WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.740 This is Rakefet for The Vegan Report. Today we're 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:07.280 exploring the question, what if a simple intervention 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.779 like defaults, a vegan filter and a story of 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:14.419 an individual cow can help save the animals? 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:19.140 Connect with me, my email and social links are 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:23.440 in the episode notes. You can find new episodes 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.309 every Wednesday on this podcast. Please share 00:00:27.309 --> 00:00:31.670 this episode with your community. I am a research 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:35.030 manager at the China Vegan Society. I am also 00:00:35.030 --> 00:00:38.630 doing a PhD in social psychology, in which I 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:41.829 study sustainable defaults, and today we will 00:00:41.829 --> 00:00:45.929 explore a hot topic in social psychology, the 00:00:45.929 --> 00:00:49.090 power of defaults, and how sustainable defaults 00:00:49.090 --> 00:00:52.570 can be a powerful tool for driving change in 00:00:52.570 --> 00:00:57.109 institutions. Defaults have an outside impact 00:00:57.109 --> 00:01:01.530 on behavior, more so than information campaigns, 00:01:01.890 --> 00:01:07.049 reminders or incentives. Sustainable defaults 00:01:07.049 --> 00:01:10.530 allow us to transform institutions in a way that 00:01:10.530 --> 00:01:14.810 preserves choice rather than limiting it. This 00:01:14.810 --> 00:01:18.049 approach has been proven effective and we will 00:01:18.049 --> 00:01:21.129 discuss some real world examples of how sustainable 00:01:21.129 --> 00:01:26.230 defaults have driven positive change. The key 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:29.510 is leveraging the power of defaults to make the 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:33.150 sustainable choice the easy choice. By making 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:36.390 sustainable options the default, we can shift 00:01:36.390 --> 00:01:40.010 nodes and drive meaningful progress without restricting 00:01:40.010 --> 00:01:47.030 individual freedom. So why sustainable food matters? 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:51.810 First, the environmental impact. Campus dining 00:01:51.810 --> 00:01:56.890 halls serve millions of meals annually. Shifting 00:01:56.890 --> 00:02:00.709 to sustainable defaults can dramatically reduce 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:05.469 carbon emissions, water usage, and land degradation. 00:02:06.010 --> 00:02:11.090 Secondly, health benefits. Diets based on vegetables 00:02:11.740 --> 00:02:15.180 Reduce risk for chronic diseases including heart 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:20.419 disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Promoting 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:25.080 healthier student communities. Third, social 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.340 justice. Making sustainable meets the default 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:31.860 increases accessibility and inclusivity for students 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:36.620 with diverse dietary, religious and ethical preferences. 00:02:38.830 --> 00:02:41.689 The problem is that many people don't want us 00:02:41.689 --> 00:02:45.409 to decide for them what to eat. The solution? 00:02:45.949 --> 00:02:49.250 To keep all the options, but to encourage them 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:52.530 to eat sustainable food with the default effect, 00:02:52.770 --> 00:02:55.610 the pre -selected option that you get if you 00:02:55.610 --> 00:02:58.830 don't choose otherwise. Defaults are powerful 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:03.490 because it's not only that we are too lazy to 00:03:03.490 --> 00:03:08.080 choose the non -default option, But we also trust 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.219 that if an option is the default, it must be 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:15.099 so because it's the better one, feeling like 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:19.340 this is what is expected of us. And we don't 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:22.580 have to take any option away. You get effective 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:26.340 results without removing any option. Changing 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:30.259 defaults can shape decisions at a large scale 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:35.289 while still keeping freedom of choice. This might 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:38.689 be why defaults have been shown to yield two 00:03:38.689 --> 00:03:41.530 to four times higher acceptance compared to other 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:45.050 psychological approaches. Behavioral science 00:03:45.050 --> 00:03:49.909 shows that default options profoundly influence 00:03:49.909 --> 00:03:54.629 our decisions. When sustainable meals are presented 00:03:54.629 --> 00:03:58.849 as the standard choice, students naturally gravitate 00:03:58.849 --> 00:04:03.139 toward them without feeling restricted. Studies 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:06.280 from universities that have implemented sustainable 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:10.419 default options show consumption increases by 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:14.939 40 -80 % compared to traditional opt -in approaches. 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:20.319 This isn't about taking away choice, it's about 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:22.699 making the sustainable choice the easy choice. 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.540 Opting out of the default is much easier for 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:29.160 people than actively choosing the desired behavior. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:33.040 This opt -out approach leads to a substantial 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:38.100 53 -87 % increase in sustainable meat selections, 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:43.199 as demonstrated by Greener by default. Defaults 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.019 leverage our tendency towards inertia and the 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:49.379 status quo. People are more likely to stick with 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.920 the default, making it a highly effective tool 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.579 for promoting sustainable behaviors. And defaults 00:04:56.579 --> 00:05:00.500 are a huge success. On average, There is a 60 00:05:00.500 --> 00:05:04.079 % increase in sustainable meal selection when 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:07.660 implementing a sustainable default. For example, 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:12.319 hospitals in New York saw an impact of over 800 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:16.379 ,000 additional sustainable meals served annually. