Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America.
Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Jun 27;19(6):e0306123. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306123. eCollection 2024.
Front-of-package labels indicating a product's environmental footprint (i.e., eco-score labels) offer promise to shift consumers towards more sustainable food choices. This study aimed to understand whether eco-score labels impacted consumers' perceptions of environmental sustainability and intentions to purchase sustainable and unsustainable foods. US parents (n = 1,013) completed an online experiment in which they were shown 8 food products (4 sustainable and 4 unsustainable). Participants were randomized to a control (n = 503, barcode on product packaging) or eco-score label group (n = 510, eco-score label on product packaging). The eco-score label was color-coded with a grade of A-F based on the product's environmental footprint, where "A" indicates relative sustainability and "F" indicates relative unsustainability. Participants rated each product's environmental sustainability and their future likelihood of purchase. We used multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models and examined moderation by product category and sociodemographic characteristics. The eco-score label lowered perceived sustainability of unsustainable products by 13% in relative terms or -0.4 in absolute terms (95% CI -0.5, -0.3; p<0.001). The eco-score label increased perceived sustainability of sustainable products by 16% in relative terms or 0.6 in absolute terms (95% CI 0.5, 0.7, p<0.001). Effects on purchase intentions were smaller, with a 6% decrease for unsustainable products (p = 0.001) and an 8% increase for sustainable products (p<0.001). For unsustainable products, the effect of eco-score labels on sustainability perceptions was greater for older adults, men, participants with higher educational attainment, and participants with higher incomes. For sustainable products, the effect of ecolabels on sustainability perceptions was greater for those with higher educational attainment. Eco-score labels have the potential to direct consumers towards more sustainable products. Future studies should investigate eco-score label effectiveness on behavioral outcomes.
包装正面标签显示产品的环境足迹（即生态评分标签）有望促使消费者转向更可持续的食品选择。本研究旨在了解生态评分标签是否会影响消费者对环境可持续性的看法以及购买可持续和不可持续食品的意愿。美国父母（n=1013）完成了一项在线实验，他们看到了 8 种食品（4 种可持续食品和 4 种不可持续食品）。参与者被随机分配到对照组（n=503，产品包装上的条形码）或生态评分标签组（n=510，产品包装上的生态评分标签）。生态评分标签根据产品的环境足迹用 A-F 等级进行颜色编码，其中“A”表示相对可持续性，“F”表示相对不可持续性。参与者对每种产品的环境可持续性及其未来购买可能性进行了评分。我们使用多层混合效应线性回归模型，并检查了产品类别和社会人口特征的调节作用。生态评分标签使不可持续产品的感知可持续性相对降低了 13%，绝对值降低了 0.4（95%CI-0.5，-0.3；p<0.001）。生态评分标签使可持续产品的感知可持续性相对提高了 16%，绝对值提高了 0.6（95%CI0.5，0.7，p<0.001）。对购买意愿的影响较小，不可持续产品减少了 6%（p=0.001），可持续产品增加了 8%（p<0.001）。对于不可持续产品，生态评分标签对可持续性认知的影响在年龄较大的成年人、男性、受教育程度较高的参与者和收入较高的参与者中更大。对于可持续产品，生态标签对可持续性认知的影响在受教育程度较高的参与者中更大。生态评分标签有可能引导消费者购买更可持续的产品。未来的研究应该调查生态评分标签对行为结果的有效性。
