Guiding pro-environmental behaviour: examining the impact of cognitive and behavioural interventions on sustainable food choices in hospitality

Food consumption represents a substantial share of tourism’s global CO2 emissions. Yet, experimental research on reducing high-emission food choices among tourists is scarce. This study explores how cognitive and behavioural interventions affect the likelihood of choosing vegetarian dishes in hotel restaurants. The authors conducted covert field experiments using theory-informed menu designs to encourage vegetarian food choices. In two hotels, 647 participants received one of four menu conditions: the hotel’s default menu or one of three intervention menus. The intervention menus were designed to test cognitive (using the bandwagon effect) or behavioural interventions (using framing and anchoring biases). The results show that the behavioural interventions outperformed the cognitive intervention in increasing vegetarian orders. When presented with the behavioural intervention, participants had up to 654% (95% CI [2.21, 49.80]) higher odds of choosing vegetarian dishes than the cognitive intervention group. The odds increased to 950% (95% CI [1.26, 27.35]) when the participants were presented with a framing and anchoring-based behavioural intervention. The results indicate that behavioural interventions are more effective in encouraging pro-environmental food choices in hotel settings than cognitive interventions. This study contributes to the literature on pro-environmental behaviour change, presenting suggestions for further studies and practical, theoretical, and managerial implications.