A license to eat meat? Exploring processes underlying the effect of animal labels on meat consumption

The environmental, health, and animal welfare challenges associated with meat consumption underscore the urgent need to reduce meat intake, particularly in high-income countries. This study investigated the impact of animal-related labels with varying emotional valences (negative, neutral, and positive) on reducing meat selection, focusing on their effects on dissociation, emotional responses, and moral licensing. In an online experiment with the four between-subjects conditions negative, neutral, positive, and no label, participants selected products from a simulated grocery store where labels with animal imagery of chicken, pigs, and cattle were displayed alongside meat products. Negative labels were found to be the most effective in reducing meat consumption as compared to the no label condition, primarily by disrupting state dissociation and eliciting empathy, disgust, and guilt. Compared to the no label condition, neutral labels had limited effects, whereas positive labels led to moral licensing, making meat consumption appear more acceptable. These findings shed light on the psychological processes that shape dietary behavior, highlighting the potential of animal-related labels to reduce dissociation and evoke emotional responses.