TY - JOUR AU - Mathur, Maya B. AU - Robinson, Thomas N. AU - Reichling, David B. AU - Gardner, Christopher D. AU - Nadler, Janice AU - Bain, Paul A. AU - Peacock, Jacob PY - 2020 DA - 2020/01/06 TI - Reducing meat consumption by appealing to animal welfare: protocol for a meta-analysis and theoretical review JO - Systematic Reviews SP - 3 VL - 9 IS - 1 AB - Reducing meat consumption may improve human health, curb environmental damage and greenhouse gas emissions, and limit the large-scale suffering of animals raised in factory farms. Previous work has begun to develop interventions to reduce individual meat consumption, often by appealing directly to individual health motivations. However, research on nutritional behavior change suggests that interventions additionally linking behavior to ethical values, identity formation, and existing social movements may be particularly effective and longer-lasting. Regarding meat consumption, preliminary evidence and psychological theory suggest that appeals related to animal welfare may have considerable potential to effectively leverage these elements of human psychology. We aim to conduct a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of animal welfare-related appeals on actual or intended meat consumption or purchasing. Our investigation will critically synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding psychological mechanisms of intervening on individual meat consumption and empirically identify the psychological characteristics underlying the most effective animal welfare-based interventions. SN - 2046-4053 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-019-1264-5 DO - 10.1186/s13643-019-1264-5 ID - Mathur2020 ER -