Using smartphone-based experience sampling to assess interventions for dietary change

人们越来越关注当前肉类消费率的可持续性。联合国粮农组织和政府间气候变化专门委员会将肉类生产确定为气候变化和森林砍伐的主要原因之一（查塔姆研究所报告，2015）。畜牧业占全球温室气体排放总量的14% -14.5%，与运输部门相当。肉类生产也会浪费资源，因为从植物蛋白到动物蛋白的转化过程中会损失水和能源（Hoekstra, 2012）。富含红肉和奶制品的饮食也与癌症和心血管疾病等健康问题有关（Pan et al., 2012）。由于全球人口预计到2050年将增加36%，推广减少对动物产品依赖的饮食对于促进全球健康、可持续粮食生产和减少全球变暖至关重要（Tilman & Clark, 2014）。为了实现更可持续的消费水平，我们需要更好地了解可能导致真正改变的干预措施的类型。什么样的信息可能会激励消费者减少肉类消费，我们如何知道消费者什么时候可能会按照他们报告的意图采取行动，做出行为改变？在大多数国家，不吃肉的人只占人口的一小部分，但对植物性饮食的积极态度正在上升，尤其是在欧洲（the Vegan Society, 2018）。消费者倾向于将个人健康、动物福利和环境问题作为避免吃肉的原因（Faunalytics, 2014）。在目前的项目中，我们考虑减少肉类的一些原因是否比其他原因更有动力，特别是在行为改变的早期阶段。目前尚不清楚当前的全球消费模式是否反映了对肉类生产对健康、环境和动物福利的负面影响缺乏认识，或者未能根据这一认识采取行动（Wellesley et al., 2015）。此外，迄今为止的大多数研究都严重依赖于消费者的饮食习惯和/或意图的自我报告——这些报告很容易受到社会期望和记忆偏见的影响。需要更多的研究，采用更可靠地跟踪消费者模式的方法，随着时间的推移，更接近消费点。

There is growing concern about the sustainability of current meat consumption rates. The UnitedNations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeidentify meat production as one of the leading causes of climate change and deforestation (ChathamHouse Report, 2015). The livestock sector accounts for 14-14.5% of total global greenhouse gasemissions, as much as the transportation sector. Meat production also wastes resources, as waterand energy is lost in the conversion from plant to animal protein (Hoekstra, 2012). Diets rich in redmeat and dairy have also been linked to health problems such as cancer and cardiovascular disease(Pan et al., 2012).Since global population is expected to increase by 36% by 2050, promoting diets less dependent onanimal products is of critical importance to promote global health, sustainable food production, andreduce global warming (Tilman & Clark, 2014). To achieve more sustainable levels of consumption,we need a better understanding of the types of interventions that are likely to lead to real change indietary practices. What messages are likely to motivate consumers to reduce their meatconsumption, and how do we know when consumers are likely to act on their reported intentions tomake a behavioural change?Meat avoiders make up a small minority of the population in most countries, yet positive attitudestowards plant-based eating are on the rise, particularly in Europe (The Vegan Society, 2018).Consumers tend to report personal health, animal welfare, and environmental concern as reasons toavoid meat (Faunalytics, 2014). In the present project, we consider whether some reasons forreducing meat may be more motivating than others, particularly in the early stages of behaviouralchange.It is unclear whether current global consumption patterns reflect a lack of awareness around thenegative effects of meat production on health, the environment and animal welfare, or a failure toact upon this knowledge (Wellesley et al., 2015). Furthermore, most research to date has reliedheavily on self-reports of consumer's eating habits and/or intentions-reports which are susceptibleto social desirability and memory bias. More research is needed that engages methodologies thatcan more reliably track consumer patterns over time and closer to the point of consumption.