Meat, myself, and I: The role of multiple identities in meat consumption.

Excessive consumption of meat challenges global food security and environmental sustainability. In the mounting literature on identity as a motivator of behaviour, meat consumption has been associated with a handful of identities. Identity theory suggests that people hold multiple identities on different levels of abstraction, but how identities at different levels of abstraction interact and possibly co-determine intentions and behaviour remains largely unanswered. Inspired by research on attitudes and goal hierarchies, this study investigates a hierarchical model of meat-related identities and their relation to intentions to consume red meat. By means of a survey of Danish consumers (N = 1001), we identified identities related to the consumption of red meat (e.g., flexitarian identity), using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. We also controlled for the most important additional antecedents identified in prior research. Evidence was found that more abstract identities (e.g., national identity, environmental identity) mostly influence intentions to eat meat indirectly, meditated through more behaviour-specific identities (e.g., flexitarian identity). However, some higher-order identities also appear to have a direct impact on intentions to eat meat after controlling for more behaviour-specific identities, which suggests a less hierarchical structure manifesting itself, possibly due to the behaviour being instrumental at reaching different, functionally unrelated goals that are related to different identities. Policy recommendations towards reducing meat consumption are proposed.

Drivers of and barriers to consumers' plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling - A systematic literature review.

Plastic waste, primarily from packaging, is a growing threat to nature and the environment and a waste of resources, calling for a greener, circular economy based on waste avoidance and recycling. This paper contributes to this goal by providing a systematic review of research, published in English between 2015 and 2020, on drivers and barriers of consumers' plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling in private households. Focus is specifically on economically developed countries because they are responsible for the biggest share of plastic packaging waste and have implemented the most advanced and ambiguous legislation and regulation for plastic packaging waste prevention and recycling. Based on a search in Scopus, 36 peer-reviewed articles were identified that empirically address what motivates consumers to engage in these activities and what difficulties and hindrances they experience for doing so in an effective way. According to this research, the most important drivers of consumers' plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling are environmental concern and task-specific benefits, and the most important barriers are lack of knowledge and understanding as well as lack of opportunities, inconvenience, and task difficulty. Moreover, there is some evidence that plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling behaviours are interlinked, contingent on shared motives and understanding, which calls for an integrated approach considering potential positive and negative spill-over between plastic packaging waste behaviours.

A Research Agenda to Better Understand the Human Dimensions of Energy Transitions.

The Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) have a key role to play in understanding which factors and policies would motivate, encourage and enable different actors to adopt a wide range of sustainable energy behaviours and support the required system changes and policies. The SSH can provide critical insights into how consumers could be empowered to consistently engage in sustainable energy behaviour, support and adopt new technologies, and support policies and changes in energy systems. Furthermore, they can increase our understanding of how organisations such as private and public institutions, and groups and associations of people can play a key role in the sustainable energy transition. We identify key questions to be addressed that have been identified by the Platform for Energy Research in the Socio-economic Nexus (PERSON, see person.eu), including SSH scholars who have been studying energy issues for many years. We identify three main research themes. The first research theme involves understanding which factors encourage different actors to engage in sustainable energy behaviour. The second research theme focuses on understanding which interventions can be effective in encouraging sustainable energy behaviour of different actors, and which factors enhance their effects. The third research theme concerns understanding which factors affect public and policy support for energy policy and changes in energy systems, and how important public concerns can best be addressed as to reduce or prevent resistance.

Reflecting on Behavioral Spillover in Context: How Do Behavioral Motivations and Awareness Catalyze Other Environmentally Responsible Actions in Brazil, China, and Denmark?

Responding to serious environmental problems, requires urgent and fundamental shifts in our day-to-day lifestyles. This paper employs a qualitative, cross-cultural approach to explore people's subjective self-reflections on their experiences of pro-environmental behavioral spillover in three countries; Brazil, China, and Denmark. Behavioral spillover is an appealing yet elusive phenomenon, but offers a potential way of encouraging wider, voluntary lifestyle shifts beyond the scope of single behavior change interventions. Behavioral spillover theory proposes that engaging in one pro-environmental action can catalyze the performance of others. To date, evidence for the phenomenon has been mixed, and the causal processes governing relationships between behaviors appear complex, inconsistent and only partly understood. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by investigating accounts of behavioral spillover in three diverse cultural settings using qualitative semi-structured interviews. The analysis shows that while around half of participants overall who were questioned recalled spillover effects, the other half had not consciously experienced spillover. There were few significant differences across cultures, though some forms of spillover effects were reported more in some cultures than others. More environmentally engaged participants across all three countries were significantly more likely to experience spillover than those who were less engaged. Accounts of within-domain spillovers were most commonly reported, mainly comprising waste, resource conservation and consumption-related actions. Accounts of between-domain spillover were very rare. Recollection of contextual and interpersonal spillover effects also emerged from the interviews. Our findings suggest that more conscious behavioral spillover pathways may be limited to those with pre-existing environmental values. Behavioral spillover may comprise multiple pathways incorporating conscious and unconscious processes. We conclude that targeting behavioral catalysts that generate more socially diffuse spillover effects could offer more potential than conventional spillover involving a single individual.

