaner Production, 93, 193-202.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.01.011