Exploring Identifiers of Research Articles Related to Food and Disease Using Artificial Intelligence

Currently hundreds of studies in the literature have shown the link between food and reducing the risk of chronic diseases. This study investigates the use of natural language processing and artificial intelligence techniques in developing a classifier that is able to identify, extract and analyze food-health articles automatically. In particular, this research focusses on automatic identification of health articles pertinent to roles of food in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and cancer as these three chronic diseases account for 60% of deaths (WHO, 2015). Three hundred food-health articles on that topic were analyzed to help identify a unique key (Identifier) for each set of publications. These keys were employed to construct a classifier that is capable of performing online search for identifying and extracting scientific articles in request. The classifier showed promising results to perform automatic analysis of food-health articles which in turn would help food professionals and researchers to carry out efficient literature search and analysis in a timelier fashion

Research on food healthiness: Supporting decisions on public health, package design, and everyday consumption situations

Food marketing can be used as a means to combat the current obesity epidemic by increasing the healthiness of a consumer’s diet. The negative and positive influence of marketing practices on food intake has been investigated for advertisement via traditional (media) and modern (online, in-store, events, etc.) channels, branding campaigns, or product placement. Another increasingly applied, yet underresearched marketing tool to communicate with consumers is product packaging. Therefore, this cumulative dissertation empirically investigates consumers’ understanding of healthy nutrition and effects of multiple package design elements on subjective food healthiness perceptions. The first article (Chapter 2) provides an exploration of fundamental lay theories regarding healthy nutrition among German consumers by using Q methodology. Relating to package design effects, Chapter 3 implicitly and explicitly establishes basic and food-related design-healthiness association for color lightness (vs. darkness) and shape roundness (vs. angularity). Chapter 4 examines how the design factor weight—as expressed by light-weighted vs. heavy-weighted colors and typefaces applied on a package design—influences the respective food healthiness perception. It also reveals boundary conditions of the effect for individuals’ health regulatory focus. Following up on this, Chapter 5 investigates the overall shape of a package design, i.e., its slimness (vs. thickness) and how it subsequently shapes food healthiness perceptions depending on participants’ gender and body mass index (BMI). It also introduces the social construct of self-referencing as an explanatory mechanism. The last chapter extends design-related findings by utilizing symbolic meaning in product images on packages that are shown to not only impact a food’s healthiness, but perceptions of its level of processing, quality, and, ultimately, its actual taste. Findings can be used to address the current public health concern by deriving implications for public health officials, marketing managers, and the informed consumer

