HBE 2023 data Views on palm oil products May 4th 2023, 9:37 pm MDT Q1 - How often do you try to avoid products that contain palm oil? # 1 Field Minimum Maximum Mean How often do you try to avoid products that contain palm oil? 1.00 5.00 4.01 Std Variance Count Deviation 1.08 1.16 170 # Answer % Count 1 Always 2.94% 5 2 Most of the time 10.00% 17 3 About half of the time 10.00% 17 4 Sometimes 37.65% 64 5 Never 39.41% 67 Total 100% 170 Q2 - When you buy biscuits, chocolates or other snacks do you check to see if the product contains palm oil? # 1 Field Minimum Maximum Mean When you buy biscuits, chocolates or other snacks do you check to see if the product contains palm oil? 1.00 5.00 4.34 Std Variance Count Deviation 0.99 0.98 170 # Answer % Count 1 Always 4.12% 7 2 Most of the time 2.94% 5 3 About half the time 4.12% 7 4 Sometimes 32.35% 55 5 Never 56.47% 96 Total 100% 170 Q3 - Do you think people should generally try to reduce their consumption of products containing palm oil? # 1 Field Minimum Maximum Mean Do you think people should generally try to reduce their consumption of products containing palm oil? 1.00 4.00 1.79 Std Variance Count Deviation 0.88 0.77 170 # Answer % Count 1 Definitely yes 44.71% 76 2 Probably yes 38.24% 65 3 Might or might not 10.59% 18 4 Probably not 6.47% 11 5 Definitely not 0.00% 0 Total 100% 170 Q4 - Do you think students at the University of Melbourne generally think reducing use of products containing palm oil would be a positive thing? # 1 Field Minimum Maximum Mean Do you think students at the University of Melbourne generally think reducing use of products containing palm oil would be a positive thing? 1.00 5.00 1.99 Std Variance Count Deviation 0.86 0.75 170 # Answer % Count 1 Definitely yes 30.59% 52 2 Probably yes 45.88% 78 3 Might or might not 17.65% 30 4 Probably not 5.29% 9 5 Definitely not 0.59% 1 Total 100% 170 Q5 - Being a student at the University of Melbourne is part of who I am # 1 Field Minimum Maximum Mean Being a student at the University of Melbourne is part of who I am 1.00 5.00 2.11 Std Variance Count Deviation 0.97 0.94 170 # Answer % Count 1 Strongly agree 27.65% 47 2 Somewhat agree 45.88% 78 3 Neither agree nor disagree 17.65% 30 4 Somewhat disagree 5.88% 10 5 Strongly disagree 2.94% 5 Total 100% 170 Q6 - In your personal experience, what makes it difficult to reduce consumption of products with palm oil? In your personal experience, what makes it difficult to reduce consumption of products with palm oil? A lot of products I purchase come with palm oil Availability of products which does not consist of palm oil. because its almost everywhere and its time-consuming to check the ingredients everytime I didn't even know that palm oil has bad effect on the environment since I learned in this subject. convenience Awareness and labelling of products It becomes another thing to look out As palm oil is quite common in most products and there are rarely any palm oil-free products seen. It requires attention and effort to reduce this consumption, which a lot of people are not willing to take lack of awareness Most things have it. Not all are advertised as lacking it when they do- general eco friendly labels. The price tag and the ambiguity of products wether they use palm oil or not The information is not as accessible at the point of sale making it easy to forget, and also hard to know without prior knowledge. it's hard to find replaceable materials The consumption of palm oil is mainly in the production of instant noodles, cooking oil, catering frying, and in the food industry for chocolate, biscuits, ice cream, candy and so on. It's good food Not many palm oil-free products or alternatives Rarely see a special label, and there is no special introduction even before Most things containing palm oil are good to eat the lack of education i had on the topic of palm oil before this year has definitely affected my consumption of iy A lack of information? Probably some people even don’s t know palm oil is not good for both the environment and their healths. When there aren't good alternative options for that product that don't contain palm oil. the fact that products don't have to say that palm oil is contained in it kind of just makes me give up on trying. also laziness Many products have it, they don't even have to declare it so it's easy to miss It's basically in everything and sometimes they're not clear whether it is even present or whether it is 'dirty' or not price and accessibility The alternatives are potentially more harmful than palm oil The lack of labelling on the majority of products We seldom find the product obviously mentions as palm oil free, not like sugar free… We will not notice until we see the labels of products (or may be not written) In my personal experience I have not really thought about palm oil in products I have purchased. it may be very difficult due to the large commonality of palm oil in majority of the products evident in supermarkets tons of products are consist of palm oil and it is hard to avoid using it I was not aware in the past that using palm oil could give such a negative impact on the environment - as a lot of products use palm oil, it would be difficult to reduce consumption for all of them i dont often check whether the products have palm oil or not Until this subject, the implications surrounding palm oil haven't been something I'm aware of. Through force of habit, I just forget to check now. However, most products don't have information about palm