UQ Low Harm Hedonism Initiative

Why are plant-based meat dishes still rare on restaurant menus? 🌱
Interviews with 37 restaurant chefs and managers show concerns about popularity, taste, familiarity, enjoyment of cooking, naturalness, environmental sustainability, cost, and product availability.

So if we want more plant-based meat dishes on menus, we need to get chefs on board 🤝 Formal and informal education are key!

🔗 Learn more in this open-access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2026.104593

David Fechner Bettina Grün Rachael Perkins Sara Dolnicar


The University of Queensland

Can simple air conditioner setting instructions reduce hotel air conditioner use? Our field study at an Australian hotel shows that they can.

We also found that even ecologically enhanced surveys can not replace field studies. What people say they will do does not always match what they actually do.

🔗 Full open-access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102811

Danyelle Greene , Amit Birenboim, Anna K. Zinn, Marius Portmann, Yash Pandey, Bettina Grün & Sara Dolnicar


The University of Queensland

What better explains pro-environmental behaviour on vacation - a person's beliefs or their habits? Our research shows that habits are the clear winner 🌟 they explain 41% of the variance in general pro-environmental behaviour - compared to just 3% for pro-environmental beliefs.

🔗 Full open‑access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125673

Sarah MacInnes Bettina Grün Sara Dolnicar


UQ Business School The University of Queensland

Would "Terri towel" win you over when it comes to reusing your towel in a hotel? Our research shows that giving objects a human touch can help to change hotel guest behaviour without compromising satisfaction. In a real hotel setting, Terri led to a significant increase in hand towel reuse.

Not bad for a small towel elephant 🐘

🔗 Full open‑access paper: https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875251349233

Danyelle Greene Anna K. Zinn Csilla Dcs Sara Dolnicar

UQ Business School The University of Queensland

Identifying effective behaviour‑change approaches is only the first step - we also need to get businesses to actually put them into practice.

🗣️ How can research be communicated in ways that support action?
🧩 And what makes sustainability measures hard to implement at management level?

Our research shows that tailored, multi‑channel communication outperforms generic messages. It also reveals a key barrier that’s often overlooked: concerns about guests' behaviour.

🔗 Open-access paper: https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-11-2024-1086



Peter Lewin Danyelle Greene Anna K. Zinn Sara Dolnicar r
Business School The University of Queensland d

Why are field studies so important? Survey research is great, but...
🧠 What people say they’ll do isn’t always what they actually do
🚫 Interventions that look effective in surveys may fail in real-world settings

We show this in a study on reducing plate waste: a message that proved promising in the pre-survey did not reduce plate waste in a real hotel.

The takeaway? Intentions are not behaviour. To make reliable recommendations on how to achieve real behavioural change, we need field research.

🔗 Full open‑access paper: https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875241253009

Emil Juvan, Oscar Yuheng Zhu, Bettina Grün, Sara Dolnicar
UQ Business School The University of Queensland

In research, we often need to measure pro‑environmental beliefs, but the widely used New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) includes 15 items.

Why is this a problem?
📏 Long questionnaires can reduce participation and data quality
🔀 Shortening scales inconsistently undermines comparability across studies

We systematically tested all possible 5‑item combinations of the 15‑item NEP (one per facet) to develop NEP‑5, which shows:
✅ High test–retest reliability ✅ High convergent validity ✅ Predictive validity comparable to the full 15‑item scale

The result: a short, robust, and comparable measure that reduces respondent burden without sacrificing quality.

🔗 Full open‑access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2025.100196

Sara Dolnicar, Bettina Grün, Sarah MacInnes
Business School The University of Queensland

Table signs at restaurants and buffets often try to change guest behaviour - order a specific meal, reduce plate waste, behave more sustainably 🍽️
But… do they actually work?

In our field experiment in a real hotel, we tested several of these signs and found:
1️⃣ They did not reduce plate waste - even though they looked promising in online pre‑tests.
2️⃣ Some signs even slightly reduced guest satisfaction.

So while table signs are quick, cheap, and easy to implement, sometimes they’re simply “not worth the paper they’re printed on.” 📄

🔗 Open-access paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105348


Anna K. Zinn, Danyelle Greene, Sergey Kozlov, Bettina Grün, Yash Pandey, Marius Portmann, Sara Dolnicar

Business School University of Queensland