The challenge of green marketing communication

Understanding how packaging communication guides consumers in evaluating the environmental performance of a product is essential to promoting sustainable consumption. Previous studies suggest that while consumers are unable to verify the veracity of environmental information and the actual environmental impact of a product, they use packaging communication to evaluate packaging and product quality subjectively. However, few studies focus on the aspects of efficient and credible green marketing communication (GMC) and the role of communication channels used. This situation applies, in particular, consumers who have high environmental consciousness (HEC) but are skeptical, as they must balance the need for reliable product knowledge with a high sensitivity to the often ambiguous references to the environmental compatibility of a product (e.g., environmental motifs). Three experimental studies were conducted to investigate the challenges of an effective GMC using different communication channels and their combined effects on different environmentally conscious target groups. The first study investigates consumers’ responses to nonverbal packaging elements—graphical surface design and packaging material—regarding the perceived environmental friendliness of the product. The results showed that individuals with HEC tended to use packaging material to evaluate environmental friendliness and associated a package’s graphical design with greenwashing. This study contributed to the literature by expanding on the knowledge about the effects of nonverbal packaging on (1) different types of environmentally conscious consumers and (2) demonstrating that there are gradations in nonverbal communication channels concerning how strongly consumers are linking these channels to attempts of greenwashing. Building on these findings, in study 2, the effect of the communication channel specificity (verbal and nonverbal) on consumers’ environmental skepticism and attention during product presentation and effects on conveying product environment was investigated. The results revealed a complex interplay between communication channel specificity and the involvement of the environmental target groups—HEC and low environmental consciousness (LEC)—on consumers’ skepticism and the evaluation of environmental friendliness. Study 2 contributes to the literature by providing a framework that may be used to address how channel specificity affects the reception of the marketing message by the intended audience, the ways the marketing message is presented, and how individual perspectives and expectations are formed. Within the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), the role of both verbal and nonverbal communication channels has been tested, revealing a theory-conform demand for elaboration, which depends on consumers' environmental consciousness. That is, when environmental information is provided verbally, text-based communication channels translate it into low skepticism for both HEC and LEC consumers. However, nonverbal, pictorial communication proved to be persuasive only for LEC consumers; HEC consumers exhibited high levels of skepticism, which, in turn, decreased perceived environmental friendliness. In addition to the direct effect of the differently specific communication channels, the analysis of combined verbal and nonverbal communication channels provides promising starting points for effective GMC, which is addressed in-depth in study 3. Study 3 explored the combined effects of an associative environmental communication channel when used in conjunction with a content congruent and incongruent specific communication channel. When these effects in the two consumer groups (HEC and LEC) were compared, the results showed that the use of environmental information transmitted via an associative communication channel, along with environmental information presented via a specific communication channel, reduces skepticism among HEC consumers. However, when environmental information presented through the associative communication channel is presented in isolation, HEC consumers show a high degree of skepticism; that is, HEC consumer responses to nonverbal packaging elements interacted with verbal justification contexts, which is the specific verbal information. In accordance with ELM, this suggests a joint effect of central and peripheral processing of environmental information among HEC consumers. In contrast, this joint effect of elaborated processing revealed no significant impact on LEC consumers' skepticism. The results of the three studies are relevant for marketing practitioners. Effective marketing strategies for different environmentally conscious target groups and an inclusive approach (i.e., target-group-independent) were deduced, and the implications for future research were presented.Für die Förderung eines nachhaltigen Konsums ist es wichtig zu verstehen, wovon Konsumenten Urteile zur Umweltfreundlichkeit eines Produkts ableiten. Zentraler Ansatzpunkt für die Vermittlung von Informationen über die Umweltfreundlichkeit eines Produktes ist die Gestaltung der Verpackung, z.B. die Verwendung von Umweltmotiven. So wird die Verpackungskommunikation zur wichtigen Basis, um die Qualität der Verpackungen und des Produktes subjektiv zu bewerten. Tatsächlich ist es Verbrauchern nur schwer möglich, die „echten“ Umweltauswirkungen eines Produkts abzuschätzen. Bislang gibt es nur wenig Forschung zu beeinflussenden Faktoren für eine effiziente und glaubwürdige umweltfreundliche Marketingkommunikation und die Rolle der verwendeten Kommunikationskanäle. