Interesting point. I suppose that Peter did pre-emptively respond to it when he noted that “it is still premature to do lots of studies on the relative effectiveness of certain vegetarian messaging … when we don’t even know if the absolute effectiveness is there yet.”
Furthermore, this would probably be really difficult to detect, as ads which aim to reduce animal product consumption now might actually be the most potent vector for effecting long-term value shifts—people who start integrating some vegetarianism into their diets are more likely to come across and even spread information showing the intelligence of factory farmed animals.
Given the problems faced by this study, I doubt we’ll have a clear answer to the real long-term effectiveness of various interventions any time soon. The best we can do at the moment is to try a combination of methods that appeal to diverse moral intuitions and interests.
Interesting point. I suppose that Peter did pre-emptively respond to it when he noted that “it is still premature to do lots of studies on the relative effectiveness of certain vegetarian messaging … when we don’t even know if the absolute effectiveness is there yet.”
Furthermore, this would probably be really difficult to detect, as ads which aim to reduce animal product consumption now might actually be the most potent vector for effecting long-term value shifts—people who start integrating some vegetarianism into their diets are more likely to come across and even spread information showing the intelligence of factory farmed animals.
Given the problems faced by this study, I doubt we’ll have a clear answer to the real long-term effectiveness of various interventions any time soon. The best we can do at the moment is to try a combination of methods that appeal to diverse moral intuitions and interests.