Evidence shows what consumers say and do does not always match in practice (intention-action gap). While living labs are a great approach to generate learnings and insights that come very close to real-life settings there is still a degree of hypothesis involved. To overcome this limitation and become really ambitious in the project results, we will conduct 4-four medium to large-scale behavioural intervention pilots within LIKE-A-PRO, where we will explore and observe consumers’ purchase patterns and interaction with food environments without disturbing their day-to-day routines.
The 4-four behavioural intervention pilots will take place in Greece, Norway, Spain, Belgium and at a pan-Europe level in different (food) environments where consumers make their day-to-day food choices or hold potential to influence those. Similarly, to the Living Labs, the Consumer Choice Framework* will guide the design of the behavioural pilots also.
Choice editing: explore the modalities of green public procurement to support the promotion of alternative protein products at a university canteen. Pilot partner: The American College of Greece Research Centre.
Choice expansion: test the market performance and consumers’ perceptions and acceptance of the newly developed alternative protein products in real supermarkets. Pilot partner: Møreforsking AS.
Choice environment: re-shaping / re-designing food menus to better profile and feature dishes made on basis of alternative protein ingredients / products in two restaurants. Pilot partners: Basque Culinary Center Foundation and Foodlab Proef.
Beyond choice: experimenting with communication frames and language (human-centric, pro-environmental) for ensured effectiveness of sustainability and health messages and sensitising consumes to uptake of alternative protein products in one’s diets. Pilot partner: Foundation Week Without Meat.
The CSCP will act as the overarching behavioural pilot coordinator.
*The Consumer Choice Framework has been developed as part of the EU funded project VALUMICS, on basis of behavioural insights / science which provide a more realistic overview of people’s behaviours. For more information, please have a look at the report ‘From intention to action: multi-stakeholder recommendations for making sustainable food consumption a reality’ Click here to go to the report.
Full reference: Xhelili, A. & Nicolau, M. (2021). From intention to action: multi-stakeholder recommendations for making sustainable food consumption a reality. Wuppertal. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5337036
The behavioural intervention pilots will take place between May 2025 and March 2026 across the afore-mentioned pilot countries.