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Kommunikation mit umweltbewussten – aber skeptischen – Konsumenten, da diese Zielgruppe das Bedürfnis nach verlässlicher Produktinformation hat und gleichzeitig sehr sensibel auf mehrdeutige oder unspezifische Produkthinweise (z.B. Produktbeschreibungen oder Umweltmotive) zur Umweltverträglichkeit eines Produktes reagiert. Diese führen eher dazu, dass Informationen als „Greenwashing“ wahrgenommen werden. Dieser Begriff beschreibt, wie Unternehmen Verbraucher über Umweltpraktiken oder ökologische Vorteile ihrer Produkte oder Dienstleistungen in die Irre führen. Die aus dieser Irreführung resultierenden Reaktionen der Verbraucher könnten sich in einer Skepsis widerspiegeln: Verbraucher neigen in der Folge dazu, den Umweltinformationen, die über das Produkt vermittelt werden, zu misstrauen. Dies stellt eine zentrale Herausforderung für die Kommunikation umweltfreundlicher Produkteigenschaften über die Verpackung dar, da deren Wirksamkeit nicht gewährleistet ist und auch zu kontraproduktiven Effekten führen könnte: Die Umweltkommunikation könnte die Skepsis der Verbraucher gegenüber der Umwelt sogar noch erhöhen, die subjektive Bewertung der Umweltverträglichkeit wird als Greenwashing-Versuch angesehen. In drei experimentellen Studien wurden die Herausforderungen an eine effektive, umweltfreundliche Marketingkommunikation unter Verwendung verschiedener Kommunikationskanäle und deren kombinierter Effekte auf unterschiedliche umweltbewusste Zielgruppen untersucht. Die erste Studie untersuchte die Reaktionen der Verbraucher auf nonverbale Verpackungselemente – grafische Oberflächengestaltung und Verpackungsmaterial – im Hinblick auf die wahrgenommene Umweltfreundlichkeit des Produkts. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass umweltbewusste Konsumenten dazu neigen, die Umweltfreundlichkeit eines Produktes anhand des Verpackungsmaterials zu bewerten und die grafische Gestaltung einer Verpackung mit einem Greenwashing-Versuch in Verbindung bringen. Studie 1 erweiterte das Wissen darüber, wie sich nonverbale Verpackungskanäle auf (I.) unterschiedlich umweltbewusste Verbraucher auswirken und zeigte (II.), dass es Abstufungen zwischen den nonverbalen Kommunikationskanälen in Bezug darauf gibt, wie stark die Verbraucher diese Kanäle mit dem Versuch von Greenwashing in Verbindung bringen. Aufbauend auf diesen Erkenntnissen wurde in Studie 2 die Wirkung der Kommunikationskanalspezifität (verbal und nonverbal) bei der Vermittlung der Produktumweltfreundlichkeit sowie die Skepsis und Aufmerksamkeit der Verbraucher mittels Bilder- und Textauswahl in Erinnerungsaufgaben mithilfe von Erhebungsskalen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten ein komplexes Zusammenspiel zwischen der Spezifität der Kommunikationskanäle und dem Involvement der Zielgruppen. Studie 2 leistet einen essentiellen Beitrag zur bisherigen Literatur. Es wurde ein Modell erstellt, mit dem untersucht wurde, wie die Kanalspezifität die Wahrnehmung einer umweltfreundlichen Marketingbotschaft die Zielgruppe beeinflusst und wie individuelle Bewertungen und Ansprüche an die Marketingbotschaft entstehen. Aufbauend auf dem Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) wurde die Rolle verbaler und nonverbaler Kommunikationskanäle getestet. Dabei zeigte sich ein theoriekonformer Wunsch nach einer elaborierten Verarbeitung der umweltfreundlichen Information in Abhängigkeit vom Umweltbewusstsein der Konsumenten. Neben der direkten Wirkung der unterschiedlich spezifischen Kommunikationskanäle bietet die Analyse der kombinierten verbalen und nonverbalen Kommunikationskanäle Ansatzpunkte für eine effektive, umweltfreundliche Produktkommunikation. Studie 3 befasste sich eingehend mit den kombinierten Wirkungen eines assoziativen Kommunikationskanals. Dabei wurde der kombinierte Effekt eines assoziativen Umweltkommunikationskanals in Verbindung mit einem inhaltskongruenten und -inkongruenten spezifischen Kommunikationskanal getestet. Ein Vergleich dieser Effekte in zwei Verbrauchergruppen (umweltbewusst vs. umweltunbewusst) zeigte, dass die Verwendung von Umweltinformationen, die sowohl über einen assoziativen als auch über einen spezifischen Kommunikationskanal präsentiert werden, die Skepsis der umweltbewussten Verbraucher verschwinden lässt. Werden Umweltinformationen nur über den assoziativen Kommunikationskanal präsentiert, zeigen sich umweltbewusste Konsumenten sehr skeptisch: Bei ihnen konfligieren die