Notes, labels, scales... the headache of labeling to promote sustainable food
What information should be highlighted on packaging (and how) to encourage consumers to choose products that are most aligned with sustainable development goals?
Béatrice Siadou-Martin, University of Montpellier; Fatiha Fort, Montpellier SupAgro and Gilles Séré de Lanauze, IAE Montpellier
Awareness of the potentially negative effects of our consumption is spreading among citizens. The urgency is clear: in France, according to the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), in 2019, a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in France and 23% of the total energy consumed in France came from our plates. New legislation is therefore attempting to trigger a global movement towards more sustainable consumption.
However, intentions do not always translate into action. This gap is partly due to information-related issues. According to a report published in October 2021 by the European Commission, 29% of consumers consider the lack of information on product sustainability to be a significant barrier to adopting more sustainable consumption behaviors, and 27% lament the lack of information on product repairability.
Reliable and objective information on packaging is therefore necessary to encourage behaviors that are in line with environmental and social concerns, attitudes toward the most sustainable products, and purchasing intentions. This is what we sought to explore in a recent study focused on the food sector.
Too much information?
The task is complicated, as there are many constraints. The often small size of packaging (which is also an ecological imperative) often results in a clutter of complex information if we want to take into account all aspects of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and social. Preservation of resources, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, safeguarding health interests, protecting workers and consumers... there are many elements that need to be highlighted.
Should we provide multiple explanations and positive justifications, or should we prioritize clarity, intelligibility, and credibility by strongly asserting a message of commitment, even if it is simplified? Often, it is the environmental aspect that takes precedence. Are ecological arguments more effective than social arguments?
Most labels and other displays of product sustainability take the form of either a single score that does not mention any specific factual arguments, or a multi-criteria scale. This is the option recommended by Ademe, a multi-criteria assessment based on a product life cycle analysis measuring the quantifiable environmental impacts of the product throughout its life cycle, from design to marketing.
Displaying is effective
Our experiment consisted of showing 161 people a photograph of a product without any information, followed by information about its sustainability. A total of eight presentations of information were tested: in addition to the control situation, three display formats (multi-criteria scale, overall score, and "sustainable product" logo) and two types of sustainability information (environmental, social, and simultaneous presentation of both) were presented to participants. After reading this information, consumers indicated their attitude, positive or negative, towards the product and their intention to purchase it. The study was conducted on three products—wine, Comté cheese, and foie gras—each with different sustainability issues.
The results confirm, first of all, that information about the sustainability of the product, whether environmental or social, has a positive influence on purchase intentions in all cases. This effect is even amplified when both aspects are presented together. For the county, the attitude towards the product (" I like this product ") is rated at 4.28 (out of 5) when environmental information is provided, and remains similar when social information is provided (4.29); however, it increases significantly (4.41) when both types of information are provided. It rises to 4.16 without information. The same observation emerges for purchase intention: 3.80 when environmental information is provided, 3.75 when social information is provided, 3.99 when both types of information are provided, and 3.66 without any information.
Logos, not very effective
We then compared three different ways of displaying this information: a dual multi-criteria scale with three environmental criteria and three social criteria, a dual overall score for environmental and social performance, and a synthetic logo based on the principle of eco-labels. The results show different levels of effectiveness depending on the pillar of sustainable development considered. The overall score appears to be more effective than the multi-criteria scale for environmental performance; while the opposite is true for social display. This could be due to a higher degree of abstraction of environmental issues in the minds of consumers. In all cases, however, both the overall rating and the multi-criteria scale have a greater positive effect on attitude and intention when compared to a synthetic logo.
While the superiority of the overall score for social aspects and that of the multi-criteria scale for environmental aspects are established globally, statistical analyses conducted at the product level lead to a more nuanced interpretation. For foie gras, no difference was found in terms of format for environmental labeling. Could this be linked to the sustainability issues surrounding these products? Foie gras production has a particular impact on animal welfare, while the wine sector is more in the spotlight for its use of pesticides. The information and education needs expressed by consumers would therefore be different.
Sustainable advertising, when it follows certain paths rather than others, is therefore a valuable tool for raising awareness and educating the public. This applies both to brands that are working to improve their products and to public policy makers seeking to encourage virtuous consumer behavior.
This research received funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR) under the program " Environmental, Social, and Territorial Sustainability of Processed Food Products." The ANR funds project-based research in France. Its mission is to support and promote the development of fundamental and applied research in all disciplines, and to strengthen the dialogue between science and society. For more information, visit theANR website.
Béatrice Siadou-Martin, Professor of Management Sciences, University of Montpellier; Fatiha Fort, Professor of Marketing, Montpellier SupAgro and Gilles Séré de Lanauze, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, IAE Montpellier
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