oil on them anyway unclear labelling I did not realize the products are made of palm oil. It can be used in many aspects, such as some daily necessities (soaps & lubricant) and food (snacks & milk powder). These products are necessary for everyday life, and these products made of palm oil are often cheaper than other similar products (such as soap is cheaper than hand sanitizer). With the same effect, I think most people will choose products with higher cost performance. Because of how hard it is to identify products with palm oil, it can be hidden in was vegetable il and i would be none the wiser. The alternative names for palm oil on products. The overabundance of the presence of palm oil in necessary products. People around do not care about it. Sometimes palm oil will not be paid attention. lack of info provision of what contains palm oil-packaging no cheap palm oil free alternatives Hard to tell which products use palm oil No knowledge of the detrimental effects of palm oil. Most people relate climate change to plastics and reducing use of plastics and fast fashion. It's difficult to reduce palm oil intake when there aren't strong enough laws surrounding palm oil signage. It is not easily found on labels/packaging, you have to look through ingredients, which sometimes may be vague as well. Forgetting to check if it has palm oil in the product Not labelled clearly on packaging Hidden ingredients or companies/products that make it difficult to see easily and clearly whether the product contains palm oil or not (or even just sustainably farmed palm oil). Alternatives are hard to find in common supermarkets and generally more costly. the inconsistent/lack of clarity in ingredient lists, unawareness of the negative consequences of using palm oil Sometimes it's not identifiable. ie. there is no sign saying "no pail oil" on the package sometimes it's made unidentifiable. eg. "palm oil" is written in its scientific name such as "Elaeis guineensis", which is hard to distinguish from the rest of the ingredient list. sometimes it's time-consuming to find a product that's palm oil free. might be because they don't take up a large percentage of the products on the shelf. The ambiguity of the ingredients list, often it is listed as vegetable oil and it can be hard to tell when it is present in some products. Sometimes if palm oil is not used it may be an oil that is also produced unsustainably. Lack of education of the different names palm oil may fall under. insufficient labelling, covenience, lower cost and prevalence of palm-oil-containing products Packaging isn't transparent (ie listed as vegetable oil) There isn't an equally convenient alternative Cost of alternatives Taste / quality of alternatives Reducing the consumption of products with palm oil in them is difficult due to the lack of good educational information campaigns and difficulties in noticing whether the product is palm-oil free on the packaging. It's in a lot of things. I also don't really know all the products that it's in. I'm also not usually the one that does the shopping so I don't really look at product ingredients. Most products contain palm oil and palm oil free products are not always available in the shops. There are also many different names for palm oil, which makes it hard to tell whether a product contains it or not. i have no idea what is the disadvantage of palm oil and why Knowledge of products as well Palm oil is listed and described differently in the ingredients list on many products. The companies make it hard to find the information. It's too much effort to try and find out whether the product has palm oil so I don't bother. Most good tasting food contains palm oil Sometimes it's hard to recognise the palm oil in the products; for example, in some food-based products, they labelled palm oil as vegetable oil or plant oil, which is hard to recognise. On the other hand, sometimes we don't know what kind of product contains palm oil; for example, I just know that soaps also contain palm oil inside, which make me hard to reduce the consumption of palm oil products. The abundance of palm oil in products, the extra effort it takes to seek out products without palm oil, and also not knowing if companies actually are palm oil free or if they are just claiming to be. I was not well-informed about palm oil - the history, how it is produced, the environmental impacts, etc. Therefore, because I am not well-informed, I don't have such great awareness or intention to reduce palm oil consumption. The prevalence of it in many common products makes it difficult to avoid and lack of transparency, awareness or advertising on if it is sustainable palm oil used or not. Having to take time to research and find out which products have palm oil it not always possible when shopping The ingredient labels not being clear with what products contain palm oil or not. Knowing whether products have palm oil in them Knowledge Emotive factors I wasn't really aware of it before the tutorials over the last two weeks. People are not aware of the palm oil crisis. lack of information on labels Hard to find true information that warns that there is palm oil Lack of knowledge about the issue, not having clear and reliable labels It doesnt say clearly on the packaging. Also, I didnt really know how bad it was. My forgetfulness about its destructive origins Lack of knowledge and information given on packaging if the product contains palm oil and also lack of alternatives. Lack of