Inhalte der nonverbalen Verpackungselemente mit den verbalen Rechtfertigungen auf der Produktverpackung. In Übereinstimmung mit dem ELM deutet dies auf eine gemeinsame Wirkung der zentralen und peripheren Verarbeitung von Umweltinformationen bei den umweltbewussten Verbrauchern hin. Im Gegensatz dazu zeigte dieser gemeinsame Effekt der elaborierten Verarbeitung keine signifikanten Auswirkungen auf die Skepsis der umweltunbewussten Konsumenten. Die Ergebnisse dieser Dissertation deuten darauf hin, dass einige Aspekte in der Kommunikation von umweltfreundlichen Produkteigenschaften beachtet werden müssen, um die primäre Zielgruppe der umweltbewussten Konsumenten von der Umweltfreundlichkeit eines Produktes zu überzeugen: Die Verwendung von vagen und assoziativen Kommunikationskanälen (z.B. durch die Verwendung von Motiven, Farben oder Oberflächengestaltungen) sollte vermieden werden, da diese die Skepsis der umweltbewussten Konsumenten und wahrgenommene Greenwashing-Intentionen verstärken. Stattdessen sollten spezifische Kommunikationskanäle (z.B. durch Verwendung von textbasierten Informationen, Siegeln oder Materialien) gewählt werden, da diese zu einer geringen Umweltskepsis und damit zu einer hohen Wirksamkeit von Umweltinformationen führen: Die Verbraucher schreiben dem Produkt ein hohes Maß an Umweltfreundlichkeit zu. Die Studien zeigten, dass zwei bedeutende Unterschiede zu berücksichtigen sind: - zwischen nonverbalen und verbalen Informationskanälen - zwischen dem Grad des Informationsnutzens, der durch die Kommunikationskanäle bereitgestellt wird – der Spezifität Die Unterscheidung zwischen nonverbalen und verbalen Informationskanälen ist sinnvoll in Bezug auf die Motivation und Reizschwelle, die ein Kommunikationskanal für die Verarbeitung benötigt. Sie bestimmt, ob eine über einen verbalen Kommunikationskanal bereitgestellte Information von unterschiedlich motivierten und involvierten Konsumenten wahrgenommen wird. Nonverbale Informationskanäle bieten den kommunikativen Vorteil, Umweltinformationen schnell und für alle Verbraucher peripher wahrnehmbar zu kommunizieren und erzielen dabei mehr Aufmerksamkeit auf Seiten der Verbraucher als eine aufwändige Verarbeitung verbaler Kommunikationskanäle. Daher sind nonverbale Kommunikationskanäle geeignet, eine Grundlage für eine schnelle, niedrigschwellige Zuschreibung von Umweltqualitäten zu schaffen. Die Unterscheidung zwischen verschiedenen spezifischen Kommunikationskanälen erweist sich als nützlich, da so zwischen dem Informationsgehalt und der Substantivität der Kommunikationskanäle bei der Vermittlung von Umweltfreundlichkeit differenziert werden kann. Es wurden außerdem Unterschiede zwischen nonverbalen und verbalen Informationskanälen in der Hinsicht festgestellt, inwieweit sich der Kommunikationskanal auf die tatsächliche Umweltverträglichkeit der Verpackung oder des Produkts bezieht. Je substanzieller, spezifischer und weniger vage sich ein Kommunikationskanal auf die Umweltauswirkungen des Produktes oder der Verpackung bezieht, desto weniger wird diese Umweltinformation mit Skepsis und Greenwashing-Absichten verknüpft. Aus den Ergebnissen ist zu folgern, dass vage und assoziative Umweltkommunikationskanäle nicht isoliert, sondern in Kombination mit spezifischen Kanälen genutzt werden sollten. Die kombinierte Anwendung zeigte, dass der Inhalt des vagen und assoziativen Kommunikationskanals als gerechtfertigt angesehen und damit Skepsis ausräumt wird. Assoziative Umweltinformationen werden durch die kongruenten Informationen des spezifischen Kommunikationskanals unterstützt und beseitigen so die Skepsis gegenüber der assoziativen Umweltinformation. Auch wenn umweltunbewusste Konsumenten nicht die primäre Zielgruppe sind, könnten auch diese in ihrem Alltag nach umwelt- oder umweltbezogenen Produkteigenschaften (z.B. Gesundheitszuträglichkeit) suchen. Die kombinierte Nutzung von Kommunikationskanälen mit unterschiedlichen Spezifitäten erwies sich auch in dieser Verbrauchergruppe als effizient. Für umweltunbewusste Konsumenten sind assoziative Kommunikationskanäle in erster Linie vorhanden, um die Umweltverträglichkeit des Produktes oder der Verpackung zu kommunizieren. Umweltunbewusste Konsumenten beziehen ihre Produktinformationen primär aus peripheren, heuristischen Verpackungshinweisen und sind weniger aufmerksam gegenüber spezifischen Informationen, die eine kognitive Verarbeitung erfordern. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden drei Studien sind für Marketing-Praktiker von großer Relevanz. Es wurden effektive Marketingstrategien für verschieden umweltbewusste Zielgruppen vorgestellt und ein integrativer, zielgruppenunabhängiger Ansatz abgeleitet sowie Implikationen für die zukünftige Forschung vorgestellt. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die vorliegende Dissertation die Basis für einen integrativen Ansatz zur Effektivität umweltfreundlicher Marketingkommunikation bietet, der verschiedene Kommunikationskanäle mit den Verarbeitungsanforderungen unterschiedlich umweltbewusster Verbraucherzielgruppen verbindet

