Jérôme Pivard (PSAE-INRAE)
We study how social image concerns and pro-environmental motivation influence vegetarian food choices among university students in a lab-in-the-field experiment conducted in a student canteen (N = 238). Participants chose between vegetarian and meat-based pasta dishes. In treated groups, an organic vegetarian option was highlighted with a distinctive green tray to increase its social visibility. Contrary to our pre-registered hypothesis, visibility did not significantly increase vegetarian choices or demand for the organic option. However, treatment effects were concentrated among individuals with stronger image-oriented behavioral tendencies. Vegetarian choices were mainly explained by intrinsic environmental concerns, image motivations, willingness to pay for organic food, habitual meat consumption, and political preferences. We also find a counterintuitive positive relationship between perceived meat-eating norms and vegetarian choices, that we explore using post-experimental data. Overall, our findings suggest that the effectiveness of social visibility nudges is constrained by pre-existing habits and intrinsic preferences, with implications for interventions targeting young adults’ food demand.