Morality meets menu: investigating the impact of moral appeals on vegetarianism through a conjoint survey experiment

IF 4.8 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Climatic Change Pub Date : 2024-02-23 DOI:10.1007/s10584-024-03695-5

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Abstract

Can moral appeals motivate individuals to choose less carbon-intensive diets? In a survey-embedded forced-choice conjoint experiment involving 1520 US respondents, we asked participants to compare two menus across six dimensions: (1) burger/sandwich patty type and its corresponding carbon footprint value, (2) calories, (3) protein, (4) price, (5) ingredient origin, and (6) farming method. Within each menu, the values for these dimensions varied randomly. Further, respondents were randomly assigned to three frames: a reference frame that highlighted the scientific rationale for pro-climate action, and treatment frames with a moral-secular and a moral-religious framing of pro-climate action. We found that moral appeals did not influence individuals to make low-carbon food choices. Across the entire sample, respondents tended to favor non-vegetarian options with higher carbon footprints. Those who prioritized taste were less inclined to choose the vegetarian menu. However, some subgroups did show a preference for the vegetarian menu, including women, those with pro-climate attitudes and prior exposure to a vegetarian diet, and those who considered the health impact of their food choices. In conclusion, it appears that moral appeals are unlikely to drive significant changes in individual food choices toward a more climate-friendly food system. Instead, dietary preferences are primarily shaped by individuals’ pre-existing climate attitudes and demographics.

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道德与菜单：通过联合调查实验研究道德呼吁对素食主义的影响

摘要道德呼吁能否促使人们选择碳密集度较低的饮食？在一项有 1520 名美国受访者参与的调查嵌入式强迫选择联合实验中，我们要求参与者从六个方面对两份菜单进行比较：（1）汉堡/三明治肉饼类型及其相应的碳足迹值；（2）卡路里；（3）蛋白质；（4）价格；（5）原料产地；（6）耕作方式。在每份菜单中，这些维度的数值随机变化。此外，受访者被随机分配到三个框架中：一个是强调支持气候行动的科学依据的参考框架，另一个是支持气候行动的道德-世俗框架和道德-宗教框架。我们发现，道德诉求并不能影响人们选择低碳食品。在所有样本中，受访者倾向于选择碳足迹较高的荤食。口味优先的受访者不太倾向于选择素食菜单。然而，一些亚群体确实表现出对素食菜单的偏好，包括女性、对气候持支持态度并曾接触过素食的人，以及考虑到食物选择对健康影响的人。总之，道德呼吁似乎不太可能促使个人的饮食选择发生重大变化，从而转向对气候更友好的食品系统。相反，膳食偏好主要受个人先前存在的气候态度和人口统计学因素的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Climatic Change 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

10.20

自引率

4.20%

发文量

180

审稿时长

7.5 months

期刊介绍： Climatic Change is dedicated to the totality of the problem of climatic variability and change - its descriptions, causes, implications and interactions among these. The purpose of the journal is to provide a means of exchange among those working in different disciplines on problems related to climatic variations. This means that authors have an opportunity to communicate the essence of their studies to people in other climate-related disciplines and to interested non-disciplinarians, as well as to report on research in which the originality is in the combinations of (not necessarily original) work from several disciplines. The journal also includes vigorous editorial and book review sections.