Promoting Healthy and Eco-Friendly Food Choices: A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Traffic-Light Food Labels and Attentional Goals and Underlying Mechanisms
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Authors
Xu, Yijun
Date
2024-08-29
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Dietary decision-making , computational modeling , traffic-light food labels , attentional goals , cognitive mechanisms
Alternative Title
Abstract
Diet change has been advocated as a necessary means to support human health and environmental sustainability. Yet, many people struggle to make healthy and eco-friendly food choices. Food labels, particularly graphic traffic-light labels, can help. These colour-coded labels simplify nutritional and environmental information, classifying foods from green (best) to red (worst) regarding health and eco-impact. Traffic-light labels have been shown to encourage healthier and eco-friendly food purchases. However, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms underlying label-induced dietary changes, and how their effects compare to other self-control mechanisms, like focusing on one's dietary goals.
To address this gap, two laboratory studies examined the influence of traffic-light labels on food choices and compared their effect to that of attentional goals. Participants (N=228) completed computerized tasks where they chose foods under different conditions: baseline (no labels or goals), label only (health or eco-impact), goal only (health- or eco-goals), and combined labels and goals. These conditions allowed for assessing the single and joint effects of colour-coded label information and attentional goals on dietary behaviours.
Traffic-light food labels and activating health- and eco-goals both promoted healthier (Health Task) and more eco-friendly food choices (Eco Task). Notably, the impact of 'goals alone' was 2-4 times stronger than ‘labels alone'. Combining goals and label information was approximately twice as effective than either manipulation alone. A computational model (drift diffusion model) identified similar mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of traffic-light labels and goals: Changes in preference formation (drift rates, signaling that information was processed more efficiently and accurately) and how much information was required to make a choice (boundary separation) were behind the health- and eco-promoting effects of traffic-light labels and goals, pointing towards domain-general mechanisms. Our findings highlight how traffic-light labeling systems can influence dietary patterns, benefiting personal health and the environment, and show that combining them with attentional interventions that activate health/eco goals boosts their impact. These insights could inform the development of new interventions to address global challenges like the obesity crisis and climate change.
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ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.
Attribution 4.0 International