knowledge, inconvenience, controversy regarding the topic The labelling and the knowledge behind the harm of palm oil products is not transparent enough. not sustainable It is not taught unless you are interested in related topics Lack of quality goods at a cheaper price. HArd to find and.maintain behaviours because can be expensive and time consuming to find it - Not easily accessible Palm oil aversion not being on my mind at the supermarket Ease of knowing what products actually contain palm oil. not knowing and feeling its full impacts/consequences Its ubiquity Information displayed on products is often hard to find and takes more time and effort to choose products accordingly Failure to recognize it Some of the palm oil contains products taste better and there is lack of promotion of palm oil free products most of popular products in the market contain palm oil, it is hard to avoid Labelling, no reminders/incentive to actively check for palm oil. It is not advertised strongly, nor does it have a high awareness. The environmental issues regarding this palm oil is also not widely known, hence it is difficult to make the effort to reduce consumption of products with palm oil. I forget about it as a serious environmental concern and so forget to check things i buy was not aware of palm oil being harmful to this extent, only heard about it briefly. never a habit to look at ingredients list since i don’t really know the effect of palm oil, not really motivated to reduce the use of it not really sure if i ever bought products containing palm oil Not know what has it Little awareness of the consequences. More expensive. Big, popular brands often use palm oil. Lack of information about which products actually contain palm oil. Also the obscuring of palm oil in the ingredients lists on products - by calling it vegetable oil or whatever else - makes it extremely difficult to avoid products that contain it. Palm oil is in so many products and forms a long production chain. It doesn’t necessarily bad to have it if they are sustainably sourced. Other types of oils are not as productive and would need more of it to sustain our total consumption now It is in so many things Money: often products without palm oil are more expensive, taste: chocolate for example I already know what I like/what tastes good, convenience: I'd have to go out of my way to look for palm oil free products It is in so many common products Lack of awareness, Palm oil covers a major lot in the food processing sector. My government doesn't allow palm oil products to be labelled appropriately. Lack of awareness at point of purchase, Lack of policy banning unsustainable palm oil use in products I was never aware of palm oil before and the general knowledge about unsustainable palm oil is weak. In many cases, companies try to hide their use of palm oil by listing 'vegetable oil' in the ingredients list. A quick scan of the ingredients list is often not sufficient in determining if a product contains palm oil or not. Current laws leave the consumers responsible for undertaking additional research about individual products containing palm oil. Product labelling It is used in the catering industry. Not knowing what products contain palm oil Well in most cases I don't check what product contains palm oil or not. But, honestly, the main reason I think why it's difficult to reduce palm oil consumption is because I just buy the cheapest product available. If it means buying a product that doesn't contain palm oil, but it's more expensive, then I'd rather buy the cheap one that contains palm oil. price and unclear labels If there is no direct alternative to the product containing palm oil, then I feel I am having to compromise more significantly by selecting a palm oil-free alternative that isn't exactly what I was wanting e.g. a particular style of biscuit that is only produced by one manufacturer. This is particularly significant as I feel I am already limiting my options by ensuring food products I purchase are vegan, and then placing a palm oil limitation on top can sometimes seem too restrictive. Additionally, it is hard to reduce consumption of products of which I cannot easily verify their palm oil status, e.g. food purchased at a restaurant, generalised terms used on ingredient lists such as "vegetable oil". Much effort to find information. Lack of transparency in labelling, not sure if it is palm oil or "vegetable oil" Not advertised enough Lack of knowledge of which products contain it Lack of awareness I do not think it is difficult, it just has never come to mind while i am shopping. Hard to find information about palm oil contained or not on the products. When selecting a product, I pay more attention to other factors rather than only focusing on whether it contains palm oil or not. not actually being able to tell if there is palm oil in the product (i think they label it as vegetable oil sometimes), popular recipes using ingredients with palm oil, preferences for foods Have never tried to avoid it That I don't check the ingredients when I purchase or consume any products. I wouldn't know which product contain palm oil so that I couldn't avoid it. I may buy products that contain palm oil when I didn't have time to check the product's recipe. It is difficult to know what has palm oil, and so many products have it you have to go quite far out of the way. Also my Timtam addiction does not like my ethics It is so widely used within food industries and it is hard to say no to food like nutella Lack