The impact of a comprehensive ecolabel to guide consumers toward more sustainable choices: the effect of the Climate Score and price on consumers’ willingness to buy

Abstract

Behaviour change is needed to combat climate change. A major contribution to this would be to adopt a more sustainable diet. However, limited knowledge on the sustainability of products pose a challenge for consumers. Nutritional labels that are displayed on front of packages, like the Nutri-Score, are promising in promoting healthy food choices. In this online choice experiment, we investigated the effect of a newly designed ecolabel, the climate score, and price, on consumers’ willingness to buy coffee and tea products. Environmental self-identity (ESI), the extent to which ones sees oneself as someone who acts environmentally-friendly, was used as a covariate in this study. A 3x4 within-subject analysis revealed that participants were more willing to buy products with higher climate scores compared to products with medium, low or no climate scores. Next to that, it was found that consumers are more willing to buy products with a high price when those products also have a high climate score. Lastly, it was found that ESI predicted the willingness to buy products with a high, medium and low climate score, but not products without a climate score. These findings support the effectiveness of a climate score as a tool to promote sustainable choices, if implemented on all products. The implementation of one overarching ecolabel by the government would enable consumers to make more sustainable choices, thereby fostering a more positive global impact. Further research should focus on creating a real-life design to determine the actual impact of the climate score on consumer purchasing behaviour.