Can a discount save the planet? Evidence from the field on sustainable food choices

Reducing meat consumption is a key strategy to lower the carbon footprint of food systems, yet real-world adoption of sustainable dietary alternatives remains limited. This study investigates how price-based incentives can promote sustainable food choices in a hedonistic, high-emissions consumption setting: a large European music festival. We conducted an incentivized field study at a music festival, targeting attendees who intended to purchase a beef burger and offering them the option to switch to a vegetarian alternative at varying rebate levels. The results show that, on average, a 38% discount (equivalent to €7.10) is required to induce a switch, though 11% of participants refuse to switch even at the maximum discount. We find that switching is significantly associated with gender and sustainability attitudes at the festival, but not with intoxication or sustainability attitudes at home. Using these findings, we estimate that pricing the vegetarian burger at €7.29 (a 43% discount relative to beef) would be necessary to meet the festival's carbon emissions target of 0.75 kg CO 2 e per meal. These results show that even though some consumers with intentions to buy the high-emitting food are sensitive to price rebates, at the aggregate, the rebates need to be very high to obtain a substantial effect. This provides actionable insights for professionals with a focus on designing cost-effective interventions to promote sustainable consumption in leisure and public environments. • A field experiment with 212 real consumers at a major music festival reveals how price influences sustainable food choices. • On average, a 38% discount (€4.30) is required for beef-intending consumers to switch to a vegetarian burger. • 11% of consumers refuse to switch even at a 71% discount, suggesting deep-rooted preferences or identity-based barriers. • Achieving the festival's climate goal (0.75 kg CO 2 e per meal) requires an estimated 83% vegetarian share and a burger price of €7.29 for the vegetarian option. • Female participants and those with stronger festival-specific sustainability attitudes required significantly lower incentives to switch.