of transparency with the naming of palm oil (it has many variations in ingredient lists) lack of large announcement on the product that it does not contain palm lil I guess knowing whether or not a product actually contains palm oil as they’re not often listed as palm oil. Sometimes it can even be listed as vegetable oil, and there’s virtually no way of telling. takes time to check ingredient list Lack of education No clear labelling- unfortunately it’s just too difficult How company reduce the usage of products with palm oil? Finding substitutes? How the efficiency of education that let people notice and reduce the consumption of products with palm oil. It’s quite hard as I don’t go grocery shopping with my parents often so I don’t have control over choosing purchased products. Lack of information on packaging and marketing Such a wide range of products have palm oil, without some research it might be difficult to find alternatives since lots of people don't care about whether a product contains with palm oil. Needing to possibly change current typical purchases In terms of food products, most of them tastes good. In terms of hygiene products, it has just become a habit to purchase them as it’s suitable for my personal use. Sometimes I just forget to check the ingredients, other times its hard to find good and affordable alternatives Labelling, it’s difficult and tedious to read through packaging and even then most of the time it’s to find out it’s sustainable palm oil not palm oil free I forget As is has much less harm to human body than hydrogenated vegetable oil, and it has been praised highly by many organizations, which benefits from others by using palm oil instead of HVO. Being in a hurry and not having time to check the label. Also not being clear which types of oils might actually be palm oil. I think it's difficult to get people to reduce consumption of products with palm oil because the majority of people still consume animal products which makes it difficult to evoke empathy. Keeping that awareness of palm oil being in many products in your mind. Lots of companies have palm oil in their products. Forgetting to check the label, lack of knowledge on the importance of using sustainable palm oil Q7 - In your personal experience, what does (or would) motivate you to reduce consumption of products with palm oil? In your personal experience, what does (or would) motivate you to reduce consumption of products with palm oil? I would reduce the consumption of products with palm oil if I were aware of the range of products or the alternative products which do not contain palm oil available in the market. good for environment, If I could get the product with chaper price, I would be motivated. if I don't have to actively seek whether the item I want to buy contains palm oil or not Increase awareness of the problem, and clear advertising of products which do not contain or try and reduce if it was easier to tell if it was in products If palm oil free products were more visible on the isles Understanding the effects the usage of palm oil has on the world. Since I am now aware of the negative impacts, I am motivated not to use products that have palm oil spread awareness Knowing a less polluting alternative cheaper pricing and more knowledge being provided Clear cut instructions with a way of shopping with low/no palm oil as I already agree it is wrong to consume these products injunctive norm given by the university There are alternatives. No fried food Health concerns If it is a good thing to protect the environment If there are alternatives the diverse negative affects it has on the environment and the animals within it is definitely a reason i would try to avoid companies who source their palm oil from non sustainable traders I think education? After I heard about palm oil, I felt I need to avoid it. Offering better products that don't contain palm oil. having palm oil as an ingredient labelled so I know what to avoid If brands were required to declare it (maybe if there was a symbol similar to the 'Made in Australia' symbol on products containing palm oil) It there were clear alternatives Knowing the truth that palm oil is made by non-eco-friendly ways. Understanding the consequences palm oil has on the environment, nature and animals. Palm oil also can have negative health benefits which would likely deter me from using it. The main technique would be advertising it as palm oil free in bold, large texts throughout the product packaging. in my experience, i have never tried to reduce the consumption of palm oil-containing products but a sense of contributing to our better future will be a motivation It would motivate me more if there is a range of products that could replace those that use palm oil. That way I wouldn't have to worry about finding alternatives when trying to reduce my consumption. knowing how reducing palm oil consumption is better for the environment Environment That clip we watched in our tutorial last week (week 10) made me really sad and now I want to reduce my consumption more incentives like rewards If non-palm oil products could be cheaper. More and more media are publicizing its shortcomings and exposing the harm caused by the heavy use or consumption of palm oil, such as health problems. I would say the environmental impacts of knowing what happens when you're eating products with palm oil. In a way you're indirectly helping with the destruction of rain forests in Borneo and Indonesia. Make it really obvious