Design for attitude-behavior consistency: A study on sustainable meat consumption

Design for attitude-behavior consistency: A study on sustainable meat consumption

Peeters, A.L.

Tromp, N. (mentor)
Hekkert, P.P.M. (mentor)
Janssen, A. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Design for Interaction

2014-05-07

This research and design graduation project revolves around two topics: sustainable meat consumption and the impact design can have on attitude-behavior consistency. The project is a collaboration between Wageningen UR Livestock Research (WUR) and Delft University of Technology. WUR is currently seeking solutions to increase the sustainability of meat consumption and this particular project is an attempt to find a design solution to this problem, by focusing on the relationship between consumers and meat products. The first part of the project is mainly dedicated to understanding the domain of meat consumption. The ViP method served as an aid in this process. A variety of relevant and inspiring contextual factors were collected to support the development of an appropriate and viable design solution. This subjective selection of factors forms the backbone of a statement: “We want to help consumers behave in line with their attitudes, by strengthening their association between meat products and their impact on sustainability issues.” After the formulation of an interaction vision and desirable qualities of the future product or service a firm preparation was completed for the development of ideas and concepts. The final concept is Tomorrow’s Menu, a service that helps people consume meat according to their intentions. It distinguishes three farm types on the basis of their sustainability. Consumers can become a member of the farm type that fits their personal values best, by making an online prepayment per kilo of meat. This money directly supports the sustainability measures of that industry. In the supermarket consumers can easily find the meat that comes from their chosen farm type and get a large discount on all of its products. Tomorrow’s Menu reconnects consumers and farmers and helps every party involved to contribute to a brighter, more sustainable future. In the final part of the project, the Tomorrow’s Menu service concept is used as a means to research and manipulate the consistency between people’s attitudes and behavior. This research was executed in collaboration with the University of Groningen. An online study across a time span of several weeks was done to measure the correlation between people’s attitudes towards sustainability issues and their meat consumption behavior. Data of a control group and a treatment group are compared to determine the effectiveness of the design intervention.

design
sustainability
attitude-behavior consistency
food

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:172e3119-5321-4d22-b521-f8a7ff712ad6

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2014 Peeters, A.L.