The impact of sustainability labeling on consumers' food choices

Public interest in sustainability issues has led to the growth of the number of voluntary sustainability labeling schemes used by food manufacturers to differentiate their products. Additionally, the incorporation of sustainability aspects in food policies is gaining importance and some dietary guidelines now advice consumers to purchase food with sustainability labels. This dissertation focuses on sustainability labeling as an information provision tool which allows for more informed food choices. The use of sustainability labels and its influence on food choices are studied. More specifically, consumers’ preferences towards a wide range of sustainability labels on yoghurt, chicken and coffee are investigated. The involvement in sustainable diets and healthy diets are studied. Involvement can be a motivational factor to use sustainability labels during the decision-making process. The knowledge and awareness of organic labels are examined which relates to the ability to use the information. Finally, visual attention to sustainability labels during food choice and its relation to choice behavior are investigated with the use of eye-tracking

Čichový behaviorální obranný systém u člověka

This thesis consists of two parts. The first part introduces the importance of behavioural defence mechanisms, specifically the behavioural immune system and mainly in humans. I review current knowledge regarding behavioural defence mediated by odour cues. Although behavioural defence mechanisms are important for all individuals who live in social groups, I focus on mate choice, because that is the context in which olfaction-mediated behavioural defence is studied the most. Subsequently, the importance of olfaction is demonstrated using the example of self-inspection and I discuss how the behavioural immune system may be intertwined with this relatively understudied behaviour. Finally, last chapter deals with associations between olfaction and other modalities that play a role in the detection of cues which help select a healthy and immunocompetent partner. In the second part of the thesis, I present nine papers: three reviews and six empirical studies. The review papers summarise the functioning of the behavioural immune system, olfaction- mediated pathogen avoidance in mammals, and the merely weak association between attractiveness ratings based on different modalities. The first empirical paper investigates whether the threat caused by the Covid-19 pandemic led to increased perceived disgust,...Předkládaná disertační práce se skládá ze dvou částí. První část představuje behaviorální obranné mechanismy u člověka, zejména behaviorální imunitní systém. V této části také shrnuji poznatky o behaviorální obraně zprostředkované čichovými vodítky. Přestože jsou zmíněné obranné mechanismy důležité pro všechny jedince žijící v sociálních skupinách, disertační práce na toto téma nahlíží v kontextu výběru partnera, neboť je tento kontext nejvíce studovaným. V další kapitole pak poukazuji na důležitost čichové sebe-inspekce, a jak toto dosud jen velmi málo studované chování může být propojeno s behaviorálním imunitním systémem. Závěr první části práce je věnován vztahu mezi čichem a dalšími modalitami, které přispívají k rozpoznání zdravého a imunokompetentního partnera. V druhé části disertační práce představuji celkem devět článků, z čehož jsou tři přehledové články a šest empirických studií. Přehledové články shrnují fungování behaviorálního imunitního systému, čichem zprostředkovaného vyhýbání se patogenům a jak jsou vztahy mezi hodnoceními atraktivity z různých modalit asociovány jen slabě. První empirický článek se poté zabývá tím, zdali hrozba vyvolaná koronavirovou pandemií vede ke zvýšení vnímaného znechucení, jakožto hlavní proměnné asociované s behaviorálním imunitním systémem. Zjistili...Department of ZoologyKatedra zoologieFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

An embodied approach to informational interventions: using conceptual metaphors to promote sustainable healthy diets