Consumers' evaluation of imported organic food products: The role of geographical distance.

Country-of-origin (COO) effects and consumer evaluation of organic food products are rarely studied in combination. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate organic consumers' preferences for imported organic food products from different origins and the underlying reasons for these preferences, including how consumers' COO preferences depend on the geographical distance to the COO. We employed a multi-method, qualitative approach consisting of in-store interviews (N = 255) and focus groups (six, N = 38) with organic consumers in three German cities located in the north (Hamburg, close to Denmark), west (Münster, close to The Netherlands) and south (Munich, close to Austria). The interviews confirmed the well-known preference for domestic (also for) organic products. It also revealed a preference for geographically close countries as origin for imported organic products. The main reason for this preference is the perceived negative environmental impact of transportation, followed by trust in the country and general country image. Implications for exporters of organic food products are discussed, underlining the importance of building trust and supporting a positive country image, especially in geographically close export markets.

Texting your way to healthier eating? Effects of participating in a feedback intervention using text messaging on adolescents' fruit and vegetable intake.

This study investigates the effects of a feedback intervention employing text messaging during 11 weeks on adolescents' behavior, self-efficacy and outcome expectations regarding fruit and vegetable intake. A pre- and post-survey was completed by 1488 adolescents school-wise randomly allocated to a control group and two experimental groups. Both experimental groups set weekly goals on fruit and vegetable intake, reported their consumption daily and subsequently received feedback on their performance via mobile text messaging (Short Message Service [SMS]). The second experimental group also received, in addition, a 45-min nutrition education session from a dietitian during school. The direct effects of the interventions were not significant. However, for adolescents participating in the SMS routines, there were significant effects of the level of engagement in the intervention, reflected in the number of sent text messages, on intervention outcomes. Participants sending more than half of the possible text messages significantly increased their fruit and vegetable intake. Participants sending between 10% and 50% of the possible text messages experienced a significant drop in self-efficacy and those sending less than 10% experienced a significant drop in outcome expectations. The findings suggest that participants' active engagement in an intervention is crucial to its success. Implications for health-promoting interventions are discussed.

Following family or friends. Social norms in adolescent healthy eating.

It is commonly believed that during adolescence children become increasingly influenced by peers at the expense of parents. To test the strength of this tendency with regards to healthy eating (fruit and vegetable intake), a survey was completed by 757 adolescent-parent dyads. Our theoretical framework builds on social cognitive theory and the focus theory of normative conduct, and data are analysed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The study reveals that when it comes to adolescents' fruit and vegetable intake, parents remain the main influencer, with what they do (descriptive norms) being more important than what they say (injunctive norms). The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of what influences adolescent healthy eating, including the social influence of parents and friends, while also taking adolescent self-efficacy and outcome expectations into account. No previous studies have included all these factors in the same analysis. The study has a number of important implications: (1) healthy eating interventions should aim at strengthening self-efficacy and positive outcome expectations among adolescents, (2) the family context should be included when implementing healthy eating interventions and (3) parents' awareness of their influence on their children's healthy eating should be reinforced.

Greening the greenhouse grower. A behavioral analysis of a sector-initiated system to reduce the environmental load of greenhouses.

Growing plants and flowers in greenhouses is a commercial activity that imposes a burden on the environment. Recently a system of registration, control, and licensing has been developed by the sector of greenhouse growers in the Netherlands, acknowledged by the state. The current study was executed to understand the achievements of the greenhouse growers within this system. We applied a social-cognitive model to understand intentions to reduce emissions and predict actual pesticide use. The social-cognitive concepts from the model were measured in a questionnaire that was completed by 743 greenhouse growers. Factual information on these growers' pesticide use in 2004 and 2005 was provided by the agency responsible for the program, and could be linked to the questionnaire data. Using structural equation modeling we found that intention to reduce emission was primarily predicted by the attitude, descriptive norm, and self-efficacy. Actual pesticide use was predicted by the interaction of intention and response efficacy. Results can be used to improve communication with growers, focusing on the influential determinants of intention and behavior.