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EMAC 2024 Annual


Consumer’s Perceptions of Foods’ Biodiversity Footprints
(A2024-119529)

Published: May 28, 2024

AUTHORS

Sybilla Merian, University of Zurich; Sabrina Stöckli, University of Zurich; Geraldine Holenweger, University of Berne; Martin Natter, University of Zurich

ABSTRACT

Today, we face a biodiversity crisis, a tremendous risk to our climate, health, and welfare. The key contributor is food production, making a shift in consumers' diets a crucial objective. However, for effective dietary shifts, consumers must accurately perceive foods’ biodiversity footprints. Currently, we don’t know anything about how consumers perceive foods’ biodiversity impact. This study (N=467) investigates consumers' perception of food-related biodiversity footprints, revealing a consistent overestimation regardless of having to assess standardized or consumed quantities. Notably, well-known high-impact products (e.g., avocado, palm oil, beef) are particularly prone to overestimation. Informing consumers about the impact of products’ origin, i.e., whether they stem from a biodiversity hotspot or not, improved perceptions for low-impact, but impaired perceptions for high-impact foods. Implications for policy makers, retailers, and consumers are discussed.