on the packaging, competitive pricing If there were stickers on products that do/do not contain palm oil A promotional video from youtube being presented with accessible cheap palm oil free alternatives-it being convenient and you don't have to actively think about it because, I dont really consider what products have palm oil I just buy the cheapest products i need Environmental benefits More knowledge, more products that clearly has the mrk that it does not have palm oil or less palm oil is contained in the product. Seeing the impacts, hearing stories of people working in those settings. Some sort of label that products with 'dirt palm oil' have to have on their packaging. Also some clear resources on what I can do to help the situation. More signage around checking, reminders of why palm oil is bad for the environment, what to look out for when shopping Environmental concerns Higher salience and more obvious campaigning. Sometimes I just forget about the issue all together and then do not check for whether products have it or not. It is not until I come across an ad campaign or advertisement on the product itself saying "No palm oil" that reminds me. If they were more widely available, and more widely advertised. I may actually be buying less products with palm oil than I think if these large companies have already switched but it currently feels unclear. Overall probably more transparency? more information provided about the disadvantages of using palm oil explicitly pointing out that this product is environmentally friendly, with an eye-catching sign on the package saying "palm oil free". make it easier for me to distinguish palm oil free products from the rest on the shelf. Previous knowledge of the consequences behind unsustainable palm oil production. In school I have been apart of movements to get Australian brands to reduce their use of unsustainable palm oil. I have researched the devastating effects but also been informed by organisations about it. Signage of palm oil free products. prompts and reminders at point of purchase, clear labelling, greater access to alternatives Thinking about deforestations and species extinction The impact on local communities where deforestation occurs Something that would motivate me to reduce the consumption of products with palm oil would be to conduct greater, more effective information campaigns and better packaging on products that are palm-oil free. An easy alternative that is very clearly advertised as a palm oil free product or product that uses clean palm oil. I don't want to have to research which products are ok to buy or for it to be inconvenient to buy the products, ideally would be at the same shops that I currently buy palm oil containing products. health related reason Knowing more about its impact on the environment. Clear indication that a product has palm oil. Campaigning to remind consumers of the environmental harm caused by palm oil. Clear information and signage on the packaging. Similar to the health star ratings, it would be good to have the clear sign of "yes this has ethical palm oil" on the front of he product If more food with good taste develop products containing less palm oil - Health effects - Environmental effects Instead of going out of my way to avoid palm oil, if I had to go out of my way to consume palm oil, that would be a lot easier Information about it: how it is produced, the environmental impacts, and what can we do to minimise the negative effects I think will work as a starter to motivate me - although I can't guarantee it will change my behaviour completely. Constant reminders and advertisements of products that use unsustainable palm oil and the effects of palm oil to wildlife and alternatives to these products and advertising which products us sustainable palm oil being aware of the negatives associated with palm oil- particularly through videos/infographics/ any visual I went to the zoo a lot when I was younger and they had a lot of information about the consequences of palm oil use, learning about that has made me more aware, especially learning about the impacts on the animals. deforestation Deals Information when buying products Knowing what impact palm oil consumption has and knowing the best/most practical ways to reduce my use. checking palm oil consumption about each product before purchasing. cheaper products environmental incentive/advertisement Images of deforestation If there were reliable labels that help companies accountable. RSPO doesn’t do this effectively If the packaging was labelled clearly To have less products with palm oil Seeing it’s impact on orangutans. Consistent and concrete knowledge (controversy on sustainability cleared up), information provided on clear benefits and damaging effects, increased convenience of purchasing palm oil free products The loss of animal species. education on the reality of palm oil production Through understanding the harm it contributes to the environment I have started to reduce my consumption just from the lecture/tutorials (being more aware) but i guess cheaper price and equal/substitute thats easily accesible Prompts If labelling was more clear seeing my actions make a difference Palm oil tax Environmental effects (habitat loss of orangutans etc.) Environmental protection Alternative brands that don’t use palm oil, advertising awarening people about them Heightened awareness of the ecological effects, compassion for others, better understanding of how uncaring relevant corporations can