This is the title of the inaugural address delivered by Marleen Onwezen on 13 September at Omnia. Onwezen is endowed professor in the Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group at the Department of Social Sciences and works as Expertise Leader and senior research associate for Wageningen Economic Research.
My chair studies how we can devise interventions that make behavioural change stick and get more scientific understanding: okay, this is how you change behaviour. What else do we need, what interventions can we deploy to ensure a longer-term impact too? That's all in the title: how can you eat something today that makes a positive impact on your environment tomorrow?
How can this study contribute to the food transition?
With the limited time and scope that I have, I would love to be able to set up studies on a larger scale. That is, bringing together many different individual research projects to provide more extensive insights into what happens over time or when you compare different domains.
One substantive example of a study we did was about labels. Labelling has a lot of potential because it clearly shows what is sustainable. Without a label, no one knows. However, we now see that its impact is very small, because the consumers we reach are already informed and motivated. We are therefore exploring ways to increase the impact of labels by using emotions and social norms. Another study shows that labels also play a role in what we think is normal. By choosing a negative (instead of a positive) labelling system, you ensure that you normalise sustainable choices. However, currently positive label systems are used. Take the better life quality label with those three stars, for example. The question in my chair, for example, is also whether normalising sustainable choices can promote behavioural change in the longer term. I am under no illusion that a study will suddenly implement a whole new labelling system, but you can start having the discussion. Why do we make that choice?
What fascinates you most in your study of consumer behaviour?
I find it very interesting when there are sort of conflicts, like when people say, oh, but, I think animal welfare is very important. I love animals. And then they have a barbecue. That's something I find really intriguing. And that our brain is so flexible that we still feel good. I find that very interesting. Every day, we ignore so much information just so that we feel good. And we all condone our own behaviour. There are also lots of opportunities here to trigger people to change their behaviour. I enjoy making the link between scientific and societal impact. That's one of the themes in my work."
You talk a lot about choices, but do people actually have the choice to eat healthier and more sustainably with what's available on the shelves?
Yes, we see that the food environment is incredibly influential, much more so than we think. In the Netherlands, we are very much in favour of everyone having freedom of choice, etc. But the question is obviously to what extent do you still have freedom of choice? When you are so influenced and tempted to buy all those unhealthy and unsustainable products. For example, animal products are always promoted as the standard, they get the most space and the most attention. I find it very intriguing to see that when I'm walking around a supermarket. It means that a lot more can be done.
What would you like to achieve in the coming years as a professor at WUR?
I hope to find tools in some of the bigger issues to really spark a discussion. Like in the Protein Monitor project, for example. It examines how the protein transition is progressing? Both in terms of consumption, as in what people actually eat, and in terms of what are the main drivers. And what is available in the supermarkets. That's another example where I see common ground with the Chair Group. For example, I've also just submitted a proposal to collect this data in the long term. And I find it a real honour that I get to participate in different groups to consider what are the big issues for society and how can science help. You really need to take a broad perspective for that. Not just towards your own research, but for the whole field. What are the big issues? And you need to be able to link that to the big social issues to identify where we still need what knowledge. That's super cool! The nice thing is that you're not just doing your research in your building but you also get to consider what knowledge we really need as a society.
