To Örebro University

This field experiment explored whether and to what extent claims about expert recommendations (i.e., those of the chef) and recommendations from other restaurant guests influenced customers' food choices in a restaurant. The menu in the study consisted entirely of vegetarian dishes, two of which were selected to be emphasised either as “Chef's choice” or as “Guests' choice” on the menu, thereby providing expert-based and social-based cues suggesting one of the dishes at different study time points. The selected dishes were a vegetarian version of a conventional Swedish meat dish (a plant-based patty) and a nonconventional dish (lentils with “zero-waste” pesto). Over four weeks, the restaurant's sales data were collected, and customers were invited to participate in a voluntary survey. This survey gathered information regarding sociodemographic characteristics and more details about the dish selection, including subjective ratings of dish liking and overall meal satisfaction. A total of 1540 dishes were sold, and 524 customers participated in the survey. The plant-based patty was the most popular choice across all weeks, and the “Chef's choice” had no additive effect, suggesting its high stability in popularity. Labelling a less popular dish (lentils with “zero-waste” pesto) with “Chef's choice” had a positive impact on its selection, while labelling it with “Guests' choice” made no difference. These results suggest that in the absence of meat options, some customers appear to transfer the concept of a meat-centric dish to a similar vegetarian dish (in this case, a plant-based patty), whereas a less popular dish with no resemblance to a conventional meat dish can become more popular when recommended by a presumable expert on the matter. However, further research is necessary to ascertain the efficacy of this effect in diverse restaurant contexts, based on designs with better possibilities to establish causality.

Over the last two decades, scholars have investigated norms of citizenship by focussing primarily on ‘dutiful’ and ‘engaged’ norms. In the meantime, contemporary democracies have witnessed growing demands for more sustainable styles of living and increasing public support for authoritarian and populist ideas. These developments point to both a change and an expansion of conventional understandings and conceptions of what a ‘good citizen’ in a democratic polity ought to do. Specifically, they raise questions about whether demands for more sustainability and increasing support for populist ideas establish new facets of democratic citizenship, and if so, how they can be meaningfully incorporated into existing images of citizenship. This study provides a re-conceptualization of citizenship norms and empirically tests a new measurement instrument using original data collected in Germany in 2019. The empirical application of an expanded set of items demonstrates the existence of more variegated facets of norms of citizenship, including norms to safeguard a sustainable future and distinct populist facets emphasizing the relevance of trust in authorities and experts as well as reliance on feelings and emotions. Contemporary conceptions of citizenship thus go beyond conventional distinctions between dutiful and engaged norms of citizenship.

Numerous public initiatives aim to influence individual food choices by informing about what is considered ‘healthy’, ‘climate-friendly’, and generally ‘sustainable’ food. However, research suggests that rather than public authorities, social influence is more likely to affect people’s behaviour. Using a randomised controlled trial, this study investigated if and how the two kinds of influences (factual versus social) could affect the real-life, self-reported intake of plant- and animal-based foods. In a four-month randomised controlled trial, a self-selected sample of adults living in Sweden (N = 237) tracked their daily food consumption several times per week using a tailored mobile phone app. Participants were randomised into one of three groups: two treatment groups receiving factual or social information about plant- and animal-based food consumption, or a control group receiving no information. Pre- and post-questionnaires provided additional background information about the participants. Participants’ food habits varied from week to week, and an explorative analysis pointed to a slight decrease in the consumption of animal-based food in the group that received social information. However, the longer-term patterns remained relatively constant in all groups, showing no substantial shift regardless of the kind of cues that the participants received. By investigating the roles of two common types of information about food and dietary change, the results contribute to discussions about how and by whom effective and efficient measures can be implemented to transform food habits. The results suggest there is limited potential for sustained and substantial behavioural changes through both social and factual information campaigns.

