Designed to Be Noticed: A Reconceptualization of Carbon Food Labels as Warning Labels

Carbon labels are considered a fundamental tool for reducing emissions associated with grocery products. Although the prior literature has shown that both limited motivation and understanding of carbon labels explain the effectiveness of carbon labels, knowledge regarding how to improve the label design to increase noticeability is limited. Given the limited motivation of mainstream consumers to use carbon labels, this exploratory paper proposes that the label design should trigger bottom-up (or sensory-driven) attention mechanisms. Using grounded theory for the data collection and analysis of six focus groups, this study tests six features (i.e., location, size, color, icons, a colored background or border, and textual anchors) and identifies four design criteria (i.e., vividness, incongruity, simplicity, and clarity) that may increase label noticeability. The main conclusion of this qualitative study is that carbon labels are noticed when they are perceived as a cue of hazard. Based on this finding, we propose that carbon labels could be designed as warning labels; therefore, the insights already proven in the warning label literature should be applied to carbon label design to increase its noticeability and use.

[1]  Fredrik Hedenus,et al.  Carbon Label at a University Restaurant – Label Implementation and Evaluation , 2018 .

[2]  Alessio Malizia,et al.  Designing individualisation of eco information: a conceptual framework and design toolkit , 2017 .

[3]  Olga Kulyk,et al.  Applying a User-Centered Approach to Interactive Visualisation Design , 2008 .

[4]  S. Meyerding,et al.  Consumer Preferences for Different Designs of Carbon Footprint Labelling on Tomatoes in Germany—Does Design Matter? , 2019, Sustainability.

[5]  Liesbet Vranken,et al.  Food Labeling and Eco-Friendly Consumption: Experimental Evidence From a Belgian Supermarket , 2014 .

[6]  Jennifer J. Argo,et al.  Meta-Analyses of the Effectiveness of Warning Labels , 2004 .

[7]  G. Huylenbroeck,et al.  The influence of subjective and objective knowledge on attitude, motivations and consumption of organic food , 2011 .

[8]  Shane Baddeley,et al.  Trade Policy Implications of Carbon Labels on Food , 2012 .

[9]  R. Horne.  Limits to labels: The role of eco-labels in the assessment of product sustainability and routes to sustainable consumption , 2009 .

[10]  R. Buckley,et al.  Carbon labels in tourism: Persuasive communication? , 2016 .

[11]  M. Escribano,et al.  Perception of Spanish consumers towards environmentally friendly labelling in food , 2019, International Journal of Consumer Studies.

[12]  G. Grankvist,et al.  The Impact of Environmental Labelling on Consumer Preference: Negative vs. Positive Labels , 2004 .

[13]  Rolf Wüstenhagen,et al.  Dynamic Adjustment of Eco-labeling Schemes and Consumer Choice – the Revision of the EU Energy Label as a Missed Opportunity? , 2012 .

[14]  Rachel M. Krause.  Developing conditions for environmentally sustainable consumption: drawing insight from anti‐smoking policy , 2009 .

[15]  Tomoko Hasegawa,et al.  Scenarios towards limiting global mean temperature increase below 1.5 °C , 2018, Nature Climate Change.

[16]  G. Warnaby,et al.  Exploring the relationship between consumer knowledge and purchase behaviour of value‐based labels , 2008 .

[17]  Hannele Pulkkinen,et al.  Finnish consumer perceptions of carbon footprints and carbon labelling of food products , 2014 .

[18]  Heléne Tjärnemo,et al.  Challenges of carbon labelling of food products: a consumer research perspective , 2011 .

[19]  Wim Verbeke,et al.  Sustainability labels on coffee: Consumer preferences, willingness-to-pay and visual attention to attributes , 2015 .

[20]  Jacob L. Orquin,et al.  Increasing consumers' attention capture and food choice through bottom-up effects , 2019, Appetite.

[21]  François A. Carrillat,et al.  The Effectiveness of Warning Labels for Consumers: A Meta-Analytic Investigation into Their Underlying Process and Contingencies , 2017 .

