Using a descriptive social norm to increase vegetable selection in workplace restaurant settings.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Public Health
• Nutrition Interventions

Background:

• Social norm messages have shown potential in laboratory settings to increase vegetable consumption.
• Previous research primarily involved student populations in controlled environments.
• The applicability of social norm messaging in real-world workplace settings remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of social norm messaging in increasing and sustaining the purchase of vegetable-inclusive meals in workplace restaurants.
• To evaluate the impact of posters displaying social norm information on diner purchasing behavior.
• To assess the feasibility of social norm interventions in non-laboratory environments.

Main Methods:

• A pretest-posttest design was implemented across three UK workplace restaurants over a six-week period.
• A social norm message poster was displayed during the two-week intervention phase.
• The primary outcome was the percentage of meals purchased with vegetables, analyzed using chi-squared tests.

Main Results:

• The intervention positively correlated with an increase in vegetable meal purchases.
• Vegetable meal purchases rose from 60% at baseline to 64% during the intervention (p < .01).
• Purchases further increased to 67% post-intervention, showing sustained effects (p < .001 vs. baseline).

Conclusions:

• Social norm messages can effectively promote vegetable purchases in workplace environments.
• This study validates the use of social influence strategies in real-world settings.
• Workplace interventions using social norms offer a promising avenue for public health nutrition initiatives.