The potential of MINDSPACE framework: nudge strategy for Thai plant-based meat SMEs in Bangkok

The plant-based meat industry has witnessed increased attention globally due to its significant impact on sustainability and health. In Thailand, the Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated this trend, leading to a surge in health consciousness and a growing demand for plant-based alternatives to traditional meat and dairy products. Despite the increasing demand, the market lacks a dominant player, resulting in intense competition among various brands striving to capture market share. The concept of nudging, introduced by Thaler & Sunstein (2008), proposes that subtle changes in the presentation of options can influence decision-making and guide individuals towards more sustainable choices. Also, the MINDSPACE framework, developed by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT, 2010), offers nine key components for designing effective nudges. While SMEs, or small and medium-sized enterprises, differ from larger organizations (Cacciolatti & Lee, 2015). With resource constraints, including limited financial and human capital, SMEs prioritize production and sales (Cacciolatti & Lee, 2015). Therefore, this paper examines the potential of the MINDSPACE framework as a nudge strategy for Thai plant-based meat small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bangkok. By conducting case studies and analysis on six Thai plant-based meat SMEs, namely Meat Avatar, More Meat, Krop, Mudjai, Mantra, and Let's Plant Meat, this study investigates the possibilities and difficulties of implementing the framework to promote sustainable consumption in the plant-based meat industry. The research findings emphasize the possibilities of leveraging the MINDSPACE components, including a combination of defaults and commitment (DC), messengers and default (MD), salience (S), incentive and ego (IE) and norm (N). However, the difficulties are likely to arise when employing messengers (M), priming (P), and affect (A). The study identifies possible implementation strategies for Thai plant-based SMEs in the Bangkok market, while acknowledging potential challenges such as resource requirements and messaging consistency.