This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioural interventions in reducing high-carbon food consumption in fast-food settings in a megacity in the Global South.
A real-world field experiment was conducted across four fast-food chain restaurants in Beijing over eight weeks, covering 51,232 lunch transactions. Using point-of-sale data and a difference-in-differences approach, the study assessed consumers' responses to a variety of nudge strategies, including carbon labels in traffic-light styles, informational prompts, altered default settings, and combined interventions.
The results show that traffic-light labelling and altered default settings effectively raised consumers' awareness and significantly reduced their selection of high-carbon dishes, while having a limited impact on the selection of low-carbon dishes. Informational prompts had a minor influence on consumers' diet choices. The findings underscore the potential of cost-effective nudging strategies in urban fast-food environments in emerging economies.
This study provides novel empirical evidence from a real-world setting in China, addressing a critical gap in the literature on behavioural interventions in the Global South. It offers actionable insights for restaurant operators, industry associations, and, eventually, policymakers who seek to integrate behavioural tools into food retail operations to support sustainable consumption and climate goals in the Global South.
