Consumer preferences for simultaneous presentation of nutrition and environmental labelling: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment at UK scale

Labels that simultaneous present environmental and nutritional information are proposed as interventions to drive consumer demand towards a more environmentally sustainable and healthy food system. Understanding how consumers respond to this simultaneous labelling approach is crucial for determining its feasibility and potential impact of implementation. We conducted a discrete choice experiment (N = 1970) in UK to analyse consumer preferences for a simultaneous label, and its relationship with taxes/subsidies and priming (environment, nutrition, combined, and no priming). We also considered how these preferences varied using different foods (beef burger and salad meal) and purchasing contexts (where choices were made within restaurants, retail, and via delivery apps). The results suggest that UK consumers prioritised health score over environmental score in relation to food choices. Simultaneous labelling synergistically amplified the effects of both scores for beef burgers. For salad meals, the environmental score increased willingness to pay when combined with the health score, demonstrating a conditional effect of the simultaneous labelling. Taxes significantly affected consumer choices while subsidies had no significant effect. The effectiveness of priming information was found to be highly dependent on the purchasing contexts, with greater effectiveness observed in retail and delivery app contexts. These findings offer valuable insights for the design of simultaneous labelling schemes and highlight the importance of context and priming strategies in promoting environmentally sustainable and healthy food choices.