Existing studies suggest that what people do and do not think of as being ‘politics’, varies a lot. Some citizens embrace narrow understandings, regarding only few issues as ‘political’. While others hold broad conceptions. What remains unclear is to what extent citizens agree on the contents, i.e., which topics are ‘political’. Using representative survey data from the U.S. (N = 1000), this article illustrates the over -laps and differences in conceptions of politics that different groups of citizens hold. Specifically, the results of a cluster analysis reveal five groups. The citizens within each group share similar conceptions of politics, while across groups conceptions differ. We find one group considering everything as political, one not regarding anything as such, and a third one identifying only tax-cuts as ‘political’. In between these extremes, two groups identify politics in terms of rather demarcated spheres of issues: domestic, or cross-border/global issues. Further analyses point to important differences in the groups’ socio-demographic profiles, political interest, and political behaviors. This shows, in their minds, people draw boundaries around politics in quite varied, yet principled, ways. This comes with a meaningful diversity in citizens’ connection to the political world around them, and with important implications for their roles within it.

Dieses Buch bietet eine Analyse der Politik des Konsums und zeigt, wie der "gebildete Verbraucher" eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Förderung verantwortungsvoller Marktpraktiken und des Konsums spielt. Auf der Grundlage einer umfassenden interdisziplinären Perspektive untersucht es das Ausmaß, die Triebkräfte und die Verbindungen von Boykott, Kaufboykott, Kennzeichnungssystemen und sozialer Verantwortung von Unternehmen (CSR) in 20 europäischen Ländern. Eine zentrale Frage ist, ob makro-gesellschaftliche Orientierungsmuster hinsichtlich der Rolle des Staates, der Unternehmen und der Bürger individuelle und länderübergreifende Unterschiede beim Boykottieren und beim Kaufverbot erklären können. Wie das Buch zeigt, gibt es nicht nur einen Typus des "politischen Verbrauchers", sondern mehrere, und ihr Auftreten steht in direktem Zusammenhang mit nationalen Variationen von Kennzeichnungssystemen und der sozialen Verantwortung von Unternehmen. Die Verbraucher brauchen Anhaltspunkte und Informationen über die politischen Hintergründe ihrer Einkäufe, und die politischen Entscheidungsträger müssen diesem Bedarf durch politische Maßnahmen Rechnung tragen, die den nationalen Mustern in den Ansichten über Zusammenarbeit und Marktbeziehungen entsprechen.

What people eat has become a highly political issue, closely intertwined with public health, environmental concerns, and climate change. Individuals’ consumption decisions tend to be greatly influenced by the people that surround them, and this seems to be especially true when it comes to food. In recent years, alongside close contacts, such as family and friends, a myriad of social influencers have appeared on the screens, sharing opinions on what (not) to eat. Presenting results from a youth survey conducted in Sweden in 2019 (N = 443), this paper shows that social media have become the primary source of information about food and eating for youths, followed by schools and families. However, primary sources of influence continue to be parents and the family at large. Furthermore, the study shows that it is possible to identify ‘central persons’, i.e., relatively clear-cut groups of people whose food choices—measured as tendency to eat climate friendly—is mirrored by the youths, both in their everyday food preferences and in their broader political awareness as expressed through political consumerism. A conclusion from this is that certain people can be particularly successful at inspiring larger numbers of other people to engage with healthier and environmentally friendlier (food) consumption in a society.

The concept and spheres of politics have widened considerably. Key examples include public health, environmental protection and climate change, which can be considered some of the most important political issues and challenges modern societies are facing. In the literatures concerned with health-, environmental- and climate-related behaviours, awareness is a very prominent concept, featuring either as an explanation for why people behave in certain ways or as a normatively desired factor that is said to be needed to bring about political action and individual behaviour change. In political science, however, the notion of political awareness (PA) is almost exclusively considered in relation to electoral and party politics. The chapter argues that this use and understanding of PA needs to be adjusted and expanded, so as to capture today’s more diverse political setting that stretches beyond elections and party politics. Furthermore, by looking into existent research on the above examples, the chapter critically reviews some problematics related to the empirical application of PA. It is commonly measured in terms of knowledge and treated synonymously with understanding. The chapter describes how awareness, knowledge and understanding are though distinct from each other. From this, it develops some suggestions for alternative avenues for measurement and study of PA in contemporary political science.