Environmental Messages Promote Plant-Based Food Choices: An Online Restaurant Menu Study

The study demonstrates that specific environmental messaging on restaurant menus can double the likelihood of customers choosing vegetarian items, suggesting a cost-effective method for food businesses to reduce emissions by shifting consumer diets.

• The use of thoughtfully framed environmental messages on restaurant menus significantly increases the selection of lower carbon, plant-rich dishes, with the two most effective messages doubling the probability that a consumer would order a vegetarian item.
• The most successful messaging themes focus on the idea that small individual changes have a large impact and the concept of joining a collective movement to choose foods with lower climate impact.
• The research, conducted online with over 6,000 participants, indicates that environmental messaging is a cost-effective way for companies to shift consumer behavior toward climate-friendly options across various retail and food service contexts.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Environmental Messages Promote Plant-Based Food Choices: An Online Restaurant Menu Study. https://www.wri.org/research/environmental-messages-promote-plant-based-food-choices-online-restaurant-menu-study

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Environmental Messages Promote Plant-Based Food Choices: An Online Restaurant Menu Study. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/environmental-messages-promote-plant-based-food-choices-online-restaurant-menu-study.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Environmental Messages Promote Plant-Based Food Choices: An Online Restaurant Menu Study |url=https://www.wri.org/research/environmental-messages-promote-plant-based-food-choices-online-restaurant-menu-study |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendenvironmental, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Environmental Messages Promote Plant-Based Food Choices: An Online Restaurant Menu Study}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/environmental-messages-promote-plant-based-food-choices-online-restaurant-menu-study}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }