Using Defaults to Reduce Harmful Environmental Impacts

In this study, participants at six different academic events were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) a default meat group, where the default choice was a meal with meat and participants had the option of opting out and choosing a plant-based meal; and (2) a default veg group, where the default choice was a plant-based meal with the option of opting out and choosing a meal with meat. Based on the success of prior studies that implemented plant-based defaults through preselection, we hypothesized that more participants would choose the plant-based meal when that option was set as the default, and we hypothesized that the default intervention would be equally effective across academic institutions. We also hypothesized that the default intervention would be equally effective across demographic groups, which would help to further demonstrate the generalizability of our plant-based default intervention.