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Project title

Pre-testing the design of effective eco-labels

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI)

Lead Applicant

Anne Nolan

Project Abstract

Eco-labels allow consumers to make informed comparisons based on the environmental impacts of the products they purchase and present a potential mechanism for market competition towards more sustainable production processes. Previous EPA-funded BRU research showed that the effectiveness of these labels depends on their design, with colour-coded scales outperforming product-specific information. There are multiple other outstanding research questions necessary to establish a basis for effective eco-labels. This project aims to address these questions and provide further pre-tests to inform the design of a standardised eco-label. The study would use as a baseline consumers’ ability to identify environmentally-friendly products in the absence of eco-labels, to identify any heuristics (i.e., rules-of-thumb) they may presently rely on (e.g. country-of-origin judgements without considering the mode of transport). The aim would then be test, for example, the most effective metric for use across products (e.g., converting environmental impact into equivalent flights taken, kilometres driven, energy used and so on), whether such labels overcome any effects of greenwashing, and whether the presence of other product labels (e.g. Regarding nutritional information or packaging) interfere with environmental impact information.

Grant Approved

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Research Hub

Green and Circular Economy

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

25/10/2022

Initial Projected Completion Date

24/10/2024