Frying nemo? Experimental evidence on anthropomorphism, animal ethics, and food choice

Recently, it has been suggested that a shift towards diets with a lower carbon footprints, especially ones that emphasize the consumption of plants, is necessary to keep global heating below 2 °C. To address demand for animal-based products, we analyze if the effectiveness of anthropomorphic food labeling as a strategy for promoting plant-based diets is contingent on strong animal ethical beliefs. To this end, we conduct a stated choice experiment with Chilean university students (N = 1538). We manipulate the visual display of the main component of the dish attribute of the choice tasks, using anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic icons to frame the choice of meal options. Our results, which are based on a mixed logit model of the choice data and a linear regression analysis of its individual random parameters, suggest that displaying anthropomorphic icons reduces the likelihood of choosing beef or chicken over vegetables. However, the data provides insufficient evidence to claim an influence on the choice of fish over vegetables. The ethical intuitions that anthropomorphic animals evoke are related to a reduction in the consumption of beef and chicken but do not appear to affect preferences for fish. Our findings support the hypothesis that strong ethical concerns reinforce the effect of anthropomorphic nudges on beef consumption. The results for chicken and fish were inconclusive.