Improving Food Security through Entomophagy: Can Behavioural Interventions Influence Consumer Preference for Edible Insects?
Publication Date
2022-03-25Journal Title
Sustainability
Publisher
MDPI AG
Volume
14
Issue
7
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Bao, H. X., & Song, Y. (2022). Improving Food Security through Entomophagy: Can Behavioural Interventions Influence Consumer Preference for Edible Insects?. Sustainability, 14 (7) https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073875
Abstract
<jats:p>Compared with meats, edible insects taste just as good, are equally or even more nutritious, and have a significantly smaller environmental footprint. However, the adoption of entomophagy is still limited, particularly in Western countries. Considering the environmental benefits of entomophagy and its potential contribution to food security, it is important to understand factors that can influence the willingness to try edible insects as meat substitutes, and policy tools that can encourage the adoption of entomophagy. This research conducts online experiments to test the effect of a wide range of personal traits and a behavioural intervention combining social norm nudges and information boosts. Our findings suggest that behavioural interventions are cost-effective tools to promote the adoption of entomophagy; consumers can be nudged and educated on the basis of the environmental consequences of their individual food choices and are receptive to adopting entomophagy as a sustainable alternative to animal protein.</jats:p>
Keywords
heuristics, behavioural biases, sustainability, conservation, food policy
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073875
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335435
Rights
Licence:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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