More and more people are convinced that eating less meat and increasing the amount of vegetables is, as well as beneficial to their health, more sustainable for the planet.
For that reason, too, more and more restaurants have increased the offer of vegetable dishes on their menus.
But, now, a new study conducted by the London School of Economy, suggests that this initiative can be counterproductive and have the opposite effect to the desired one.
It seems logical to think that if the menu of a restaurant has a specific section of vegetable dishes and a wider and more varied offer, the number of clients who dedicate themselves to that option will increase.
But the researchers observed that the opposite was true.
The authors of the study conducted an experiment involving volunteers who were vegans, others who ate vegetables regularly, and also people who did not take it almost never.
And the result was that meat dishes were the majority option. But how can this be possible?
According to the researchers, everything is due to a curious psychological effect.
Dedicating to separate section for vegetarian dishes, highlighting that they are a healthy option, makes customers who eat vegetables on a regular basis confirm that they have a healthy lifestyle, and then decide to afford the exception of ordering a meat dish.
In fact, among the volunteers of the experiment, 70% of those who were habitual consumers of vegetable dishes, chose to order meat.