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:21.100 After making the switch, sustainable selection 00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:27.459 rates jumped to 81 .5 % on default days, compared 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:33.560 to just 30 .8 % on control days. This has a significant 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:37.139 carbon reduction impact, with the potential to 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:44.300 save 350 ,000 kg of CO2 annually for large institutions. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:49.420 For example, and one among many successful implementations 00:05:49.420 --> 00:05:53.379 of the default effect, according to Hansen, Schilling 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:57.899 and Malthusen, These are the results from three 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:01.199 different experiments, A, B and C, conducted 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:05.360 at various conferences with two groups in each 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:10.240 experiment. Group 1 received a registration form 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:13.079 with a non -sustainable lunch as the default 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:16.800 option, but with the ability to choose a sustainable 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:21.180 option. Group 2 received a registration form 00:06:21.180 --> 00:06:24.560 with a sustainable lunch as the default option. 00:06:25.209 --> 00:06:28.509 but with the ability to choose a non -sustainable 00:06:28.509 --> 00:06:33.949 option. The main results. In Experiment 3, sustainable 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:39.170 choice increased from 2 % to 87%, an increase 00:06:39.170 --> 00:06:44.470 of 85%. In Experiment 2, sustainable choice increased 00:06:44.470 --> 00:06:52.910 from 6 % to 86%, an increase of 80%. And in Experiment 00:06:52.910 --> 00:06:57.639 3, Sustainable choice increased from 12 .5 % 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:06.459 to 89%, an increase of 76 .5%. By the way, when 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:09.779 the participants were informed eventually that 00:07:09.779 --> 00:07:13.939 they had been part of an experiment, they didn't 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:17.459 mind. They were asked whether they approved of 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:21.430 the nudge or not, and 90 % of the people who 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:24.449 were exposed to the nudge actually approved it 00:07:24.449 --> 00:07:28.870 oh for example toulon and lay universities achieved 00:07:28.870 --> 00:07:34.490 an impressive 81 .5 sustainable meals on sustainable 00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:38.990 default days showing strong institutional commitment 00:07:38.990 --> 00:07:44.009 surveys indicated high satisfaction and minimal 00:07:44.009 --> 00:07:47.490 resistance from students and professors demonstrating 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:52.199 broad acceptance of the program. The financial 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:56.579 impact was cost neutral or even generated savings 00:07:56.579 --> 00:08:00.120 for the institutions, making it a sustainable 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:04.720 model. These examples showcase how universities 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:08.240 can effectively transition to more sustainable 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.639 dining options, benefiting students, the environment 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:17.319 and the bottom line. Another study led by Zhang 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:22.860 2014 examined six different university events 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:27.180 across four academic institutions. At these events, 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:31.279 attendees pre -selected their meals on one of 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:37.980 two randomly assigned RSVP forms. One form had 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:41.320 a meat -based default option, the other one had 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:45.080 a sustainable default. The results showed a 43 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:49.600 % increase in sustainable choices when the sustainable 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.759 option was the default. This led to a significant 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:58.539 environmental impact with over 100 ,000 kg of 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:03.100 CO2 reduced from just these six small events. 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:08.679 Another study by Gene and Sparkman from 2024 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:14.139 looks at how three different university cafeterias 00:09:14.139 --> 00:09:18.440 changed their offerings over three months in 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.720 one condition the sustainable dish and the meat 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:25.399 -based dish were displayed behind the glass and 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.460 in the other condition only the sustainable dish 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:31.740 was displayed behind the glass and you could 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:35.360 have gotten meat only if you specifically asked 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.899 for it this led to a 58 .3 % increase in sustainable 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:47.559 choices, and 57 .2 % decrease in meat -based 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:51.559 choices. The data also shows that students were 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:55.120 very receptive to the expanded sustainable offerings, 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:59.240 and prefer them over meat -based options. And 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:02.179 there are different types of sustainable defaults 00:10:02.179 --> 00:10:05.820 that organizations can implement. Here I can 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:09.529 mention four of them. The first one is menu default. 