Carrot, stick, or both? Price incentives for sustainable food choice in competitive environments

TL;DR

This study evaluates different pricing strategies in a real-world university setting to promote sustainable food choices, finding that combined discounts and surcharges can effectively reduce meat consumption and CO2 emissions without harming sales.

Contribution

It is the first large-scale field experiment comparing multiple pricing interventions for sustainable food choices in a competitive environment.

Findings

Surcharge and combined schemes increased vegetarian meal uptake by 26.4% and 16.6%.

CO2 emissions per meal decreased by 7.4% and 11.3%.

Surcharge caused spillover effects offsetting environmental benefits.

Abstract

Meat consumption is a major driver of global greenhouse gas emissions. While pricing interventions have shown potential to reduce meat intake, previous studies have focused on highly constrained environments with limited consumer choice. Here, we present the first large-scale field experiment to evaluate multiple pricing interventions in a real-world, competitive setting. Using a sequential crossover design with matched menus in a Swiss university campus, we systematically compared vegetarian-meal discounts (-2.5 CHF), meat surcharges (+2.5 CHF), and a combined scheme (-1.2 CHF=+1.2 CHF) across four campus cafeterias. Only the surcharge and combined interventions led to significant increases in vegetarian meal uptake--by 26.4% and 16.6%, respectively--and reduced CO2 emissions per meal by 7.4% and 11.3%, respectively. The surcharge, while effective, triggered a 12.3% drop in sales at intervention sites and a corresponding 14.9% increase in non-treated locations, hence causing a spillover effect that completely offset environmental gains. In contrast, the combined approach achieved meaningful emission reductions without significant effects on overall sales or revenue, making it both effective and economically viable. Notably, pricing interventions were equally effective for both vegetarian-leaning customers and habitual meat-eaters, stimulating change even within entrenched dietary habits. Our results show that balanced pricing strategies can reduce the carbon footprint of realistic food environments, but require coordinated implementation to maximize climate benefits and avoid unintended spillover effects.