Long-Run Effects of Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence on Meat Consumption
Habits pose a potentially strong barrier to reducing meat consumption. Drawing on data from a framed field experiment over 14 months, we address the challenge of changing meat consumption habits and examine whether repeated informational and supportive newsletter interventions reduce self-reported meat consumption. While on average we find no evidence for a reduction in meat intake in response to the interventions, individuals with favorable pre-conditions, such as those with a low baseline consumption, moderately decrease their meat consumption. In addition, the interventions were effective in changing meat consumption among female but not male respondents. A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that the scope for reducing nutrition-related carbon emissions through newsletters is small.