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A new study has found that “nudging” online shoppers with informative labeling and product categorization encourages people to purchase more plant-based foods.
Including carbon footprint information on food labels increased the selection of plant-based options by 37 percent. Strategically categorizing plant-based products increased selection by 25 percent. When combined, both nudges increased selection by 32 percent.
Agricultural economists Bhagyashree Katare of Purdue University and Shuoli Zhao of the University of Kentucky carried out the new research, which PNAS published in December.
“A lot of research has been done on point-of-purchase nudges, but that has been done in a physical setting. In this study, we look at that in the growing domain of online grocery shopping,” said Katare. “It provides actionable evidence that small interventions can increase the selection of plant-based products or healthy products.”
Katare and Zhao used the Open Science Online Grocery platform to simulate a typical online shopping experience with thousands of products across a wide range of categories. More than 2,350 U.S. residents participated in the study. Katare and Zhao’s work also features in a PNAS collection on the sustainability of animal-derived and plant-based foods.
Read more: US School Children Get More Access To Healthy Plant-Based Foods Under New Rules
Labeling most effective ‘nudge’ for online shoppers
Various restaurants and cafeterias have successfully used nudges to promote healthy or sustainable choices by customers. Meanwhile, modern supermarkets are famously designed to encourage additional expenditure and last-minute purchases from in-person shoppers.
According to the new research, providing information – meaning labeling – was the most effective form of nudging. However, previous studies have found that providing information is more effective when combined with another form of nudging, such as categorization.
According to the researchers, more than 45 percent of consumers regularly shop for groceries online. Global retail e-commerce sales are projected to grow nearly 40 percent in the coming years and are predicted to surpass eight trillion US dollars by 2027.
Katare noted that online shopping could mitigate the food access issues experienced by millions of Americans every year. “Encouraging” research from 2023 indicated that online grocery shopping will likely be an “important step” in improving access to nutritious foods.
Read more: Vegan Food Should Be Cheaper And More Accessible, Say UK Climate Advisers
