The power of behavioural nudges tailored to plant-based dishes when eating out

Restaurants constitute a potentially impactful setting to stimulate consumption of plant-based dishes, at the expense of meat dishes, as meat is relatively dominant in restaurants in terms of supply and consumer demand. Review and empirical studies indicate that behavioural nudges – that is, subtle changes in the decision context to steer choices in ‘good’ directions by, for instance, changing the default or portion sizes – are helpful to food consumers in restaurants to shift away from a choice for meat towards plant-based choices. This chapter provides a concise and comprehensive overview of recent nudging studies in the restaurant setting devoted to decrease meat consumption and/or increase plant-based food consumption. Based on our and others’ nudging studies, we conclude that nudges are a potentially powerful tool to steer restaurant patrons’ choices towards vegetarian options. However, ultimately other transformative changes (e.g., sociocultural) are needed to facilitate long-term, large-scale consumer adoption and maintenance of plant-based diets.