Motivation Over Visibility: Understanding Attention and Choice in Sustainable Food Products

Current policy recommendations suggest increasing the visual salience of nutrition labels to capture the attention of individuals with lower motivation. Here, we investigate if this approach would be effective for sustainability labels. Specifically, we examined whether enhancing the visual salience of climate labels on food products would capture the attention of individuals with low motivation regarding sustainability issues. Using a discrete choice experiment with eye-tracking technology, we observed the visual attention and purchasing choices of participants in a simulated shopping environment. Our findings revealed that increased visual salience did not significantly impact the fixation likelihood or dwell time on sustainability labels for those with low motivation. Conversely, participants with high sustainability motivation consistently fixated more on the labels, irrespective of their salience. We also found a strong link between sustainability motivation and willingness to pay for sustainable products, with highly motivated individuals willing to pay premium prices. These results suggest that policies should focus on enhancing consumer motivation regarding sustainability rather than solely increasing label visibility. Effective strategies could include clear shelf labeling, strategic product placement, and using social norms to promote sustainable choices.