Scale-Score: Investigation of a Meta yet Multi-level Label to Support Nutritious and Sustainable Food Choices When Online Grocery Shopping

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Scale-Score, a combined nutritional and environmental food label, tested through surveys and mock environments, to support sustainable and healthy online grocery shopping, revealing its potential and areas for improvement.

Contribution

It presents the design and evaluation of a novel multi-level label that integrates nutritional and environmental information for online grocery shopping.

Findings

Supports nutritious food choices effectively.

Needs improvement in conveying sustainability benefits.

Provides new insights into combined food label design.

Abstract

Food consumption is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. However, online grocery shoppers often lack the time, motivation, or knowledge to contemplate a food's environmental impact. At the same time, they are concerned with their own well-being. To empower grocery shoppers in making nutritionally and environmentally informed decisions, we investigate the efficacy of the Scale-Score, a label combining nutritional and environmental information to highlight a product's benefit to both the consumer's and the planet's health, without obscuring either information. We conducted an online survey to understand user needs and requirements regarding a joint food label, we developed an open-source mock online grocery environment, and assessed label efficacy. We find that the Scale-Score supports nutritious purchases, yet needs improving regarding sustainability support. Our research shows first insights into design considerations and performance of a combined yet disjoint food label, potentially altering the label design space.