FOLLOW THE LEADER? TESTING FOR THE INTERNALIZATION OF LAW

The internalization of law is said to be a process that involves a change in people’s intrinsic motivation to act in accord with law’s obligations – so that it is possible to observe imposed obligations become individual choices. We empirically test for this phenomenon, by attempting to disentangle the impacts of a legal change (a 5 pence charge on use of plastic bags) on intrinsic motivation and individual choice. We do so by measuring both behaviors and attitudes before and after the legal change, and by comparing the impacts across neighboring jurisdictions without the change. Using a differences-in-differences (DID) estimator we find evidence for the internalization of law: that is, we find a significant increase in intrinsic motivation for those consumers subject to the implementation of the legislative change, and link this change in intrinsic motivation to an actual change in behavior. However, using mediation analysis we find that internalization of the law only explains around 5 to 8% of the change in behavior – the rest being attributable to the direct effect of the charge.Departmental research allowance

Testing for the Best Instrument to Generate Sustainable Food Consumption

 The increase in the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere in the last centuries, and the subsequent increase in temperature, has been a widely studied area in the last few decades. Climate change has become a key item on the political agenda due to concerns regarding the sustainability of current human consumption for future generations. Consumption of food and agricultural goods constitutes an important part of household based GHG emissions, and the relatively low costs associated with environmental improvements make it an interesting area of study to understand behavioural changes. Despite general agreement on the need to curb the amount of GHG emissions worldwide, little evidence exists regarding the best instruments policymakers can employ to stimulate changes toward more sustainable consumption. The present work explores which instruments are most effective in fostering change to more environmentally friendly food consumption. The instruments tested are CO2 labelling, GHG abatement subsidy and product-specific bans. We used a simulated online shopping trip in supermarkets in the Greater London area in the United Kingdom, where respondents shopped in four product categories: cola, milk, meat (chicken and beef), and butter/margarine. Consumer preferences reveal that, in the presence of these instruments, quantity instruments performed better than price incentives and labelling

Molecular marketing, personalised information and willingness‐to‐pay for functional foods: Vitamin D enriched eggs

Increasingly, the health claims made by food products focus on the marketing of specific molecular enrichments. Research exploring consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for health claims assumes that individuals hold perfect information on the benefits of the enrichment, and that their valuations depend solely on whether or not they need to improve their health. While health interventions are aimed at individuals at higher health risk, consumers may be unaware of the health risks that they face, limiting the effectiveness of a generic targeting strategy. Using an orthogonal experimental design, we explore the impact of two factors on the WTP for vitamin D enrichment in eggs: whether the information is person-specific or generic; and the presence of a health claim explaining the vitamin D enrichment. Results indicate that it is the provision of information, not the health claim, that influences WTP. Both generic and personalised information lead to similar increases in the WTP for vitamin D enrichment. While we only observe a direct effect of generic information on the WTP for vitamin D enrichment, personal informa- tion may also operate by increasing the perceived risk of vitamin D deficiency. Our results support the use of personalised health information during the choice task as a means of increasing the sales of healthy products

When Consumers and Products Come From the Same Place: Preferences and WTP for Geographical Indication Differ Across Regional Identity Groups

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The Impact of Environmental Recall and Carbon Taxation on the Carbon Footprint of Supermarket Shopping

This study uses an incentive-compatible experimental online supermarket to assess whether prior environmentally-friendly behaviour outside the store and carbon taxes motivate sustainable consumption. Previous research suggests that past decisions may influence current decisions because consumers compensate morally desirable and undesirable acts over time, and carbon taxes have been promoted as effective tools to reduce the carbon footprint of food baskets. After controlling for past consumption, results show that being required to recall past environmentally-friendly behaviour before shopping led consumers to purchase more sustainable food baskets. Carbon taxation also strongly reduces the carbon footprint of food baskets, showing no interaction with the task of recalling past behaviours

Consumer attitudes towards production diseases in intensive production systems

Many members of the public and important stakeholders operating at the upper end of the food chain, may be unfamiliar with how food is produced, including within modern animal production systems. The intensification of production is becoming increasingly common in modern farming. However, intensive systems are particularly susceptible to production diseases, with potentially negative consequences for farm animal welfare (FAW). Previous research has demonstrated that the public are concerned about FAW, yet there has been little research into attitudes towards production diseases, and their approval of interventions to reduce these. This research explores the public’s attitudes towards, and preferences for, FAW interventions in five European countries (Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK). An online survey was conducted for broilers (n = 789), layers (n = 790) and pigs (n = 751). Data were analysed by means of Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results suggest that the public have concerns regarding intensive production systems, in relation to FAW, naturalness and the use of antibiotics. The most preferred interventions were the most “proactive” interventions, namely improved housing and hygiene measures. The least preferred interventions were medicine-based, which raised humane animal care and food safety concerns amongst respondents. The results highlighted the influence of the identified concerns, perceived risks and benefits on attitudes and subsequent behavioural intention, and the importance of supply chain stakeholders addressing these concerns in the subsequent communications with the public

Healthy foods, healthy sales? Cross-category spillover effects of a reward program promoting sales of fruit and vegetables

Introduction & Background Globally, consumption of Fruit and Vegetables (F&V) remains below nutritional guidelines. Marketing healthy products can be complex for retailers, and a key challenge is the design of strategies that benefit retailers, e.g., through improved loyalty, and deliver progress on societal goals. Objectives & Approach This study evaluates a point-plus-cash frequency reward program where participants received points by purchasing selected F&V, redeemable against a reward (plush toys in the shape of F&V). We estimate the impact of the program using a difference-in-difference-in-difference model, which compares expenditures in several categories before, during, and after the promotional period, across two different years, and separately for consumers who redeemed a reward and those who did not. Identification includes weighting for the propensity scores, and using an instrumental variable approach. Relevance to Digital Footprints The data refers to grocery expenditure in five categories in the focal retailer for over 268,000 consumers, over 27 weeks for 2 years, as recorded through their loyalty card. Results The reward program significantly increased expenditures in F&V in the focal retailer during the promotional period. However, results differed depending on reward redemption. For reward-redeemers, the program increased expenditures in F&V as well as in other food categories, an effect that persisted – at a declining rate – after the program stopped. The program had a short-lived effect on non-rewards redeemers, who only increased F&V expenditures during the promotional period. Conclusions & Implications Results indicate that a loyalty program promoting sales of F&V can create win-win benefits to both society and the retailer: it increases expenditures on healthy foods (F&V), while improving overall loyalty (i.e., expenditures) to the retailer

Kuluttajien aikomukset ostaa intensiivisissä tuotantojärjestelmissä tuotettuja elintarvikkeita

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The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Implications for Rural Economies

This paper presents a rapid assessment of current and likely future impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on rural economies given their socio-economic characteristics. Drawing principally on current evidence for the UK, as well as lessons from the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and the 2007/8 financial crises, it outlines the likely key demand and supply effects, paying attention to the situation for agriculture as well as discussing the implications for rural communities. A distinction is made between the effects on businesses offering goods and services for out-of-home as opposed to in-home consumption. Gendered dimensions are also noted as likely business and household strategies for coping and adaptation. The paper concludes with a brief mapping of a research agenda for studying the longer-term effects of COVID-19 on rural economies