Three studies of a documentary to reduce animal product consumption find little impact.
Three studies of a documentary to reduce animal product consumption find little impact.
Background: Several exigent societal issues could be mitigated by shifting global consumption of meat and animal products toward predominantly plant-based diets.
Methods: We conducted 3 randomized controlled experiments (n=217 to 574) to test the effects of a professionally produced and disseminated, theory-informed documentary that presents health, environmental, and animal welfare motivations for reducing consumption of meat and animal products. In Study 1, we primarily assessed participants' reported 1-week consumption of meats and animal products, as reported 12 days after random assignment to view the documentary or a control video. In Study 2, in a similar sample, we assessed effects on participants' immediate intentions to change their consumption of these foods, comparable to most past studies. In Study 3, we used the design from Study 1 but in a new sample anticipated to be more responsive to the messages; we also enhanced the intervention with activities designed to increase engagement with the documentary and to prompt concrete goal setting. In Studies 1 and 3, we introduced methodological innovations to minimize social desirability bias, a widespread limitation of past research.
Results: The documentary did not decrease meat and animal product compared to the control video when potential social desirability bias was minimized (Study 1: -0.33 oz/week; 95% CI: [-6.12, 5.46]; p=0.91; Study 3: -2.46 oz/week; 95% CI: [-8.78, 3.85]; p=0.43). The documentary also did not affect reported meat and animal-product consumption among participants whose demographics suggested they might be more receptive to the intervention (Study 3). However, the documentary did substantially increase the percentage of participants who immediately intended to reduce consumption, consistent with past studies (Study 2) and prompted a majority of viewers to pledge to reduce or eliminate their consumption of at least one meat or animal product (Study 3).
Conclusions: These findings suggest that past studies of similar interventions may have overestimated effects due to methodological biases. Novel intervention strategies may be needed to meaningfully shift dietary consumption away from meat and animal products.
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Maya B. Mathur
Jacob R. Peacock
