Changing Consumer Dietary Behaviour | 5th May 2026
Published: 11 March 2026
Join Dr Tess Davis and Dr Amy Rodger to explore why changing consumer dietary behaviour in the current food system is not as simple as it seems.
Date & Time: Tuesday 5th May 2026, 12pm
Changing consumer dietary behaviour in the current food system: it’s not that simple.
What do we mean by eating behaviour, what drives it, and how do we change it? As professionals working towards a better food future, it is important to understand the theoretical underpinnings of our eating habits to develop effective behaviour change interventions that can inform policy and drive long-term change in the food industry.
During this talk, Dr Tess Davis and Dr Amy Rodger will demonstrate that there is no single behavioural solution that can shift consumer food choice, and that individual- and systems-level factors must be adopted simultaneously to help transform the food system to a fairer, more equitable and more sustainable model.
Dr Tess Davis, Social Psychologist and Climate Researcher, University of Strathclyde
Dr Tess Davis is a social psychologist and climate researcher, currently working as a Research Associate at the University of Strathclyde on the UKRI-funded COPE project. Her work chiefly focuses on understanding why mainstream consumers find it so difficult to transition towards more sustainable diets, and how to tackle the individual-level, group-level and systems-level barriers to plant-based food consumption. Her work also aims to explore the link between sustainable diets and the social dynamics that influence food choice, including how social identities and support from close social contacts play a role. Other research interests include how public awareness of human-nature interconnectedness can improve planetary health.
Dr Amy Rodger, Research Fellow, The University of Edinburgh
Dr Amy Rodger is a Research Fellow at The University of Edinburgh, working on the ESRC-funded leader hub Behavioural Research UK. She employs quantitative and mixed methods to analyse human decision-making and behaviour change, with a focus on key policy issues, including public health and climate change. Her current research investigates evaluating the causal effects of behavioural interventions in these areas. Amy earned her MSc in Research Methods of Psychological Science and her PhD, titled "Water drinking is a complex health behaviour: implications for theory and intervention development," from the University of Glasgow. She has also studied behaviour change interventions aimed at promoting pro-environmental behaviour.
First published: 11 March 2026
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