Poor diet quality and environmental degradation are two major challenges of our times. Unhealthy and unsustainable dietary practices, such as the overconsumption of meat and consumer food waste behaviour, contribute greatly to both issues. Across seventeen online and field experiments, in two different cultures (US and China), this thesis investigates if the embodied cognition approach, and more specifically, research on conceptual metaphors, can be used to develop interventions to promote sustainable healthy diets. Interventions relying on conceptual metaphors have been shown to stimulate attitudinal and behavioural changes in other fields (e.g., marketing and political communications), but are rarely adopted to encourage sustainable healthy diets. To fill in this gap in the literature, I conducted five sets of experimental studies examining the effects of different metaphors on specific sustainable healthy dietary practices, each of which forms an independent empirical paper (Chapters 2-6 of the thesis). After introducing the current perspectives on embodied cognition and conceptual metaphors in the context of this research (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 looks into the conceptual metaphor “Healthy is Up”, demonstrating that US people implicitly associate healthiness with verticality, and offering recommendations for healthy eating guidelines. Chapter 3 extends this research to Chinese samples and partially replicates the results. Chapter 4 shows that the anthropomorphic metaphor “Animals are Friends” discourages meat consumption by inducing anticipatory guilt among US omnivores, whereas Chapter 5 reveals that Chinese omnivores are more responsive to another anthropomorphic metaphor, namely, “Animals are Family”. Bringing lab insights 6 to the real world, Chapter 6 demonstrates with a longitudinal field experiment that anthropomorphic metaphors together with environmental feedback result in a higher reduction in food waste as compared to other feedback interventions. The strengths, limitations and implications of those empirical papers are discussed in the conclusive part of the thesis

Homonymy and the Comparability of Goods in Aristotle

My dissertation will draw attention to an underexplored problem in Aristotle\u27s theory of the good and advance two alternative proposals about how it can be solved. Aristotle endorses an inconsistent triad of premises concerning homonymy, comparability, and goodness. First, he argues that the good is homonymous: there is no single characteristic, goodness, which is shared by all good things. Rather, he argues that different kinds of good things require different accounts specifying what it is for them to be good. Second, he holds that homonyms are incomparable. If two things are homonymously F, then we are not entitled to claim that one is more F than the other, or that they are F to an equal degree. The incomparability of homonyms entails, for example, that if two goods are homonymous, we cannot claim that that one is better than the other or that they are equally valuable. Finally, however, Aristotle holds that goods typically are comparable. Indeed, several passages throughout corpus suggest that he thinks of the cosmos as an axiological hierarchy in which every being can be ranked on a single scale of better and worse.This inconsistent triad constitutes a seldom recognized problem for Aristotle\u27s theory of the good which I call the incomparability problem. In the dissertation, I clarify the shape of the incomparability problem, explore the conceptual resources Aristotle has available to resolve it, and critically engage with the relatively small body of secondary literature that discusses it. Finally, I develop two possible solutions to it, both of which, I argue, are more promising than any alternatives in the literature thus far

Swap the Meat, Save the Planet: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Promoting Healthy, Sustainable Food in a University Setting

