Comparing preference for multi-dimensional multi-level sustainability labels of groceries across countries
(A2026-134012)

AUTHORS

Benedikt Brand, Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) e.V.; Birgit Stoltenberg, Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions; Lara Dintner, University of Bayreuth

ABSTRACT

Sustainability labels for groceries are one way to mitigate climate change caused by food production and consumption. However, to holistically depict “sustainability”, incorporating one dimension (e.g., CO2 emissions) as well as using binary labels (instead of encompassing multiple levels) appears insufficient to convey the granularity of sustainability with all its affected dimensions (e.g., water footprint, land use). Therefore, this study examined multi-dimensional multi-level sustainability labels (MDMLSLs) as part of a Best-Worst Scaling experiment with a representative sample of n=448 Swedish and n=454 Polish consumers to identify the one MDMLSL that best balances the trade-off between complex information and an easy-to-understand visualization. Comparing three different MDMLSL types (aggregated score only; sustainability dimension only; combined) show the highest preference for combined types of MDMLSLs. At the level of individual labels, one label proposed in academic literature (rather than one used in practice) stands out as the most/second most preferred.