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I don’t think it’s as obvious as you imply. If a menu goes from 80% meat to 20% meat, I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that either the same proportion of

I don’t think it’s as obvious as you imply. If a menu goes from 80% meat to 20% meat, I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that either the same proportion of customers still chose a meat option; or that fewer customers ordered anything to begin with

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
I don't think that most people go "I want meat!", they just want something that sounds good, and that's what the results are reflecting. As eating meat is the default option, it's largely done without thought - you don't internalize "I eat meat", so it has no value if you do or don't in a particular meal.
- throwaway66920 7y ago
  Idk. I think most people read the menu and decide what sounds best, with meat options rated fairly high.
4ad 7y ago
If a menu switches from 80% meat to 20% meat, I (as a meat eater) would find somewhere else to eat. On the other hand vegetarians might start to come to this place. This place might sell more vegetarian food, yet nobody will have to convert to vegetarianism. Similarly, this is about cafeterias. Sometimes food runs out. Hell, the meat option always runs out on airplanes until food gets to me. If they reduce the meat even more, no wonder that more people will eat vegetarian dishes. There's no meat left.
- tom_mellior 7y ago
  How is reducing your choices (for one meal per weekday) to 20% of the menu about anybody having "to convert to vegetarianism"?
- throwaway66920 7y ago
  That’s a good point. It would be neat to look at credit card data and infer how much of the customer base is new
  - tom_mellior 7y ago
    > It would be neat to look at credit card data and infer how much of the customer base is new The study did track people over time: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/09/24/1907207116 https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/09/24/1907207116 "Linking sales data to participants’ previous meal purchases revealed that the largest effects were found in the quartile of diners with the lowest prior levels of vegetarian meal selection." So the heaviest meat eaters as a group not only did not stop going to these cafeterias, they willingly ate the vegetarian stuff.
    - mamon 7y ago
      Probably it is just laziness: if the next closest place to go for lunch is few miles away and your office cafeteria goes vegetarian then you simply find few least bad vege options and stick with them.
      - tom_mellior 7y ago
        Before the intervention there were three meat options. The intervention reduced this to two meat options. How in the world is this "going vegetarian", forcing you to eat the least bad non-meat options?

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago

I don't think that most people go "I want meat!", they just want something that sounds good, and that's what the results are reflecting. As eating meat is the default option, it's largely done without thought - you don't internalize "I eat meat", so it has no value if you do or don't in a particular meal.

throwaway66920 7y ago
Idk. I think most people read the menu and decide what sounds best, with meat options rated fairly high.

4ad 7y ago

If a menu switches from 80% meat to 20% meat, I (as a meat eater) would find somewhere else to eat. On the other hand vegetarians might start to come to this place. This place might sell more vegetarian food, yet nobody will have to convert to vegetarianism. Similarly, this is about cafeterias. Sometimes food runs out. Hell, the meat option always runs out on airplanes until food gets to me. If they reduce the meat even more, no wonder that more people will eat vegetarian dishes. There's no meat left.

tom_mellior 7y ago
How is reducing your choices (for one meal per weekday) to 20% of the menu about anybody having "to convert to vegetarianism"?
throwaway66920 7y ago
That’s a good point. It would be neat to look at credit card data and infer how much of the customer base is new
- tom_mellior 7y ago
  > It would be neat to look at credit card data and infer how much of the customer base is new The study did track people over time: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/09/24/1907207116 https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/09/24/1907207116 "Linking sales data to participants’ previous meal purchases revealed that the largest effects were found in the quartile of diners with the lowest prior levels of vegetarian meal selection." So the heaviest meat eaters as a group not only did not stop going to these cafeterias, they willingly ate the vegetarian stuff.
  - mamon 7y ago
    Probably it is just laziness: if the next closest place to go for lunch is few miles away and your office cafeteria goes vegetarian then you simply find few least bad vege options and stick with them.
    - tom_mellior 7y ago
      Before the intervention there were three meat options. The intervention reduced this to two meat options. How in the world is this "going vegetarian", forcing you to eat the least bad non-meat options?