00:10:09.830 --> 00:10:14.309 We set sustainable options as the standard with 00:10:14.309 --> 00:10:18.509 animal products available only by request. The 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:22.809 second one is bulk serving. We provide a sustainable 00:10:22.809 --> 00:10:26.330 buffet with an option for animal protein sites. 00:10:26.750 --> 00:10:31.409 The third one is event or catering. We default 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:35.230 to sustainable event registration forms. with 00:10:35.230 --> 00:10:38.350 alternatives available only by special selection. 00:10:38.970 --> 00:10:43.409 And the last one is cafeteria design. We prioritize 00:10:43.409 --> 00:10:46.470 sustainable options visually and by organizing 00:10:46.470 --> 00:10:50.370 the space. The key is to shift the default so 00:10:50.370 --> 00:10:53.629 that sustainable food is the standard and no 00:10:53.629 --> 00:10:56.970 sustainable food is the exception that requires 00:10:56.970 --> 00:11:01.139 extra effort. This helps normalize sustainable 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:05.059 eating and makes it the easy, convenient choice 00:11:05.059 --> 00:11:08.899 for most people. There are three concrete examples 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.919 of how we can implement sustainable options in 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:15.879 different settings, including a hospital, a university 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:20.519 and a school. For hospitals, the standard meal 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:24.460 trays should be sustainable, but patients can 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:28.429 request meat options through a simple form. For 00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:32.730 university events, the RSVP form defaults to 00:11:32.730 --> 00:11:37.409 sustainable meals and attendees must actively 00:11:37.409 --> 00:11:40.429 opt out to request a non -sustainable option. 00:11:40.970 --> 00:11:44.350 In school lunch programs, the daily lunch is 00:11:44.350 --> 00:11:47.350 sustainable by default and parents must submit 00:11:47.350 --> 00:11:50.370 a special form to request a non -sustainable 00:11:50.370 --> 00:11:53.889 option for their children. And to summarize the 00:11:53.889 --> 00:11:57.860 benefits to the cafeterias, sustainable food 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:01.559 is not only better for the planet it's also better 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:06.019 for the budgets health outcomes and overall satisfaction 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:09.320 as for the second intervention we were working 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:12.899 on let me ask you a question can we encourage 00:12:12.899 --> 00:12:16.460 people who are not vegetarian nor vegan to take 00:12:16.460 --> 00:12:20.720 an action for the animals and the answer is yes 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:25.340 we can using the identifiable victim effect Originally, 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:28.779 the identifiable victim effect was seen when 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:32.659 a girl named Jessica fell into a well. It's horrible, 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:35.799 but she received more media coverage than Wanda 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:40.179 and her foe together. People felt for her because 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:43.460 she was an identified victim with a name and 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:49.820 a face. A study by Markovitch, 2013, found the 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:53.460 identifiable victim effect for animals, but only 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:58.149 for non -environmentalists this led us to think 00:12:58.149 --> 00:13:01.889 that non -vegetarians would help a single identifiable 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:05.710 animal victim more than a group of unidentified 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:10.309 victims we conducted three experiments to test 00:13:10.309 --> 00:13:14.269 that in experiment one we gave participants a 00:13:14.269 --> 00:13:18.990 true story in which in which the cow lucky with 00:13:18.990 --> 00:13:22.350 a picture or several anonymous cows without a 00:13:22.350 --> 00:13:26.009 picture managed to escape from a live market. 00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:29.730 The participants reported their willingness to 00:13:29.730 --> 00:13:32.509 sign and share a petition to bring Lucky or the 00:13:32.509 --> 00:13:36.690 several cows to a farm sanctuary. And we have 00:13:36.690 --> 00:13:40.250 found that people were more willing to sign and 00:13:40.250 --> 00:13:43.789 share the petition for the cow when he was identified. 00:13:44.809 --> 00:13:49.049 But would people sign an actual petition? Let's 00:13:49.049 --> 00:13:53.259 find out. In experiment 2, We showed the same 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:56.220 story, only this time with an actual petition. 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:00.620 We found that a cow with a name and a picture 00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:03.659 got more people to sign and support an actual 00:14:03.659 --> 00:14:07.480 petition. But we didn't separate identifiability, 00:14:07.700 --> 00:14:11.100 the effect of a victim having a name and a face, 00:14:11.259 --> 00:14:14.820 from singularity, the effect of a single victim 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:20.039 yet. To do this, we ran experiment 3, in which 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:25.250 we had each person in one of four groups single 00:14:25.250 --> 00:14:29.929 identified single unidentified plural identified 00:14:29.929 --> 00:14:34.549 and plural unidentified victims we found that 00:14:34.549 --> 00:14:37.309 a single identified victim raised more donations 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:41.789 than the three other groups ambivalence towards 00:14:41.789 --> 00:14:46.370 meat which was the inner conflict explained it 00:14:46.370 --> 00:14:50.460 and finally the vegan filter project Look, we 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:54.120 know that a big problem is that vegan shopping 00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:59.100 is inconvenient. According to Phonolitics 2016 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:05.120 and again in 2024, vegetarian and vegan dropout 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:11.779 rate is as high as 84%. Convenience seems like 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:16.519 the number one reason flexitarians don't go vegan. 