Will ‘meat shaming’ reduce meat consumption?

'Meat shaming' stickers on meat packaging can have an inhibiting effect on meat purchases. Stickers that point to animal suffering, in particular, stir up feelings of shame, this is according to a Research by Anne-Madeleine Kranzbühler and Rick Schifferstein of TU Delft.

Activists in Australia have already put warning stickers on meat packaging in supermarkets. The researchers wondered what impact this might have on sales.

Meat shaming

The activists in Australia used 'meat shaming' as a technique, seeking to publicly "shame" consumers who buy meat by pointing out its negative effects. Thus, the researchers applied the same method. "We deliberately chose negative emotions. They have a greater effect on behavioural change than positive emotions."

With a group of more than 500 participants, the researchers experimented with the text and images on the warning labels. For example, labels were created with messages that highlighted environmental damage, animal suffering, or health. They also tested the tone of the message, which was either purely informative or addressed the consumer directly. As for the entity behind the message, sometimes it was the government, an activist group, or even an individual.

Possible implications

The results of their study show that people are less likely to buy meat with these kinds of stickers on them, due to shame. Another interesting finding was that participants were not impressed by messages that pointed out the health risks of consuming meat. They also didn’t really seem to care who the warning was coming from. 

Tudelft.nl/en