be (profit-driven) and alternative organisations committed to sustainable palm oil production and trade use of injunctive norm on the packagings, for example, a smiling face or a smiling orangutan on the packagings Advertising/ information reminding me to avoid these products Easier to identify companies that don’t support/ use it Environment, animals, affected communities. More education/awareness of the issue and how to help. Advertisement of palm-oil free brands. I think government initiatives would make a difference. Like if there was national legislation that said products containing unsustainably sourced palm oil HAD to have something on the label that acknowledged it, it would be much easier to make choices to avoid those products and thus reduce consumption of products with palm oil. I would be motivated to reduce or stop consumption if they were not sustainably sourced, both ecologically and ethically. Better labelling More products without palm oil Seeing how it harms our environment Better labelling of palm oil in products Awareness of ealth implications of using palm oil. It feels personal to know that it's mostly unethically harvested in my country. I've seen interviews from the indigenous people that talk about how upset they are that their land is being destroyed for palm oil. It's also sad to think about how it causes deforestation and the impacts on the wildlife's natural habitat and ecosystem. Policy banning products with unsustainable palm oil Having knowledge about the impacts of palm oil production on forest ecosystems, climate change and unethical work practices motivate me to actively avoid products that contain palm oil, or are affiliated with its production. Emotional campaigns Eating too much of it can be harmful to health, and drilling for palm oil can have an adverse effect on the environment. When the products have mentioned in bold they contain palm oil I guess many will try to reduce it Well, information mainly. I'd like to know exactly the consequences when it comes to buying palm oil products. Also, just having a big sign that shows that "This Product Uses Palm Oil" would be amazing as well. if they were completely off the market or labelling was much more clear Explicit and accessible labelling of palm oil status on all food products, both within ingredient lists and on menus, to lower the uncertainty. Policy that prohibits the use of palm oil in Australian-manufactured products (as a starting point) to increase the range of palm oil free options. Links to deforestation. Knowing the environmental and human impacts of unsustainable palm oil production More advertisement of the negative effects of palm oil and promote palm oil free products Having more products switch to palm oil free The history of where it comes from Costs better labelling of products containing palm oil (eg. laws making it a requirement), being made aware of alternatives to our favourite foods that don't contain palm oil Reminding me to avoid them, cheaper products Having more education around the effects of palm oil and the companies that are using sustainable pail oil rather than cutting down rain forests. That way individuals know which brands to steer away from If I thought it had a serious impact on the environment compared to other oils When I am told that palm oil is harmful to the environment. Because I strongly agree that we should focus on environmental protection since now for a more sustainable world. If most people start not using palm oil, I may be one of them if the supermarket or store has a slogan to remind people not to buy or use the product or supply a similar product that does not contain palm oil and highlights it. If there was another oil marketed as good that brands started taking up, currently I don't really know what the good alternatives are aside from anything is better Think of how deforestation impacts the earth, health hazards if palm oil and the habitats of orangutans � Emotive appeals based on populations impacted by palm oil harvesting, significant facts and figures displaying the logic of reducing palm oil consumption due to its detrimental impact on the global ecosystem. more clear and obvious branding Knowing the impacts of palm oil usage on the environment. As well as health related costs information on the negative impacts of palm oil and visual cues at groceries to remind me to check ingredient list More exposure to information about palm oil Clear labelling of products that contain palm oil social norm,love nature Animal and habitat conservation. Cheaper products Reward schemes protect environment Being informed of cheap, readily available alternatives The scientific evidence that palm oil consumption is bad for health. if the products without it were more clearly labelled and more affordable An app based search system would be handy and make it more accessible this more likely to do so To be reminded Might be the vanishing of natural forestes. I think I am motivated, but if I saw noticed more products clearly being palm oil free and it would be easier to do. Also if I was reminded during my shopping of the negative impacts of palm oil I might make more of an effort in the moment to check the packaging. Environmental concerns, including animal welfare, motivates me to reduce consumption of products with palm oil. Being educated and reminded. seeing a label that says no palm oil - an info sticker about the effects of palm oil If I'm constantly reminded like seeing posters about it in supermarkets.