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:22.419 So, What could possibly be the solution? The 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:25.320 solution is to turn the whole online supermarket 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:30.500 vegan with just a click of a button. The project 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:35.559 we are trying to promote is a simple button that 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:39.159 will filter all the vegan products in the supermarket 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:44.259 instantly showing only the vegan items. It will 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:47.100 include all the plant -based products in the 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:51.340 store. These are products that online websites 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:55.360 sometimes for some reasons don't include. For 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:58.860 example, if it's obvious that they are vegan. 00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:03.080 However, we still want to buy them. Our goal 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.980 is to reduce friction, especially for new vegans. 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:13.399 New vegans go vegan and find out that they have 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:17.509 to go through the ingredient list and then they 00:16:17.509 --> 00:16:21.669 still don't find enough products. This might 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:24.809 be part of the reason why, again according to 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:29.250 phonolitics, 5 out of 6 new vegetarians or vegans 00:16:29.250 --> 00:16:33.909 quit. We want to change that. This is an example 00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:38.049 for what we call nudges at the point of sale. 00:16:38.250 --> 00:16:42.309 And we think we should use them more often, right 00:16:42.309 --> 00:16:45.919 when the decision is made. According to a study 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:50.879 by Qatar and Zhao, with over 3 ,000 total views, 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.500 sustainable filters increase vegan product sales 00:16:55.500 --> 00:17:03.539 by 25 -37%. And we want to focus on China. Actually, 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:07.220 there are more humans and farmed animals living 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:10.920 inside the area surrounding India and China than 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:15.180 in the rest of the world combined. It means that 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:19.700 according to Asia for Animals, the AFA, that 00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:27.599 it is 75 % of the farmed animals, 90 % of the 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:34.220 fish, and 5 billion people, who are 60 % of the 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:39.079 world's population. And China receives only 8 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:45.380 % of the pro -animal funding. Also, a project 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:49.619 in China is expected to be cost -efficient. We 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:54.019 expect that confirming that the products are 00:17:54.019 --> 00:17:59.799 vegan in the vegan filter will cost three times 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:04.480 less than in the US. China is also very supportive 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:10.470 with its 14 five -year plan stating that alternative 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:14.910 proteins are a national priority so we want to 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:18.930 include an ai -based vegan filter button inside 00:18:18.930 --> 00:18:23.250 the supermarket app and we will double check 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:27.789 the ingredients with actual consumers we also 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:31.609 want to conduct surveys to track the impact so 00:18:31.609 --> 00:18:35.990 just to summarize it all here are three key points 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:41.680 Plant -based defaults have been found to be the 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:45.099 most effective institutional approach for dietary 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:48.880 change. Implementing plant -based defaults offer 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:53.339 many benefits, enabling us to save costs, reduce 00:18:53.339 --> 00:18:57.019 emissions, and increase inclusivity for all diners. 00:18:57.259 --> 00:19:01.180 Plant -based defaults seem like the most effective 00:19:01.180 --> 00:19:06.430 leverage point for us to drive large -scale plant 00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:10.289 -based adoption. As for the identifiable victim 00:19:10.289 --> 00:19:13.829 effect, the effect of a single individual with 00:19:13.829 --> 00:19:17.190 a name and a picture, the take -home message 00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:20.549 is give lucky a name and a face. Finally, we 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:23.089 encourage you to advocate for a vegan filter 00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:25.970 button to reduce one of the biggest barriers 00:19:25.970 --> 00:19:30.130 for new vegans, which is convenience. So what 00:19:30.130 --> 00:19:34.400 can we do starting from today? Talk to someone 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:38.160 in leadership or food services about the idea 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:41.900 of a vegan default, the identifiable victim, 00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:46.380 or the vegan filter. Or if you are in leadership, 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.619 collaborate with businesses and restaurants. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.000 Share what you have learned today with others. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:58.380 Write a message, have a meeting, post on social 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:03.420 media. Start a small pilot. such as one event, 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.259 one meeting or one meal with a vegan default 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:11.380 option, tell the story of a single animal with 00:20:11.380 --> 00:20:14.940 a picture and a name, pitch the idea of removing 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:18.960 barriers online and generally share your success 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:24.000 to inspire others to take similar actions. The 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.740 change we want is already happening and we have 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:31.579 the privilege to take a part. Thank you so much 00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:34.619 for listening. I appreciate your interest and 00:20:34.619 --> 00:20:34.920 support.