Current dietary patterns threaten human and planetary health. In the United States, individuals must shift to dietary patterns higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods to reduce chronic disease risk and maintain stability of the Earth system. Despite high scientific agreement that we can simultaneously improve health and environmental sustainability through dietary shifts, interventions targeting these dual outcomes remain understudied. This dissertation employed a community-based participatory research approach to investigate how academics and non-academic foodservice leaders can collaborate to address gaps in the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to promote healthier, more environmentally sustainable diets. Research was focused on the university setting and took place at the University of California, Los Angeles. Guided by the diffusion of innovation framework, Study One qualitatively described and examined the process of developing and implementing the Impossible™ Foodprint Project—an intervention to reduce animal-based protein consumption in university dining. Intervention components included: 1) the addition of new menu items with Impossible™ plant-based meat, and 2) a complementary social marketing campaign framed around climate change. Findings from Study One highlight the value of the university’s involvement in existing health and sustainability initiatives for intervention agenda-setting and collaboration among academics and non-academic partners. In addition, results suggest university foodservice leaders may be particularly open to strategies such as piloting new menu items and providing education—rather than taking existing menu options away. Furthermore, co-creation of intervention materials and feedback from multiple data sources enhanced capacity for foodservice leaders to expand efforts to promote low-carbon-footprint foods. Lack of coordination with restaurant operators emerged as a barrier to initial implementation of the social marketing campaign, while cost prevented scale-up of Impossible™ menu items beyond the pilot intervention restaurant. Study Two utilized routinely collected sales and nutritional data from FoodPro, a widely used foodservice data management platform. A natural experiment with a pre-post non-equivalent comparison group design was used to evaluate 1) whether the Impossible™ Foodprint Project intervention met foodservice leaders’ goal of reducing animal-based entr�e sales, and 2) the impact of the intervention on the healthfulness and environmental sustainability of entr�es sold. The analytic sample included 645,822 entr�es sold at the three study sites during the Fall 2018 (pre) and Fall 2019 (post) academic quarters. During the post period, new menu items with Impossible™ plant-based meat comprised over 11% of entr�e sales at the intervention site. At the same time, the proportion of animal-based entr�e sales decreased by 9% (raw change 7%, 83% to 76%), a significantly greater decrease than the two comparisons sites.Healthfulness was operationalized as a decrease in the proportion of red meat entr�es sold and improvement in the nutritional quality of entr�es sold. While the proportion of red meat entr�es sold significantly decreased by about 8% at the intervention site (raw change 4%, 45% to 41%), a similar decrease was observed at one of the comparison sites, resulting in an unclear intervention effect. Small but statistically significant nutritional changes were observed at the intervention site: On average, each entr�e sold contained 21.3 fewer calories (kcal) and lower quantities of nutrients of concern: 0.2 fewer g saturated fat and 26.9 fewer mg sodium. Quantities of other nutrients also decreased: 0.7 fewer g protein, 0.1 fewer g fiber, and 1.5 fewer g unsaturated fat. However, nutritional outcomes varied when stratifying by entr�e type (i.e., build-your-own vs. special), resulting in a conditional assessment of the intervention’s nutritional impacts, described within. Environmental sustainability was operationalized as reduction in climate impact level (low, medium, high) and carbon footprint of entr�es sold. There were clear positive intervention effects on these outcomes. For example, the proportion of low-impact entr�e sales increased by over 50% at the intervention site (raw change 7%, 14% to 21%), a significantly greater increase than the two comparison sites. This corresponded with an 8% decrease in the mean carbon footprint of each entr�e sold at the intervention site, from 1,522 to 1,405 g CO2-equivalent (117 g decrease). With 141,321 entr�es sold at the intervention site in Fall 2019, this equates to approximately 16.4 metric tons of CO2 saved—the equivalent of driving 42,000 miles. In line with foodservice leaders’ priorities, we also conducted a brief customer survey (n=215). Results suggest a diverse range of students was open to trying the new Impossible™ menu items, and customer satisfaction was high. In comparing one-time versus repeat consumers, we found significant differences across most behavioral and cognitive factors measured. In general, repeat consumers reported consuming less animal-based protein and were more likely to believe Impossible™ is delicious and a satisfying alternative to animal meat. We also found evidence that values and race/ethnicity may affect beliefs about the sensory experience of eating Impossible™, which in turn affects repeat consumption.Finally, Study Three utilized a true experiment through Qualtrics to test whether environmental sustainability framing is more effective than health framing in “nudging” university consumers to choose a plant-based menu option. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three menu framing conditions—control (no framing), health framing, and environmental sustainability framing—and given the choice between chicken enchiladas and plant-based tacos. Of the 450 participants recruited for the study, 437 were maintained in the analytic sample, including 352 (79%) undergraduate students and 85 (21%) university staff. There were no statistically significant differences in choice across menu framing conditions. Approximately 39% of participants chose the plant-based tacos in the control condition, 36% in the health framing condition, and 40% in the environmental sustainability framing condition. In short, we found no main or conditional effects of environmental sustainability framing, compared to control. In contrast, we found some evidence that, compared to control, health framing may have negative effects among some subgroups, including university staff. Despite observed null effects of environmental sustainability framing, this approach may still be preferable to health framing given potentially counteractive health framing effects. In ancillary analyses described within, we found that, compared to health framing, environmental sustainability framing may improve anticipated enjoyment of a plant-based dish—even if it does not affect choice. In sum, Study One sheds light on how and why interventions take shape, with an emphasis on collaboration between academic and non-academic foodservice partners. Study Two provides novel insight into the benefits and tradeoffs of promoting low-carbon-footprint foods and introducing new plant-based meat alternatives into institutional food environments. Experimental findings from Study Three suggest some nudges may be insufficient to affect choice of a plant-based menu item, while others may be counteractive. Taken together, results of this dissertation build capacity for academics and foodservice leaders to advance intervention action and research to improve human and planetary health through food