[22]  W. Viscusi,et al.  THE ROLE OF INFORMATION DISCLOSURE IN CLIMATE MITIGATION POLICY , 2012 .

[23]  Klaus G. Grunert,et al.  A review of European research on consumer response to nutrition information on food labels , 2007, Journal of Public Health.

[24]  Peter C. Wright,et al.  Theory and method for experience centered design , 2006, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[25]  Barry D. Solomon,et al.  Eco-labeling for energy efficiency and sustainability: a meta-evaluation of US programs , 2003 .

[26]  Casper Boks,et al.  User‐centred design for sustainable behaviour , 2008 .

[27]  P. Upham,et al.  Carbon labelling of grocery products: public perceptions and potential emissions reductions , 2011 .

[28]  Anne Sharp,et al.  Reducing Householders’ Grocery Carbon Emissions: Carbon Literacy and Carbon Label Preferences , 2013 .

[29]  Joop de Boer,et al.  Help the climate, change your diet: A cross-sectional study on how to involve consumers in a transition to a low-carbon society , 2016, Appetite.

[30]  G. Spaargaren,et al.  Consumer Responses to the Carbon Labelling of Food: A Real Life Experiment in a Canteen Practice , 2013 .

[31]  Qunwei Wang,et al.  A review of carbon labeling: Standards, implementation, and impact , 2016 .

[32]  Raquel Redondo Palomo,et al.  The Influence of Social and Environmental Labels on Purchasing: An Information and Systematic-heuristic Processing Approach , 2015 .

[33]  K. Grunert,et al.  Sustainability Labels on Food Products: Consumer Motivation, Understanding and Use , 2014 .

[34]  Adrian R. Camilleri,et al.  Consumers underestimate the emissions associated with food but are aided by labels , 2018, Nature Climate Change.

[35]  S. Sarwar,et al.  The impact of carbon emission and forest activities on health outcomes: empirical evidence from China , 2019, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[36]  John W. Brelsford,et al.  Explicitness of consequence information in warnings , 1993 .

[37]  D. Petrescu,et al.  Organic Food Perception: Fad, or Healthy and Environmentally Friendly? A Case on Romanian Consumers , 2015 .

[38]  Kristian Steensen Nielsen,et al.  A better carbon footprint label , 2016 .

[39]  David Oglethorpe,et al.  The use and usefulness of carbon labelling food: A policy perspective from a survey of UK supermarket shoppers , 2011 .

[40]  Masako Okamoto,et al.  Interactive effects of carbon footprint information and its accessibility on value and subjective qualities of food products , 2010, Appetite.

[41]  Elena Mamouni Limnios,et al.  Willingness to pay for product ecological footprint: Organic vs non-organic consumers , 2016 .

[42]  A. Fearne,et al.  Sustainable Development and the Consumer: Exploring the role of Carbon Labelling in Retail Supply Chains , 2015 .

[43]  J. Thøgersen,et al.  I nudge myself: Exploring ‘self‐nudging’ strategies to drive sustainable consumption behaviour , 2018 .

[44]  A. Spiller,et al.  Consumption of organic and functional food. A matter of well-being and health? , 2014, Appetite.

[45]  A. Lobo,et al.  Organic food products in China: determinants of consumers’ purchase intentions , 2012 .

[46]  K. Grunert.  Current issues in the understanding of consumer food choice , 2002 .

[47]  Tonya L Smith-Jackson,et al.  Research-based guidelines for warning design and evaluation. , 2002, Applied ergonomics.

[48]  Rolf Wüstenhagen,et al.  The influence of eco‐labelling on consumer behaviour – results of a discrete choice analysis for washing machines , 2006 .

[49]  Laura Mørch Andersen,et al.  The character of demand in mature organic food markets: Great Britain and Denmark compared , 2008 .

[50]  Tatsuyoshi Saijo,et al.  Does an energy efficiency label alter consumers' purchasing decisions? A latent class approach based on a stated choice experiment in Shanghai. , 2009, Journal of environmental management.