A reanalysis of a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of different messages on animal product consumption.
A reanalysis of a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of different messages on animal product consumption.
This document presents a reanalysis of the data and the conclusions reported on September 20, 2015, by Humane League Labs in the blog post titled Report: Which request creates the most diet change and an accompanying report titled Report: Does Encouraging The Public To "Eat Vegan," "Eat Vegetarian," "Eat Less Meat," or "Cut Out Or Cut Back On" Meat And Other Animal Products Lead To The Most Diet Change? (link) The study examined four different messages encouraging reduced animal product consumption and a control message delivered to college students via a leaflet. Subsequent self-reported dietary changes were measured with a food frequency questionnaire. Based on our reanalysis of the data, we cannot conclude that any of the messages differs significantly from any others in inspiring self-reported changes in the consumption of animal products. Further, the study was insufficiently powered for us to place any confidence in the alternative claim that the four messages are equally effective.
Read more in the full report and download the data and code.
Jacob R. Peacock
Harish Sethu
