Nudging parental health behavior with and without children's pestering power: Fat tax, subsidy or both?

Using a discrete choice experiment with real economic incentives, this paper studies one of the most well-known governmental mechanisms of nudging consumers towards a healthier way of eating, namely food fiscal policies. The experimental design varies food prices of healthier and unhealthier alternatives of food products for children as part of specific food fiscal policies. We also examine the interplay of children’s pestering power as well as information about the fiscal policies. Results from our lab experiment suggest that (a) implementing a fat tax and a subsidy simultaneously can nudge parents to choose healthier food products, (b) that providing information regarding the food fiscal policies in place can further increase the impact of the intervention, and (c) kid’s pestering power is one of the causes of the policies’ moderate effectiveness as it strongly affects parents in making unhealthier choices.