Effects of environmental impact labels on the sustainability of food purchases: A randomised controlled trial in an experimental online supermarket
Providing consumers with product-specific environmental impact information for food products (ecolabels) may promote more sustainable purchasing, needed to meet global environmental targets. This UK study (N = 1051 participants) investigated the effectiveness of different ecolabels using an experimental online supermarket platform, comparing three labels against control (no label). Significant reductions were found in the environmental impact score (EIS) for all labels compared to control (labels presented: values for four environmental indicators [-3.9 percentiles, 95%CIs: -5.3, -2.6]; a composite score [taking values from A to E; -3.9, 95%CIs: -5.2,-2.5]; or both together [-3.2, 95%CIs: -4.5, -1.9]). Providing ecolabels is a promising intervention to promote the selection of more sustainable products.
Authors
- Kerstin Frie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4717-5874)
- Rachel Pechey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6558-388X)
- Brian Cook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3902-7449)
- John Lynch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7863-1767)
- Carmen Piernas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7536-922X)
- Christina Potter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6119-2251)
- Michael Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7161-7751)
- Cristina Stewart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3060-5874)
- Susan A. Jebb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9190-2920)
- Joseph Poore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2527-7466)
- Paul Bateman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-7809)
- Mike Rayner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0479-6483)
Institutions
- University of Oxford (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PLoS ONE
- Published
- 2024-09-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309386
- Citations
- 13
- Primary Topic
- Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.97
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
- National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley