In their review of corporate campaigns for cage-free eggs, our researchers found that, on average, a one-commitment increase leads to a 0.035 (95% CI: 0.01 - 0.06) percentage point rise in the share of cage-free hen housing. Given the large number of hens in the industry, the impact of a few new commitments per year is substantial.

Much of the optimism around plant-based meats derives from the hypothesis that matching animal-based meats in price, taste, and convenience (PTC) will shift consumption. However, Jacob Peacock’s review of the available evidence suggests that PTC are not the primary determinants of food choice. Even if plant-based meats were price, taste, and convenience competitive, many consumers would still primarily choose animal-based meats.

While decreasing the prices of plant-based substitutes is a prominent animal welfare strategy, it's possible this approach could increase animal consumption. In a review of 19 studies, Samara Mendez et al. observed wide variation in the relationship between butter and margarine prices and demand.

Senior Researcher Sagar Shah and Senior Research Manager Jacob Peacock conducted a preregistered reanalysis of data from a series of hypothetical discrete choice experiments from Brachem et al. (2019). They explored how meat-free meal selection correlated with the number of meat-free options and the availability of options containing fish/poultry meat or meat-analogues.

Several societal issues could be mitigated by reducing global consumption of meat and animal products (MAP). In three randomized, controlled experiments (n=217 to 574), we evaluated the effects of a documentary that presents health, environmental, and animal welfare motivations for reducing MAP consumption. Study 1 assessed the documentary’s effectiveness at reducing reported MAP consumption after 12 days. This study used methodological innovations to minimize social desirability bias, a widespread limitation of past research. Study 2 investigated discrepancies between the results of Study 1 and those of previous studies by further examining the role of social desirability bias. Study 3 assessed the documentary’s effectiveness in a new population anticipated to be more responsive and upon enhancing the intervention content. We found that the documentary did not decrease reported MAP consumption when potential social desirability bias was minimized (Studies 1 and 3). The documentary also did not affect consumption among participants whose demographics suggested they might be more receptive (Study 3). However, the documentary did substantially increase intentions to reduce consumption, consistent with past studies (Studies 2 and 3). Overall, we conclude that some past studies of similar interventions may have overestimated effects due to methodological biases. Novel intervention strategies to reduce MAP consumption may be needed.