Let us go with the flow − Impact of a dynamic social norm nudge on parents’ school menu selection

Designing more sustainable school meal offerings not only contributes to environmental protection and climate change mitigation but also promotes children's health, provides food education, and raises awareness on sustainability issues. The present study, using a between-subject experimental online survey (N = 617), proved the effectiveness of a dynamic social norm nudge in encouraging parents to make more environmentally friendly choices when selecting school menus for their elementary school children. In addition, nudging was more successful in promoting sustainable food choices among parents with lower levels of education and those who are more actively involved and responsible for child-related practices. Disentangling the individual traits that leverage the effectiveness of nudges should allow public entities to fully exploit the potential of these interventions and design tailored approaches for targeted subpopulations.